"Serving Certainty and Flexibility: The Interesting Realities of English Law" - Joan Upson
Monday January 12th, 2015 - 4.15pm, The Fothergill Theatre
Those of you who have an interest in the law may already have a inkling of the ability of our courts to serve at one and the same time, the dual masters of Certainty and Flexibility. Those of you who have studied Politics and Governance will also have an understanding of the constitutional division of powers within this country and the notion that Parliament is supreme. Those of you who have no knowledge of either, however, can relax in the knowledge that our explorations today may be of some interest, but be perhaps less shocking than they may prove to be to some of your colleagues! During this meeting of The Fothergill Society we will spend a little time rambling through the landscape that is the Common Law, taking a little time to consider the activities of the Courts both in creating law, and in administering the laws created by Parliament. You will then have the opportunity to exercise your own legal minds by acting in a judicial capacity to interpret a fictitious Act of Parliament.
Joan Upson is a Senior University Teacher at The University of Sheffield's School of Law. After a short period in Local Government, Joan embarked upon a career in academia, initially at De Montfort Leicester, then Loughborough, and latterly at Sheffield where she has worked for almost 10 years. Before arriving at Sheffield, the focus of her work was on Environmental and European Law; since arriving at Sheffield, she has also taught across the ‘core’ legal subjects and currently works in the areas of Contract, Tort, Land Law and Employment Law, acting as the subject convenor for Contract law on the undergraduate programmes and the MA Law. Joan also holds a number of significant administrative positions within the department, in particular Deputy Director of Teaching and Director of Skills and Employability.