This activity sees the Centre host a series of talks on critical issues in law and society and legal education which aim to bring students and faculty in contact with thought leaders in the field (both inside and outside of the field of law), to encourage dialogue on difficult topics, and to open conversations between socio-legal scholars and researchers, activists and thinkers who practice at the boundary between law and society.
Anti-Racism as a Legal Principle
On 29th September, the Centre for Law and Society hosted Shreya Atrey as she presented her new monograph Anti-Racism as a Legal Principle (OUP 2026). Anti-Racism as a Legal Principle shows that the law on racial discrimination represents a liberal model of anti-racism which does not address racism in a structural sense. In fact, there is no general legal principle of anti-racism in the UK or elsewhere in comparative (Canada, India, South Africa) and international law. In response, the book contributes to defining, locating and realising a general principle of anti-racism in public law.
About the author: Shreya Atrey is an Associate Professor in International Human Rights Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford. Shreya is the Editor-in-Chief of the Human Rights Law Review (OUP).
The Human Rights Impact of Merit-Based School Segregation
On 8th September, the Centre for Law and Society hosted a talk by Rawletta Barrow entitled The Human Rights Impact of Merit-Based School Segregation
Through a study of schooling in Guyana, Rawletta's work problematises the colonial practice of merit-based school segregation, instead arguing that school placement should be reimagined by adopting a rights-based and decolonial perspective which redefines the aims of education in a way that looks beyond academic metrics, views the child as a whole person, and is inclusive, reparatory, and empowering.
Rawletta Barrow is a DPhil candidate in Law at the University of Oxford from Guyana. She holds a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill). Her doctoral research project, supervised by Prof. Sandra Fredman, focuses on the human rights impact of merit-based segregation in education in Guyana and the UK. She also currently works as a Researcher and Blog Editor with the Oxford Human Rights Hub, where she is attached to a project focused on recognition of early childhood education as a human right in international law. Additionally, she is a student fellow of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, serves as Deputy Chairperson of Oxford Pro Bono Publico and as Co-convener of the Decolonising Law Discussion Group at the Oxford University Law Faculty.
More information here: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/people/rawletta-barrow
Rebel Sex: male combatants and desire in coercive circumstances
On 23rd February 2026 the Centre for Law and Society and Centre of Criminology hosted a talk by A/Prof Holly Porter entitled Rebel Sex: male combatants and desire in coercive circumstances
The talk addressed the relationship between environment and desire, focusing on male combatants in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. Most LRA fighters were forcibly conscripted as teenagers. Their opportunities for sexual encounters were tightly controlled: either through forced “marriages” or strictly forbidden interactions with punishments including death or castration. Drawing on evolving international legal perspectives on “coercive circumstances,” I propose extending this concept to understand the experiences of all actors and viewing it as a violent affective space shaping everyone’s desires. Three ideas for theorizing desire are introduced: para-subjective desire, mimetic desire, and transgressive desire. While predominant narratives about sexualities in war center on female victims or male perpetrators of sexual violence, this study offers a counter- narrative to the preponderance of carceral thinking and proposes an ethnographically grounded approach to theorizing desire and affect in coercive circumstances, in war and beyond.
Beyond Doing No Harm: Do Businesses Have Positive Obligations to Help Realise Fundamental Rights
On 22nd August 2025, CLS hosted a seminar with Prof David Bilchitz (University of Johannesburg/SAIFAC) titled Beyond Doing No Harm: Do Businesses Have Positive Obligations to Help Realise Fundamental Rights?. This seminar engaged with analytical framework presented in his recent book Fundamental Rights and the Legal Obligations of Business (Cambridge University Press, 2022). Prof Bilchitz was in discussion with Prof Danwood Chirwa.
David is a Professor of Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Law at the University of Johannesburg and Director of the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law (SAIFAC).
Defensive Medicine: Is it in the Best Interests of the Child?
On 5th May 2025 CLS hosted a seminar on: Defensive medicine: is it in the best interests of the child? Salona Lutchman (Senior Lecturer, University of Cape Town) will present a paper on the topic, with Dr Noam Peleg (Associate Professor, University of New South Wales Sydney) as discussant.
Salona Lutchman is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Public Law at the University of Cape Town.
Noam Peleg is an Associate Professor and Director – Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the Faculty of Law and Justice at the University of New South Wales Sydney.
The failures of others: Justifying institutional expansion in comparative public and international law
Professor Michaela Hailbronner (University of Münster) presented a seminar on her forthcoming book The failures of others: Justifying institutional expansion in comparative public and international law. - Wednesday, 26th March 2025
Michaela Hailbronner is a Professor of German and International Public Law and Comparative Law at the University of Münster. Michaela completed two German law degrees at the University of Freiburg and the Kammergericht of Berlin before doing an LL.M. and a J.S.D. (doctorate) at Yale Law School (LL.M. 2010 and J.S.D. 2013). She is Co-President of the International Society of Public Law, involved in a number of international collaborations as well as part of the advisory board of the International Journal of Constitutional Law (ICON) and World Comparative Law (WCL/VRÜ).
The South African Constitution as a ‘constructive revolutionary’ case
Professor James Fowkes (University of Münster) presented his forthcoming paper 'On Constitutional Power in South Africa: Beyond the Negotiation Story', with Dr Nomfundo Ramalekana (UCT) as discussant. - Wednesday, 19th February 2025
James Fowkes is Professor of Foreign and International Law at the University of Münster. He is the author of Building the Constitution: The Practice of Constitutional Interpretation in Post-Apartheid South Africa.
Nomfundo Ramalekana is a senior lecturer in the Department of Public Law at the University of Cape Town
Democratic turning points? Reflections on India and South Africa
Roundtable discussion on the theme “Democratic turning points? Reflections on India and South Africa” with Professor Tarun Khaitan (LSE) and Professor Hugh Corder (UCT) - Thursday, 22nd August 2024
Gaza and International Law
A conversation on Gaza and International Law. Professor Cathleen Powell and Dr Khomotso Moshikaro discussed current developments in proceedings and processes at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court. The conversation was facilitated by Caitlin Le Roith - Tuesday, 7th May 2024
Problems in Academic Publication
A conversation with Prof Anthony Diala on Problems in Academic Publication. The discussion will be based on his recent, co-authored publication titled ‘The Tsetse Fly Perched on the Scrotum: Publishing Problems in Academic Journals’. The article, attached, critiques South Africa’s research incentive system, and identifies problems in the peer-review publication process. - Thursday, 14th March 2024
Legal consciousness and dissent
A conversation with Dr Vanya Gastrow on legal consciousness theory and the regulation of foreign-owned small businesses in South Africa. ‘Legal consciousness and dissent: The formal and informal regulation of foreign shopkeepers in South Africa’ - Tuesday, 31st October 2023
Can we be scholar activists?
Dr Khomotso Moshikaro (Department of Private Law) in conversation with Nurina Ally (Department of Public Law) - Friday, 29th September 2023
