Public Lectures from the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge

The Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS), The Centre for Public Law (CPL) and the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law (LCIL) held a roundtable event on 'The Future of the European Convention on Human Rights in the United Kingdom' on 21 February 2026. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) remains one of the most significant instruments of human rights protection in Europe. Yet in...

Lecture summary: Empire is a big theme in international law. At the same time, the historical discussion on imperialism and international law had focussed primarily on the West European Empires. This presentation examines Russian and Soviet historical engagements with international law through imperial ideas and practices. Of the doctrines of international law, the ideas of state identity (continu...

Speaker: Prof Antonios Tzanakopoulos, University of Oxford No lecture summary available. Chair: Prof Jan Klabbers This lecture was given on 23 January 2026 and is part of the Friday Lunchtime Lecture series at the Lauterpacht Centre.

In this special anniversary episode of CULSCAST: Beyond Doctrine , we explore how a century-old statute continues to shape the legal landscape of property in profound and surprising ways. An all‑stars of land law, joined by Lorna Fox‑O’Mahony, Lorren Eldridge, Martin Dixon, and David Sawtell, this episode explores 100 years of the Law of Property Act and its enduring impact. Since its passage in 1...

In Beyond Doctrine , Janice speaks to interesting lawyers doing interesting things. Each episode steps outside black-letter law to uncover the ideas, careers, and curiosities shaping the legal world today. From emerging scholarship to unexpected professional paths, Beyond Doctrine explores how law lives, evolves, and influences the world far beyond the page. In this episode, Janice speaks to Dr Po...

Convenors: Professor Louise Gullifer (University of Cambridge) and Associate Professor Dora Neo (National University of Singapore) Speakers: Junayed Ahmed CHOWDHURY, Vertex Chambers, Bangladesh Megumi HARA, Chuo University, Japan Parawee KASITINON, Thammasat University, Thailand Debanshu MUKHERJEE, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, India Huyen PHAM, International Finance Corporation, Vietnam Griselda...

A panel discussion on the Employment Rights Bill held at the Faculty of Law on 4 December 2025. Lord (John) Hendy KC and Councillor Nick Denys from the Law Society shared their insights on the parliamentary process, the merits (and weaknesses) of the ERB, and its (practical) future once it is voted into law. The development of this rather complex piece of legislation has been complicated and the i...

Case C-181/23 Commission v Malta (investor citizenship) is one of the most important decisions the Court has handed down on EU citizenship. It is of significant interest not just because of the issues raised, but because of the reasoning of the Court and the Court’s view of citizenship in the EU legal order. This seminar provides the opportunity to hear from both those closest to the decision and...

Speaker:  Associate Professor Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez (Singapore Management University) Abstract:  Despite the influence of the Global North in many insolvency laws and practices in the Global South, this article shows that the Global South has innovated in many aspects of insolvency law. In some cases, these innovations consist of solutions that, with certain adjustments, have been impo...

The speaker for the Eli Lauterpacht Lecture 2025 was  Santiago Villalpando , Legal Advisor and Director of UNESCO. Lecture summary: Is international law facing a decline of treaties? In recent years, several authoritative voices have pointed out certain developments which seem to indicate that States are shifting away from treaty law-making for the governance of their international relat...

On Friday 28 November 2025, The Professor Trevor Allan FBA delivered the 202 Sir David Williams Lecture entitled "Neither Parliamentary Sovereignty nor Judicial Supremacy: The Rule of Law as the Rule of Common Right and Reason". The lecture begins at: 07:27 The Sir David Williams Lecture is an annual address delivered by a guest lecturer in honour of Sir David Williams, Emeritus Rouse Ball Profess...

Speaker : Professor Daniele Gallo, Luiss University, Italy Abstract : The seminar, building upon Professor Gallo’s book, Direct Effect in EU Law (EU Law Library Series, OUP, 2025), will explore the uneasy trajectories of a transformative doctrine such as direct effect. By reassessing both the present and future of this legal and political construct, it will argue that such chameleon-like principle...

Is modern left-wing progressive politics to blame for the current rise of the far-right? This event was held by the Cambridge University Human Rights Law Society (CUHRLS) and Clare Politics Society, who hosted renowned human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, best known for his decades-long work with LGBTQ+ and other global social justice movements which has shaped contemporary activism. Peter disc...

On 25 November 2025 Dr Susanne Brand delivered the CELH annual lecture on the topic 'Outlawry and its Consequences in Later Medieval English Law and Practice'. The Centre for English Legal History (CELH) was formally established in 2016 to provide a hub for researchers working in legal history across the University of Cambridge. The Centre holds regular seminars during academic terms, and an annua...

Speaker:  Professor Catherine Malecki (University of Rennes) Even in the context of the future EU Omnibus Package and the EU Directive n°2025/794 of 14 April 2025 'Stop-the-Clock', Companies and there directors must face an increasing climate litigation and this change cannot go back 20 years of progress in Sustainable Corporate Governance which is on the way on both sides of the Atlantic Oce...

Speaker : Professor Lilian Edwards, Emeritus Professor of Law, Innovation & Society, Newcastle Law School  Biography : Lilian Edwards is a leading academic in the field of Internet law. She has taught information technology law, e-commerce law, privacy law and Internet law at undergraduate and postgraduate level since 1996 and been involved with law and artificial intelligence (...

In the new series, Beyond Doctrine, Janice speaks to interesting lawyers doing interesting things. Each episode steps outside black-letter law to uncover the ideas, careers, and curiosities shaping the legal world today. From emerging scholarship to unexpected professional paths, Beyond Doctrine explores how law lives, evolves, and influences the world far beyond the page. In this episode, Janice...

On Wednesday 12 November 2025 Professor Dame Sarah Worthington DBE, KC (Hon), FBA, FRSA delivered the second of three 2025 Hamlyn Lectures at the Faculty. The Hamlyn Lectures are normally delivered in the autumn and the annual Hamlyn Seminar, which marks the publication of the lecture, is usually held in London in the following spring. The lecture was on the title: 'The Paradoxes of Property: What...

Speaker : Dr Raphaële Xenidis, Sciences Po Law School, France Abstract :  EU anti-discrimination law has been a subject of choice for critiques from various disciplines. One influential motif that has durably structured the critical analysis of EU anti-discrimination law is the distinction between formal and substantive equality. Substantive approaches seek to diagnose and remedy the dis...

Speaker:  Professor Ernest Lim (National University of Singapore) This presentation explores the external dimension of directors’ duties—whether directors can and should address climate impacts and other externalities even absent financial benefits to the company’s shareholders—in contrast to the shareholder value maximisation focus. Its significance stems from universal investors, the EU due...

Lecture summary: Over centuries and across continents, authoritarian governments have demonstrated a large appetite for international cooperation to target political opponents across borders. As the world’s premier body for international police cooperation, Interpol is not supposed to facilitate this kind of transnational repression -- and yet, in recent years, there is growing concern that a...

Speaker: Professor Bhamati Viswanathan, Visitor, Cambridge Law Faculty and Fellow at the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at Columbia Law School Biography: Bhamati Viswanathan is a Senior Visitor at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law and a Fellow (Non-Resident) at the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at Columbia Law School (New York). Prior to joining the Cambridge...

Speaker: Associate Professor Dora Neo (National University of Singapore) With the advancement of technology, delivery of financial services, such as payment services, can be achieved almost instantaneously. In the area of trade finance, however, banks have been less quick to harness technology for trade digitalisation. An important reason is that trade financing has historically been heavily depen...

The Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS) hosts an annual public lecture in honour of Lord Mackenzie-Stuart, the first British Judge to be President of the Court of Justice. Among the eminent scholars of European legal studies invited to give the lecture are Professor Joseph Weiler, former Judge David Edwards of the European Court of Justice, and Advocate-General Francis Jacobs of the European...

Lecture summary: Most observers – at least in the West – agree that the twenty-first century has been particularly tumultuous. But while some explain the volatility of our times by reference to historical analogies, e.g. moments of power transition in the twentieth century, others claim that we are in a moment of polycrisis for which there is no precedent. In this talk I split the difference: main...