Staff News 6 - 8

Staff News - Forthcoming Events 9 - 10

Staff Seminars 11

Administrative Responsibilities 12

Outside of Academia - Sharing Photos 13

WWW elcome to this first Brunel Law School Newsletter for 2009/10. We welcome our ‗freshers‘, new LLM and PhD

students and those that are returning to continue their studies. This issue brings you up to date with the changes that have taken place within the School since the end of last term until now. Following Professor Abimbola Olowofoyeku‘s decision, to step down as the Head of School, Professor Javaid Rehman was appointed as the new Head on 1st August. Additional changes have also been made to the School‘s Management Group and some academic administrative roles. Full details can be found on pages 4 and 5. In September, we were joined by two new lecturers, Dr Olufemi Amao and Dr Muhammed Korotana. Also in September, Stephanie Berry was appointed as a Research Assistant to Professor Rehman. We welcome them all to Brunel and wish them every success in their new posts. At the end of September we were also joined by Ms Lili Wang, from Taiyuan University, as a Visiting Researcher. Lili (who likes to be known as Susan) will be with the School for a year. The School has also offered an Associate Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship to Dr Isaac Welde through the CARA (Council for Assisting Refugee Academics) scheme. Isaac has now joined us and, during his stay, will be supervised by Professor Ilias Bantekas.

BRUNEL UNIVERSITY

November 2009 Volume 3, Issue 1

Brunel Law School

Inside this issue:

Staff Profiles 2 - 3

New School Structure 4 - 5

Staff News 6 - 10

School News 11

Student Representatives 12

Newsletter

for Staff and Students

Student News - 13 - 19

Student News - Graduation Pictures 16 - 17

Student News - Chulalongkorn University Visit 18

Alumni 20 - 23

Staff Seminars 24 - 25

Professor Javaid Rehman

Head of School

I am very pleased to report that

throughout this issue we are able to

congratulate our staff, students and

alumni on their many achievements

CONGRATULATIONS

Dr Farkhanda Zia Mansoor

Olufemi, or Femi as most

people call him, joined Brunel

Law School in September,

2009. Olufemi is a graduate of

University College Cork, Ireland

(Ph.D and PG Cert 2009);

University of Warwick, UK

(LLM, 2005); University of

Ibadan, Nigeria (LLM, 2003);

Obafemi Awolowo University,

Nigeria (LLB, 1997); University

of Ilorin, Nigeria (BA, 1991).

Olufemi was called to the

Nigerian Bar in 1999 and

worked as a barrister in

Nigeria. He was a Lecturer at

the University College Cork. He

has published articles in

reputable Journals including the

Australian Journal of Legal

Philosophy, Journal of African

Law, Journal of Business Ethics,

Dublin University Law Journal,

Journal of International Economic

Law, Journal of Corporate

Citizenship, International Journal

of Human Rights, Hastings

International and Comparative

Law Review and UCD Law Review.

Olufemi is currently a consultant

to the Centre for Law at the Open

University and runs a database for

Nigerian law (www.nlii.org).

Olufemi is a frequent speaker at

national and international

conferences in his area of

expertise. His 2008 article in the

Journal of African Law is ranked

as the most read article in the

Journal for the last twelve

months.

See more academic details on

Femi‘s staff page

Staff Profiles

Meet our

new

Members of

Staff

Page 2 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Dr Olufemi Amao

Dr Olufemi Amao

Dr Shabir Korotana joined the

Brunel Law School in

September 2009. Previously

he has taught law at the

University of Sussex,

Middlesex University, London

Metropolitan University and

the University of Westminster.

He has teaching experience in

the areas of Contract Law, EU

law, International Trade law,

International Economic Law,

Public International Law and

International Financial Law.

However, his current teaching

and research interests are

primarily in the areas of

International Financial law,

International Economic Law

and EU Law.

At present his research particularly

focuses on UK, EU and US financial

regulation, global financial

regulation and the study of current

financial crises and significance of

regulatory regimes across the

world.

Shabir studied law at the University

College, University of Punjab.

Lahore. He pursued his higher

education at the University of

Wales for LLM and received his PhD

at the LSE.

See more academic details on

Shabir‘s staff page

Dr Muhammed Shabir Korotana

Dr Muhammed Korotana

Qian Guo

In September 2009, Stephanie Berry commenced the position of Research Assistant at Brunel Law School, focusing on Islamic State Practices in International Law and Muslim Diasporic

Communities. She is combining this role with a part time PhD on conflict

prevention and the application of minority rights to the Muslim Diaspora in Europe.

Stephanie‘s previous positions have included research assistant for Brunel‘s Collaborative Research Network

‗Security, Human Rights and the Media‘ and editorial assistant for the Nordic Journal of International Law.

Stephanie Berry - Research Assistant

Lili Wang - Visiting Researcher

research interests include Public International Law, Private International Law, Administrative Law and Environmental Law. She has written three chapters in a book,

many articles and two project reports.

During her stay at Brunel, Lili will be

mentored by Professor Kaiyan Kaikobad.

Lili Wang arrived in late September to take up her position as Visiting Researcher within the School.

Lili graduated with a master of laws degree from Shanxi University, China and joined the Department of Law, Taiyuan University of

Technology in 2003 as a lecturer where She taught Administrative Law, Private International Law and

Public International Law. Her

Page 3 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

Ms Lili Wang

Stephanie has a LL.B from the University of Manchester and a LL.M in International Human Rights Law from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute/ Lund

University in Sweden.

Earlier this year, Stephanie presented a

paper at the Nordic Refugee Seminar on ‗Integration as Refugee Protection: the Case for a Minority Rights-Based Approach‘. Research interests include: Minority Rights; Refugee Law; Freedom of Religion; and the human rights

implications of counter-terrorism legislation.

Ms Stephanie Berry

At the end of September, Qian Guo, our Visiting Research Scholar, returned to Shanghai

University of Finance and Economics (SUFE) following her year long stay. Qian commented

that she had a most fulfilling time at Brunel during which she:

was mentored by Professor Abimbola Olowofoyeku

continued writing her book „Public power and civil property rights under the view of

constitutionalism‟

was able to collect materials of power controlling and property rights protecting, both in

English and Chinese

spent some time attending Debbie Chay‘s Public Law seminars for postgraduate students

which allowed her to gain better knowledge about common law, especially the unwritten

constitution principle

attended several lectures delivered by different Professors from the University of London,

London School of Economics and Oxford University. This enable Qian to learn more about

the latest research interests of Western academics regarding environment protection,

sustainable development, anti-terrorism and Islamic Law

discussed the different systems of principle and culture between Chinese law and English

law with our GTAs and

prepared her PhD thesis which is about public participation in planning law.

Qian Guo - Visiting Research Scholar

Dr Farkhanda Zia Mansoor School Structure

The new

School

Structure

Page 4 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT TEAM

Head of School

Professor Javaid Rehman

Deputy Head of School Deputy Head of School

(Operations) (Programmes)

Prof Kaiyan Kaikobad Dr Alexandra Xanthaki

Acting Deputy Head of School

(Programmes)

Dr Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos

Director of Research School Manager

Professor Peter Jaffey Tracey Alexis

The change in the Head of School has also led to changes in the school structure and administrative roles for academic staff.

Qian Guo

Page 5 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATIVE ROLES — 2009 — 10

SENIOR TUTOR EXAMINATIONS

Senior Tutor Dr Claire Corbett

Room 231

Assistant Senior Tutor

Dr Christian Heitsch Room 111

Examinations Convenor Ms Felicity Kaganas

Room 221

Assistant Examinations

Convenor Dr Mihail Danov

Room 129

DISSERTATIONS ADMISSIONS

Dissertations Convenor

Dr Mohamed Elewa Badar

Room 105

Assistant Dissertations

Convenor

Dr Muhammed Korotana

Room 107

Admission Tutor Dr Manisuli Ssenyonjo

Room 220

Deputy Admission Tutor

Dr Olufemi Amao Room 120

ADMISSIONS DISABILITY

Admissions Tutor Dr Manisuli Ssenyonjo

Room 220

Deputy Admissions Tutor

Dr Olufemi Amao Room 120

Disability Representative and PDP Tutor

Mr Akalemwa Ngenda Room 121

Deputy Disability Representative Dr Luca Cerioni

Room 224

WORK PLACEMENTS

Work Placement Convenor

Dr Emmanuel Voyiakis

Room 232

Work Placement Assistant

Dr Federico Ferretti Room 127

MOOTING

Mooting Tutor Dr Stefan Fafinski

Room 126

LIBRARY

Library Representative

Prof Patrick Polden Room 213

PROFESSIONAL LIAISON

Professional Liaison Tutor and

Co-ordinator Dr Susan Easton

Room 230

LEVEL TUTORS

Level 1 Tutor Dr Stefan Fafinski

Room 126

Level 2 Tutor Dr Peter Petkoff

Room 111

Level 3 Tutor Dr Emmanuel Voyiakis

Room 232

Staff News

Page 6 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

We extend a warm welcome to Nicola Brown who joined the

School‟s Administrative team in June as Undergraduate Programmes

Assistant.

Nicola Brown

Dr Emily Finch has been awarded a Heinz Woolf Fellowship in Public Engagement. This is an

excellent achievement.

STAR (Special Thanks And Recognition) Awards

Having been nominated by our students, lecturers Dr Stefan Fafinski, Dr Emily Finch

and Debbie Chay were each recipients of one of the University‟s STAR Awards. The Vice

Chancellor presented the staff with their STAR Awards at a reception held on 28th May.

This is a tremendous and well-deserved achievement and good to see students‟ recognition

of our lecturers.

Dr Stefan Fafinski has been nominated by our students for Law Teacher of the Year 2010. Many congratulations to

Stef, and we wish him the best in this national competition.

Congratulations go to the Level 2 teachers on achieving a high teaching score in Brunel‟s internal student satisfaction

survey!

The School is pleased to report on the many achievements of our school staff

during the past few months. Many congratulations to all!

Dr Christine Riefa, lecturer in the Brunel Law School, is a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Award recipient. Christine

has received an EU Scholar-in-residence award and will spend five months at Cleveland-Marshall, Ohio, from January

2010 to May 2010. Christine will be teaching European Consumer Law and conducting research on the protection of

consumers in virtual environments (such as Second Life) and take an active part in the local legal community.

Just three Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Awards have been given to UK scholars this year (2009/10). To achieve this

prestigious award, is an exceptional achievement by Christine.

Staff News

Page 7 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

We also congratulate Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos on successfully defending his PhD at

the University of Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I), in Paris in April 2009. Dimitrios wrote

and delivered his 852 pages long thesis in French and his viva was observed by the

public. He received the highest distinction awarded for PhDs in France: "très

honourable avec félicitations du jury". Dimitrios‘s thesis was based on the

comparative study of the English, French, Hellenic and United States solutions on the

complex question of the administration of improperly obtained evidence. In the light

of this comparison, Dimitrios drew a distinction between automatic and non-

automatic exclusionary models. As Dimitrios comments, "this distinction reflects very

considerable and very unexpected convergence, on the one hand between the

Hellenic and United States legal systems, which in principle rely on automatic

exclusionary rules; on the other hand, between the English and French legal

systems, where exclusion depends on an in concreto evaluation of the circumstances

relevant to the obtaining of the evidence. At the same time, this distinction reflects

significant divergence between these ‗automatic‘ and ‗non-automatic‘ legal systems,

vis-à-vis free proof and the place of constitutional rights in the criminal process".

Analysing such convergence and divergence Dimitrios‘s work lays the groundwork for

a hybrid exclusionary model common to Anglo-American and Continental legal

systems. His thesis examined whether such a development would be realistic first,

then proposed the adoption of a hybrid model that combines automatic and non-

automatic solutions, and gravitates around an hierarchical application of the

exclusionary principles. This model attaches particular importance to the reliability of

the evidence, but puts the protection of constitutional rights and the integrity of the

criminal justice system first, with a view to reconciling the search for truth with

respect to universal human values.

Dimitrios after attaining his PhD at the University of Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I)

Dishonesty Lab

Staff News

“… there were around two million recorded crimes involving dishonesty in

2008 ….”

Page 8

BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Brunel University and the British Science Association Launch First Ever

International Study to Investigate Public Perceptions of Dishonesty Brunel University and the British Science Association are calling for a review of the test for

dishonesty, known as the Ghosh test, in criminal law.

Dr Stefan Fafinski and Dr Emily Finch, criminal lawyers and social scientists at Brunel Law

School, believe that the Ghosh test is flawed because it is based on an unattainable common

standard of „dishonesty‟.

In May, to discover how public perceptions of dishonesty can vary (and therefore affect the

outcome of criminal trials), Brunel University and the British Science Association announced

the start of an international scientific study into dishonesty. Funded by the Economic and

Social Research Council (ESRC), Honesty Lab (www.honestylab.com), is an interactive online

survey open to members of the public across the globe. The aim was to get 20,000 people to

complete the brief online study and the results were revealed at the British Science Festival

that took place at the University of Surrey, Guildford and across the region from 5-10

September 2009.

Under current criminal law, there is no definition of dishonesty but a defendant is found to

have acted dishonestly if they were aware that their conduct was dishonest in the eyes of

reasonable and honest people. Honesty Lab will test the researchers‟ prediction that there is

no common standard of dishonesty in today‟s society because there are many factors that

affect our judgment of honest or dishonest acts, for example how the „defendant‟ looks and

whether or not we can relate to the person or act in question.

Dr Stefan Fafinski commented, “There were around two million recorded crimes involving

dishonesty in 2008, so the findings from the Honesty Lab in evaluating the fairness of the

current test in criminal law will be of major public importance and could alter the way judicial

trials are conducted.”

To take part in this one of a kind international scientific study, members of the public were

encouraged to visit the dishonesty website, where they were asked to view a selection of

short video clips to judge whether or not they think the act described is honest or dishonest.

Before viewing each clip, respondents were shown a picture and brief biography of the

„defendant‟ and asked to state whether or not they thought the person looked honest and

whether or not they thought the person was similar to themselves. The acts described

included lying on a CV, knowingly purchasing a pirate DVD and using office stationery for

personal use.

Dr Emily Finch commented, “We believe that the Honesty Lab project will prove that public

attitudes to dishonesty are shaped by the varying personal traits of defendants, jurors and

magistrates, suggesting that whether or not a person is convicted of an offence involving

dishonesty, such as theft, could be somewhat of a lottery under current criminal law. For

example, in April 2002, a man was convicted of theft after collecting over a thousand lost golf

balls from a lake on a golf course using scuba diving equipment. It is entirely possible that

another jury on another day would have decided that this was not dishonest and he would

have been acquitted.”

Sue Hordijenko, Director of Programmes at the British Science Association, said, “We are

delighted to be working with Brunel University on this intriguing study. Participants will be

contributing to a unique piece of research that could have major implications for law policy in

cases involving dishonesty, and we‟re looking forward to revealing the results at the British

Science Festival in September.”

The next phase of research will then involve re-enacting trials in front of mock juries and

analysing the jury decision-making processes in much greater depth, as well as conducting

more focused studies with the public and the judiciary.

Feminist Judgments Project

This innovative research project, funded by the ESRC and led by

Professor Rosemary Hunter (Kent), aims to put theory into practice by

producing alternative feminist judgments in a series of significant cases

in English law. A group of socio-legal scholars are rewriting the

judgments to take account of feminist perspectives and commentaries

are also being written on each judgment to provide context and analysis.

Baroness Hale acted as an adviser on judgment writing at one of a series

of seminars. Brunel Law School‘s Felicity Kaganas and Christine Piper

are focusing on a leading case – RE L –which concerns contact with

children by non-resident parents who have engaged in domestic violence.

This case is in the ‗Parenting‘ theme. There are 4 other themes covering

a variety of leading cases raising issues ranging from equality to criminal

liability. There is a web-site - http://www.kent.ac.uk/law/fjp/ - which

gives information on all the cases, seminars and participants.

Nuffield Foundation Grant

Felicity Kaganas is a member of a group of academics awarded a small

grant from the Nuffield Foundation to pursue a research project entitled

‗What is Family Law For?‘. The other members of the group are

Prof Alison Diduck (UCL) and Prof Shelley Day Sclater.

Professor Roda Mushkat attended the XXIV World Congress of

Philosophy of Law & Social Philosophy: Global Harmony and Rule of Law,

held in Beijing from 15 - 20 September 2009.Her paper-- entitled

'Environmental Human Rights Revisited: The Tension between

Universalism and Cultural Relativism in Light of the Chinese Experience' -

-generated a lively discussion which focused on the analytical reasoning

and practical conclusions

Staff News

Page 9 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Staff News

Page 10 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Dr Holger Sutschet gave a paper at the SLS conference in Keele on 10 September. The topic was: The promise as basis for contractual

remedies.

A recent publication of Dr. Mohamed Elewa Badar – The Mental Element in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court - was cited by the International Criminal Court in Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre

Bemba, Case No. ICC-01/05-01/08, Decision on the Confirmation of Charges, 15 June 2009.

In the fall of 2009 two publications of Dr. Badar will appear in the New Criminal Law Review vol. 12/3-4 and in a book titled The Review Conference and the Future of the International Criminal Court, edited by Prof. Otto Triffterer, Dr. Christoph Burchard and Prof. Joachim Vogel,

(Deutschland: Carl Heymanns Verlag).

Dr Badar received an invitation from Prof. William Schabas and Dr. Nadia Bernaz to contribute with a chapter

on modes of criminal participation in their forthcoming Handbook of International Criminal Law with Routledge Publisher (2010) Akalemwa Ngenda, Lecturer in Law, Brunel Law School - was a Visiting Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge in September 2009. His research project examined the projection of territorial sovereignty into outer space, vis-à-vis claims over intellectual property rights resulting from

microgravity activities.

On October 29, 2009 Dr Badar presented a paper on International Criminal Justice in the 21st Century in the Gutenberg-Gymnasium Bergheim Science Day together with the collaboration of RWTH Aachen University. Felicity Kaganas gave an invited lecture at UCL on 29th October 2009. The paper was entitled 'When it comes to contact disputes, what are family courts for?' and is part of the Current Legal Problems series.

Professor Roda Mushkat gave a seminar presentation entitled 'Towards Environmental Human Rights: Modern Normative Theories Meet Chinese Realities' at the Centre for Comparative and Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, on 12 November 2009. The event was well attended by faculty members, practitioners and interested undergraduate and postgraduate students. Brunel lecturers Mr. Gerard Conway and Dr. Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos will be giving papers at the Police

Governance and Accountability conference (Centre for Criminal Justice, University of Limerick) on December 3

-4, 2009. Mr Conway will focus on the question of the accountability of a possible European Public Prosecutor, while Dr. Giannoulopoulos will ask, at a normative and comparative level, whether the exclusion of improperly obtained evidence is an appropriate remedy for the abuse of police powers at the pre-trial investigation stage.

Snippets

Page 11 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

School News

NSS Results

The 2008-2009 NSS results, published in August, showed that the School has considerably improved its scores and improved in every single aspect from 2007-8. The graph below shows that we are now in the upper quartile for most aspects covered by the survey. The

School will continue in its efforts to improve on these scores during 2009/10.

The VC, Professor Chris Jenks, signing the EMCA agreement in Barcelona

EMCA

In early October, members of Brunel

staff, including the VC, went to

Barcelona to attend the launch of the

EMCA (European Masters in Consumer

Affairs) degree. The degree enables a

student to gain two degrees, from

France, Romania, Italy, Spain or Brunel.

Teaching for 2009-10 began at Brunel

on 29th October. Significant interest

has already been shown for the 2010-11

year.

Student Representative

Page 12 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Our Student Representatives for 2008/9

LEVEL ONE

Saja Jabbar Hadrian Tulk Foirell Tyndale Kimberley Chukwu School Board Rep

LEVEL TWO Vivien Adeoson Jessica Gyamfi-Osew Mian Shah Justin Zinda School Board Rep

LEVEL THREE Althia Ferguson Jennifer Moore Manisha Patel Thomas Varga School Board Rep

CPE LLM PHD Kathryn Richmond Ammar Allatos Sarah Chaudhry Paulette Morris School Board Rep School Board Rep

Student News

Page 13 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Positive Year for Mooting Team

Brunel‘s moot team, led by Dr Stefan

Fafinski, finally went out of the ICLR/Weekly

Law Reports national mooting competition at

the semi-final stage on 5th March. The semi-

final, which was held at the Law Society in

Chancery Lane, was narrowly won by Birmingham City University by a

score of 120-116. Birmingham City went on to meet the College of Law,

Chester in the finals. This is the best performance by a Brunel Mooting

team yet and we are very proud of our team of Olivia Stiles and Ashley

Simon, ably backed up by the impressive research skills of Kiroulus

Abadir. Although Olivia will be moving on to the BVC later this year, we

are fortunate that Ashley and Kiroulus will be with us for another year

and look forward to building on our unprecedented success. It is, of

course, disappointing to go out of the competition having got so close,

but the team represented the Law School and the University admirably

and we can all be rightfully proud of their achievements.

In admiration of their success, in April, at the invitation of Professor Rob

Macredie, the PVC for Student Experience, the mooting team students,

together with Dr Fafinksi and Professor Olowofoyeku, the then Head of

School, attended a celebratory lunch.

l to r: Dr Stefan Fafinski, Olivia Stiles (Senior Counsel), Kiroulus Abadir (Researcher), Ashley Simon (Junior Counsel)

Student News

Page 14 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

On March 30 2009,

a group of five law

s t u d e n t s ,

accompanied by

D r . D i m i t r i o s

Giannoulopoulos,

visited Abbottsfield

school for boys in

Hillingdon, where

they discussed with

a group of Year 10

― g i f t e d a n d

talented‖ students

about A levels, life

at university and

fu tu re ca ree r

a s p i r a t i o n s

amongst other

things. Mrs Rizava,

the English teacher who arranged the event, thanked the law

students for ―their enthusiasm and devotion towards the Yr10 boys‖,

commenting that their ―advice and experiences were well received‖

and that ―the school boys found the event very interesting and

relevant to their needs and anxieties‖. The event was part of the

―school tutoring project‖, which will continue with a visit of

Abbottsfield boys to Brunel this autumn. Any law students interested

in participating in the next stage of the project should get in touch

with Dr. Giannoulopoulos at Dimitrios.giannoulopoulos@brunel.ac.uk

School Tutoring Project

Student News

Page 15 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 Page 15 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

Student News

Staff v Students Football Match

To celebrate the end of the exams , a staff v students football match was held on

Friday 22nd May. A number of students participated, some of whom were eager to

take revenge for the defeat they suffered in the basketball game held several

months prior to the match. The staff team, supported by two PhD students, was

winning 8-5 in regular time. That was the result at 6 o'clock anyway, when the

game was supposed to end. The students, however, were not prepared to leave the

ground defeated once again, so they insisted that we continued... until 6:20 when,

after 80 minutes of continuous football, they scored what they allege was the

winning goal (9-8)! The truth is we could (should) have stopped the game at 6

o'clock, but were quite reluctant to do so, probably thinking it would destroy their

self-esteem if they were to lose so badly against their teachers, in football this

time... All in all, the final score is open to interpretation.

Many thanks to Christian, Matt and Akalemwa, for an excellent game, and to

Christine Riefa, Ademola, Holger and Adrienne for supporting the team.

Work Placements

All law students both undergraduate and postgraduate should be able to

access the U-link site set up by Alison Taylor (Law Placement Officer) and

Jane Standley (Law Careers Consultant). Look for ―Law Careers

Resources 2009/10‖ where you will find information about law careers

events, help available to you if you are making applications for further

study or training contracts/pupillages, help with interview skills and much

more.

Please check the site regularly for announcements and updates

Student News

Page 16 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Graduation 2009 - Pictures from the “After Graduation” Event

Following this year’s Graduation Ceremony, students and their families, alumni and staff gathered for an “After Graduation” event to celebrate the students’ successes. Amongst the guests were representatives from some of the School’s sponsors, including Criminal Defence Solicitors, IBB Solicitors and West London Law Solicitors. We are once again indebted to these organisations who have generously given their time and

sponsored prizes in support of our students.

Graduation 2009 - Pictures from the “After Graduation” Event

Page 17 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

For further graduation pictures please go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bls2009/sets/72157622568698646/detail/

Student News

Page 18 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Chulalongkorn University Visit

Following a successful application by Dr Federico Ferretti, during the summer, several of our PG students were able to spend a month long sponsored educational and cultural visit to Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. One student, Joseph Ife Ogbonna wrote this article about the visit. My visit to Chula University, Thailand brought tremendous benefits to me. I did my LLM here at Brunel and the focus was on the WTO Law such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994. In Thailand, the International Economic Law (IEL) module was taught by a Japanese professor

of law who also had the advantage of working for the International Labour Organisation. Instead of following the statutory approach to the study of the law, he chose what one may call an Asian perspective or a development approach. He drew a line between “International Economic Law” and “International Economic Law”: the former, according to the professor, sees IEL as the law governing trade between nations and therefore transnational while the later is the “internalisation” of a powerful state’s domestic economic law as the law for all nations. The Chula IEL programme took a historical approach to the study of international law. It first tried to contextualise IEL within the international legal framework of public international law.

Reflection It is absolutely wonderful to know that there is not just one way of seeing things; that same issue could be approached from different perspectives. Because I kept an open mind, I have now seen a different approach and adjusted mine to address the issues of international development law. It was good to see a thriving economy and a coherent and peaceful legal order that sprang up from a different philosophy of life. Cultural Benefits The cultural influence of the visit on me is great. My visit to the Tiger Temple made me stand back and think. [Buddhist monks keep tigers which tourists are allowed to play with for a 100 baht (£1.90) under their careful watch.] I saw monks who have no “knowledge” of zoology but have achieved what western zoologist would be envious of. There animals appear to live in peace with man and the environment. (Edited. To see the full version please link here.) To see more photographs of the visit please visit our Flickr page Link

Joseph Ife Ogbonna playing with tigers

Students: Claudia, Alina Pyda and Rossana Deplano outside the old palace of he King of Thailand wearing borrowed sarongs as trousers are not allowed inside the building

Student News

Page 19 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

PhD Student and GTA, Joseph Ife Ogbonna

presented a paper at the International Law

Association conference on "International

Trade Law and Legal Aspects of Trans-

Border Investment" held in New Delhi,

India, on 19 and 20 September 2009. The

title of his paper was "Domestic

Enforcement of the Decisions of the WTO

Dispute Settlement Body." The paper was

well received by the world body and is

published as Chapter 17 (covering 24

pages) of the book containing papers

delivered by the delegates.

“Brunel Law Film” will continue with the screening of a variety of films, which will be

introduced by your lecturers.

We have already screened:

Witness for the prosecution: Introduced by Dr Christine Riefa (4th November)

Judgment at Nuremberg: Introduced by Professor Kaiyan Kaikobad (25th November)

The following is a list of provisional films for the remainder of this academic year:

Hotel Rwanda: Introduced by Dr Mohamed Elewa

The Baader Meinhof Complex and An Inconvenient Truth:

Introduced by Dr. Christian Heitsch

Traffic: Introduced by Dr Alexandra Xanthaki

La Haine: Introduced by Mr Gerard Conway

Do the right thing: Introduced by Dr Emmanuel Voyiakis

Brunel Law Film

Alumni

Page 20 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Following recent successes by some of our graduates, we are pleased to

introduce Alumni as a new and, hopefully, regular, feature to our newsletter

Congratulations to three former and current Brunel Law students, Dale Maw, Melissa

Harrichand and Justin Zinda (current Level 2 School Board representative), who

participated in The European International Model United Nations (TEIMUN) conference in

July 2009 in The Hague. The theme of the TEIMUN conference was "Seeking a balance in a

changing world order" and our students gained a lot of experience and developed

important skills.

Seja Majeed, one of last year's graduates, whom you may remember for her interest in

international affairs, participated in a panel on volunteering shown on Sky News on the

14th November. Well-done, Seja!

The England women's football team reached the final of the

2009 European Cup in Finland and no fewer than four

people connected to Brunel helped propel the team to their

first European final for 25 years.

Current education PhD student Anita Asante played in

defence, while 2008 Law graduate Eniola Aluko (pictured)

proved to be one of England‘s star strikers, scoring many

of the goals en route to the final.

Aside from the squad members, senior sport sciences

lecturer Misia Gervis has been the team's sport

psychologist for the last five years and has played a very

significant role in the team's fortunes.

In addition, the team‘s Coach Hope Powell was a History and Sport Sciences student at

one of Brunel‘s former colleges, Borough Road College. Speaking about their chances in the

final, Hope said: "Germany will be the clear favourites, but there have been some surprise

results at this tournament and hopefully we can pull off another one.

"We haven't been at our best yet, in terms of our footballing ability, but we have been at

our best for grit and resilience. If we can keep that going and produce our best football

then we'll definitely be in with a chance." Alas, Germany won the match 6—2.

Alumni

Page 21 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

Dr Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, along with three alumni, Karim Mustafa, Eric Yat Chung Tsoi and Ryan Hawthorne at the Graduation event in July 2009. These are true alumnis who, despite their many recent successes, have not forgotten about their alma mater.

See page 22 for further details about Eric Yat Chung Tsoi

Victor Kattan who graduated in 2001, gave a paper “From Coexistence to Conquest—International Law and Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 1891—1949” “Palestine: the twice-promised land” and also launched his new book at Brunel on 28th October 2009 in the University Research Centre- Security, Human Rights and the Media series.

Alumni

Page 22 BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Since graduating from Brunel in the summer of

2007, Eric Yat Chung Choi has successfully

completed the Professional Legal Practice course at

BPP Law School, he has obtained a professional

qualification from the Chartered Institute of

Arbitrators, of which he was evaluated as an

associate member, and completed an LLM

(Commercial Law) at UCL. He has now returned to

Hong Kong, where he will be practising as a

barrister in the future. In the mean time, he has

been recently selected to represent the University of

Hong Kong for the very prestigious Jessup Public

International Law moot as the lead oralist.

Law graduate Amina Graham, who graduated

in 2006, is now a big step closer to her dream

career as a barrister after securing a sought-

after pupillage with a top London set of

barristers‘ chambers. She has recently begun

her 12-month pupillage with Furnival

Chambers based near Chancery Lane.

A pupillage is the final stage of training to

become a barrister and follows successful

completion of the Bar Vocational Course (BVC)

at law school. Competition for pupillages is

fierce and the 1,749 students who undertook

the BVC across the UK in 2008/09 had to

battle it out for just 550 available places.

―I was over the moon to secure a pupillage,‖

said Amina. ―I‘ve always loved a good debate

and have always had a passion for

representing the interests of the most

vulnerable people in society. Once I

discovered that there was a job that would

allow me to put these traits into practice there was no turning back!‖

Since graduating from Brunel in 2007, Amina gained a five-month internship in The Hague

working for the defence team in a high-profile war crimes trial. She then travelled to Ghana

to work in a human rights law firm for a month before returning to the UK to work in the

prison law department of a criminal solicitors‘ firm.

Once she has completed her pupillage, Amina hopes to secure a tenancy with the chambers

and wants to specialise in criminal law. She said: ―I want to develop an excellent reputation

and be the best criminal barrister that I can. I hope to become a QC and a Judge one day.‖

Staff Seminars

Page 23 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

The School‘s Research Groups have set up a series of staff seminars and invited

speaker lectures throughout 2009/10. A full list of seminars/guest lectures can be

found on page 24. Staff and students have the chance to hear world authorities on

various areas including, human rights, intellectual property and criminal justice issues.

Students are strongly encouraged to attend and actively participate in such events.

l-r: Dr Christine Riefa, Dr Federico Ferretti and Alfonso Sirocco

Alfonso Scirocco, Legal Advisor of the

European Data Protection Supervisor [EDPS] - Brussels, gave a lecture as part of the EMCA series

“Data protection in the EU: rules, actors and challenges” Friday 27th November, (EMCA)

Judge Al-Khassewaneh, Vice President of ICJ gave a lecture: “Islamic Law Before Courts: An Analysis of Reach and Application”

Thursday 12th November, (CRN)

Judge Al-Khassewaneh (Centre) with some of the staff and students who attended his lecture at Brunel

Page 24

BRUNEL LAW SCHOOL

Wednesday 21st October, 4pm (CIPL) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Dr Matthew Happold, Hull University “Prohibiting Child Soldiering: International Law and National Implementation?”

(University Research Centre- Security, Human Rights and the Media) Wednesday 28th October, 4pm Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Victor Kattan, SOAS. “From Coexistence to Conquest—International Law and Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

1891—1949” “Palestine: the twice-promised land Wednesday 4th November, 6pm (IMPIRG) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Dr Maria Lillà Montagnani (Bocconi University, Milan) “Open Source Patenting”

Thursday 12th November, 5pm (CRN) Venue: Newton Room South—Hamilton Centre Judge Al-Khassewaneh, Vice President of ICJ “Islamic Law Before Courts: An Analysis of Reach and Application”

Wednesday 18th November, 6pm (IPIMRG) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Dr Estelle Derclaye, University of Nottingham “Towards a more environmentally-friendly patent law—How patents can help save the planet”

Friday 27th November, 2pm (EMCA) Venue: Lecture Centre ‗B‘ Alfonso Scirocco, Legal Advisor of the European Data Protection Supervisor [EDPS] - Brussels “Data protection in the EU: rules, actors and challenges”

Wednesday 2nd December, 6pm (IPIMRG) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Dr Barbara Lauriat, St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford “Free Trade in Books: political economy and copyright in Victorian Britain”

Tuesday 8th December, 11am (CRN) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Dr Saif Mahmood, Chief Advocate, Supreme Court of India “Right to Freedom of Religion in India: Constitutional Mandate and Emerging Challenges”

Staff Seminars

Page 25 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

Wednesday 20th January, 6pm (IPIMRG) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Mr Simon Sellars, Baker & McKenzie “Breach of confidence and privacy in an online world”

Friday 22nd January, 3pm (CJRG) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160

Helen Codd, Lancashire Law School, University of Central Lancashire “Justice without borders? Global perspectives on women, prisons and families”

Wednesday 27th January, 2pm (CJRG) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Dr Sally Cunningham, Leicester University 'Vehicular Homicide: the need for a special offence?'

Wednesday 27th January, 4pm (CIPL) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 John Jones, Doughty Street Chambers

Title: To be confirmed

Wednesday 3rd February, 2pm (CJRG) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Chris Callendar, Howard League for Penal Reform “Children in prison: the mark of a barbaric, inhumane and uncaring society?” Wednesday 3rd February, 6pm (IPIMRG)

Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Mr Alain Pottage, London School of Economics “Textural machines: patent claims and the representation of invention”

Wednesday 10th February, 4pm (CIPL)

Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Professor Sandi Ghandi, Reading University Title: To be confirmed Wednesday 3rd March, 2pm (CJRG) Venue: LC216

Prof Paul Roberts, University of Nottingham “How to save the Human Rights Act: criminal evidence, human rights and cosmopolitan jurisprudence

Wednesday 10th March, 4pm (CIPL) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Deirdre Fitzpatrick, Senior Counsel, International Transport Workers

Title: To be confirmed Wednesday 17th March, 4pm (CIPL) Venue: Marie Jahoda, Room 159/160 Professor Abimbola Olowofoyeku, Brunel University

Title: To be confirmed