Seminar Archive

Admission is free, no booking required

Admission is free, no booking required

Admission is free, no booking is required

Admission is free, no booking required

Admission is free, no booking required

Admission is free, no booking required

Admission is free, no booking required

Professor Tina Soliman Hunter is participating in CRENAME's first workshop as part of the on-going project looking at the behaviour of oil in Arctic conditions and its impact on the regulation of oil spill prevention and response.

Admission is free, no booking is required

This seminar was cancelled

Admission is free, no booking required

Admission is free, no booking required

Admission is free, no booking is required

Admission is free, no booking required

Admission is free, no booking required

This seminar was fully booked

Dr Phil Glover (School of Law), Malcolm Combe (School of Law), Ian Thomson (RSPB) and Tim Baynes (Scottish Land and Estates) explore the legal issues around nature conservation and the law of evidence.

In light of the Scottish position regarding Brexit on the one hand and the Catalonian independence movement on the other, new light is shed on the question as to how parts of a country may legally react to developments at the central level that they (by a majority) disagree with....

Peter Hirst will be talking about his experience in mining arbitration in Africa and Latin America as well as career opportunities in international arbitration

The ongoing launch of missiles combined with the test of large nuclear bombs by North Korea causes great concern around the world. Although North Korea is no longer subject to the Non-Proliferation Treaty it remains subject to international law obligations including various UN Security Council resolutions. However, to date, the...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: A role of the judiciary is to shape and facilitate environmental laws, policies and principles. India’s green judiciary, particularly the National Green Tribunal (NGT), is an example of its transitional move through substantive and procedural creativity in the current socio-ecological crisis. The juristic and scientific interventions...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Speaker: Professor Jinske Verhellen, Ghent University, Belgium Abstract: The EU member States seem to have prioritised the reception of asylum seekers and the development of short-term assistance programmes. Yet strategies to tackle the long-term legal consequences of the refugee flows into Europe are less clear. While those short-term interventions...

EU measures in the area of civil justice cooperation cover many areas. However, they leave the impression of a patchwork. On the one hand, they do not necessarily cover all Member States. On the other hand, some measures are extended to third States. Also, there are countries in the midst...

The seminar will set out the key questions for the UK and the EU as both sides embark in the negotiation of their future trade relationship.

This research draws on theories and techniques from psychology to explore the influence of personal values on the exercise of judicial discretion and judicial decision making in the Supreme Court. This paper will argue, that although law frames and constraints decision making, in hard cases personal values play a role....

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: A distinction can be drawn between employment rights expressed as (i) rules and (ii) standards of review. The observation that not all labour laws are directed towards the correction of general labour market failures is taken as a point of entry to engage in further research...

Speaker: Professor John Lovett Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: The community rights to buy that now exist in Scottish land reform legislation can result—at least in some cases—in what international property theorists call a “private taking” or what might be characterized as a private-to-private compulsory purchase order in the UK. This paper...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: In performing their roles as centres for Clinical Legal Education, many University Law Clinics employ real-life or live-client models to facilitate student training. While working under the supervision of professionals, students offer legal assistance to qualifying clients. This promotes access to justice and positions university clinics...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: The Hague Peace conferences of 1899 and 1907 can be regarded as the first steps in setting up institutions that dominated international life in the 20th century. During one of these conferences Russian diplomat Fyodor Martens first elaborated the Concept of Inquiry. The idea behind this...

Admission FREE, no booking required. This presentation is topical because the US and other nations have loosened their guidelines on forward looking revenue statements for publicly traded corporations, particularly with regards to innovative technologies. This policy was originally intended to facilitate information to the market for industries from Silicon Valley and...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Speaker: Graham Dallas Bio:  Graham is a Business Development Manager with Aker Solutions since 2015, focusing on brownfield maintenance, modifications, operations and decommissioning. Graham has worked in engineering for over 25 years, with the last 20 in oil and gas. He started his career as a Mechanical Technician Apprentice...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: Investment arbitration in the European Union is currently experiencing one of its most crucial challenges. At EU level, there are different opinions claiming that the applicability of investment treaties to resolve intra-EU disputes is no longer valid. The main argument flagged is the existence of a...

Speaker: Dr. Michael LaBelle Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: This presentation is topical because the US and other nations have loosened their guidelines on forward looking revenue statements for publicly traded corporations, particularly with regards to innovative technologies. This policy was originally intended to facilitate information to the market for industries from Silicon...

This seminar was cancelled

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: The EU member States seem to have prioritised the reception of asylum seekers and the development of short-term assistance programmes. Yet strategies to tackle the long-term legal consequences of the refugee flows into Europe are less clear. While those short-term interventions are of course important, European...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: If and when landowners wish to rearrange their affairs and no longer own a particular piece of land, the normal course of action would be to transfer that land to an aspiring owner (for a suitable price). In a buoyant market, this will often be an...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: A number of cases are currently open under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) against some European Member States, addressing a number of common issues on both jurisdiction and the merits. However, the few awards rendered until now are not fully consistent, so making the outcome of...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: As more and more states discover new energy resources, particularly oil and gas, there is much discussion about what type of legal framework should be created to effectively regulate the extraction of the resource and ensure that such extraction benefits the country and its people. Too...

Speaker: Professor Phillip Hellwege Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: On the professorial level women are still underrepresented in legal academia in Germany: less than 20% of all law professors are women. The problem has been discussed for more than two decades. Different measures have been taken. Books on gender studies fill whole...

Speaker: David Campin (University of Queensland, Australia) Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract Hydraulic fracturing is a process applied to the exploitation of hydrocarbon and other resources, to increase fluid conductivity to a production well. The process entails environmental risks which are aimed to be managed under specific rules in most jurisdictions where...

Abstract Having regard to national case-law, some critical issues arise from the application Brussels IIa Regulation (No 2201/2003) in the Italian legal order. Indeed, Italian judges face serious difficulties in addressing private international law aspects when called to decide a case on responsibility matters with transnational implications. Such issues include, for...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Speaker: Professor Pierre d'Argent Abstract: War reparations represent a particular challenge and test for the rules relating to the international responsibility of States. After having recalled the major historical instances when war reparations were claimed, this lecture will address some salient recurring legal issues. Beyond those legal technicalities,...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Speaker: Dr John Danaher Abstract:  Although promised for decades, virtual reality (VR) technology now seems poised for the mainstream. For many, the technology holds promise: new exciting and immersive video game experiences; new forms of social interaction; new worlds to explore. But there is darker side. In October...

Admission FREE, no booking required. This seminar examines the possibility of extending the international prohibition on the use of armed force to terrorist armed groups. This prohibition, enshrined in the UN Charter and customary international law, applies to States. Should/can it also apply to terrorist armed groups?

Admission FREE, no booking required.

Speaker: Marlies Hesselman Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: Today, no less than three billion persons world-wide live in severe energy poverty, accounting for 40% of the world population; more specifically, about 1.2 billion persons have no access to an electricity connection , while 2.9 billion persons still rely on solid fuels, such...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: This seminar will examine the development of English law on the classification of ornamental objects by comparative reference to Scots law. It will seek to account for the difference between the ‘mere’ ornament and the ornament that is, or becomes, ‘land’ by canvassing a number of...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: On 23rd June 2016, a majority of the British electorate decided to leave the European Union against all expectations, and the constitutional impact of this historic decision, particularly on the Union, remains shrouded in uncertainty. Despite being a UK-wide referendum, the Union was left very much...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: Much of modern Britain’s corporate economy hinges on the principle established by the House of Lords in Salomon v Salomon [1897] that a corporation is a separate legal entity. From this Salomon principle flows a protective investment structure for shareholders and corporate groups with an array...

Admission FREE, no booking required. This talk will explore the links between copyright, independence and dignity of the artists; creative re-use and consumption of works; non use of works, private control and the impact on cultural heritage; and that copyright lacks an independent evidence base. It will also explore the developing...

On the 25th January the Centre for Private International Law looks forward to welcoming Dr Ardavan Arzandeh from the University of Bristol to speak at our monthly meeting. Abstract: For at least 150 years, forum non conveniens has been one of the main components of the national jurisdiction rules in Scotland. The...

Abstract: The interpretation of contracts is one of the most common and important tasks of the courts. Yet this task is now mired in conceptual confusion. In Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd. v West Bromwich Building Society [1997] UKHL 28 Lord Hoffman self consciously embarked on a contextual revolution. This was a...

Although most judges continue as loyal servants to authoritarian masters and forgo their rule of law values, not all do. Surprisingly, there was a scope for judicial resistance during the Nazi and fascist regimes in the twentieth century. How is it that these repressive regimes tolerated opposition from the bench,...

Admission FREE, no booking required. Abstract: Scottish Justice Secretary Michael Mathieson recently disclosed that the Lord Advocate, James Wolffe QC had written to him to highlight a potential gap in the law arising from the somewhat perplexing decision by senior Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) counsel that the circumstances of...

(lecture followed by discussion) By Nicolas Bonnefoy Managing Director of Africa Oil and Gas Ltd. Previously a partner in Ashurst LLP’s global energy team focussing on Africa.

A free public lecture.

Speaker: Brooks Daly Abstract: The lecture will examine the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)’s historical and modern role in the resolution of sensitive international disputes. Examples will be drawn from recent cases administered by the PCA, including investor-state and interstate arbitrations with an oil and gas component. PCA procedural innovations in arbitrator...

Speaker: Dr Roy Partain Abstract: The world is in need of renewable energy resources, and the technology of nuclear fusion, not nuclear fission, has long been identified as a potential solution. Nuclear fusion converts forms of hydrogen into helium, with a by-product of heat, which can then be used to create steam...

Speaker: Dr Andrew Simpson Abstract: Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington (ca.1496-1586) is perhaps best remembered today as a collector of late-medieval Scots vernacular poetry, particularly that written by William Dunbar. Yet Maitland was also an accomplished poet and indeed a historian in his own right. In his work, he explored various legal themes,...

A free public lecture.

Speaker:  Dr Irène Couzigou Abstract: The use of armed force by a State on the territory of another State is prohibited under international law, unless the territorial State gave its consent to the resort to force. Iraq agreed with the military action against the ‘Islamic State’ on its territory. Contrary to...

Abstract: The study of law and emotion is seen as a comparatively new discipline, yet the use of what would now be called ‘emotional intelligence’ in the practice of law has a very long history, as the famous Judgment of Solomon shows. This is particularly true of rhetoric, or the art...

Abstract Bangladesh, located between India and Myanmar, has had its continental shelf boundaries fully delimited by the combined effect of the 2014 award of the tribunal formed under Annex VII to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in the Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration (People’s Republic of...

Abstract: Economic sanctions can be described as measures that are imposed by a State or by an international organisation on a unilateral or multilateral basis, such as the sanctions imposed by the United States or by the United Nations, in order to sanction a particular State or to persuade it to...

Speaker: Robbie Brown (Former General Counsel of Wood Group) This lecture will be followed by discussion with the audience and will last approx 2 hours. 

Research Seminar Speaker:  Robert Blakey Abstract: The capabilities of brain imaging technology are advancing, together with the novelty of its applications to increasingly complex behaviours, such as offending. This field experiment tested the effects of public engagement in neuroscience on attitudes towards young offenders. Brainstorm is a play about teenage brain development, televised...

Speaker:  Lisa Forsberg Abstract:  Sex offenders are sometimes offered or required to undergo pharmacological interventions intended to diminish their sex drive (anti-libidinal interventions or ALIs). In this paper, we argue that much of the debate regarding the moral permissibility of ALIs has been founded on an inaccurate assumption regarding their intended purpose...

Research Seminar  To ask whether ‘the political constitution’ is deliberative might seem odd. After all, every conceivable constitutional model with normative appeal will envisage a large measure of debate aimed at securing wide-ranging, reasoned and well-evidenced opinions, where participants are willing to reflect on their own viewsafter hearing those of others....

Research Seminar Abstract The fundamental issue that is considered by the presentation is whether there are good explanations for the state of the public interest defence to claims for copyright infringement.

This seminar was cancelled

Speaker:  Professor Pierre d'Argent Abstract: War reparations represent a particular challenge and test for the rules relating to the International responsibility of States. After having recalled the major historical instances when war reparations were claimed, this lecture will address some salient recurring legal issues. Beyond those legal technicalities, economic and moral issues...

Abstract: "This lecture will highlight the cultural and societal pressures on victims to conform to the behaviour codes set within the communities they live in. It will also highlight the challenges for law enforcement and the risks that victims face in coming forward to report matters to the police. Three case...

Research Seminar Abstract: I will speak about my involvement in a study funded by the EU Parliament that is directed towards the objective of compiling a reliable and comprehensive information resource for practitioners concerning the evidentiary effects of authentic instruments in the 25 EU Member States that are bound by European Union...

Research Seminar Speaker:  Dr Carlo Panara Abstract: The participation of local and regional authorities in EU processes should be promoted and enhanced by the EU, the Member States and the same local/regional authorities. These should perform a stronger role in the constitutional architecture of the EU. In this way they would contribute more...

Speaker:  Dr Edward Bristol-Alagbariya Municipal Crises, Politics and Conducts in Contemporary Global Society: The Case of Ethnic-based Crises in Nigeria. Abstract: This seminar will describe the ethnic conflicts that currently exist in Nigeria, endangering order and security in the country and even threatening international peace and security. It will then examine how...

  This lecture will be followed by a discussion. Abstract: The talk will examine to what extent the Paris talks have helped to build a more effective international climate regime and how the outcome may be assessed from an international law perspective.  

ELSA Aberdeen are organising the below seminar in cooperation with Europe Direct. EU as a Global Actor: The Role of EU Sanctions in Helping Striving Democracies In the recent years the European Union has been gaining strength as a global actor: it has been a participant of the peace processes in Middle East,...

Speaker: Dr Elizabeth Shaw Abstract: Currently, in Scotland, psychopathic personality disorder is explicitly excluded from the mental disorder defence. This defence relieves individuals from criminal responsibility, if, as a result of mental disorder, they lack certain psychological capacities. The psychopathy exclusion is problematic, because individuals with severe psychopathy appear to lack one...

"A New Framework for Energy Law" This lecture will be followed by a discussion. Speaker:  Dr Raphael Heffron (Senior Lecturer in Energy and Natural Resources Law, at Queen Mary University of London) Abstract: Energy law as a sub-discipline in law is growing. This seminar explores this theme and examines the current issues in energy...

"Maritime Boundary Disputes and Joint Petroleum Development" This seminar will be given by Constantinos Yiallourides (3rd year PhD Candidate) Mr Emre Usenmez will be a moderator for the discussion. Abstract The law of the sea is both a complex and fascinating subject. It is the area of law that makes it possible for states...

Speaker:  Mr Emre Usenmez Reforming the UK’s Petroleum Tax Abstract On 4 December 2014, the Treasury published its review of the oil and gas fiscal regime setting out the case for reform. The ensuing changes to the fiscal regime, however, were short of what was intended. This research seminar will first look at...

The Debate about Due Deference

International child abduction in Argentina and in Latin America

Speaker:  Dr Kristoffer Svendsen (University of Tromsø - the Arctic University) Legal aspects of oil spills from petroleum installations in the Arctic. The case of the Barents Sea. Abstract International regulation of compensation for petroleum spills from offshore rigs and installations is lacking. The consequence of an petroleum spill in the Arctic from...

Scottish Criminal Evidence Law Adrift

Looking back is the new way of looking forward. That is why the Romanian Union of Students (RoNUS) and the European Law Student's Association (ELSA Aberdeen) are introducing to you a new concept “EU seen from a 3D dimension”. We start doing this by bringing at the University of Aberdeen Dr...

Cross-border surrogacy arrangements in South America

Criminal Law's Legitimacy Problem

From skeyting bréf to schound bill - The Destiny of Norwegian Law at Shetland in the 16th and 17th Century

International Arbitration Awards: Enforceability and Public Policy: a Recipe for Uncertainty?

Divorce Reform in Colonial and Post-Colonial Sri Lanka: A Critical Assessment

Making an impact - The UN Watercourses Convention and its entry into force

The UN Collective Security System and the Enforcement of International Law

Credit Rating Agencies and their conflicts of interest: causes, consequences and cure

An Illiberal Democracy in the Making: Biases and Preferences in the New Hungarian Constitution

'Does IP litigation have to cost so much? Problems and solutions'

The Legality of Arming Non-state Actors: International Law at Cross Roads

Does Form Matter? Feminisim and the 'Legislative Modernisation' of Scots Criminal Law and Procedure

The International Legal Framework Governing the Use of Force against Islamic State

"Scots Legal Nationalism and Scottish Nationalism."

Beneficial Ownership and Control of Energy Transmission System

Regulating the Award of Public Contracts - The New European Approach

Managing Risks Related to Hydraulic Fracturing

This seminar was cancelled

"Beneficial Ownership and Control of Energy Transmission Systems"