Human rights focus for new law degree

The first law degree to be offered by Goldsmiths, University of London will have a particular focus on human rights law and the post-Brexit landscape, it has been announced.

The LLB (Hons) Law degree will be led by Professor Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, who holds the Inaugural Chair in Law at Goldsmiths. Prospective students can apply now for the three-year course which will start in October 2019.

The programme features some of the UK’s foremost experts on human rights law with visiting professors including: Martha Spurrier, Executive Director of Liberty, the UK’s leading human rights campaigning organisation, Kirsty Brimelow QC, Head of Doughty Street Chambers’s international Human Rights and Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, renowned for leading the prosecution of Slobodan Milošević and a leading figure on international criminal law, and Judge Donald Cryan, a Family Law judge and former Treasurer at the Inner Temple.

As well as being a qualifying law degree, and preparing graduates for a career in law in England and Wales, there will be significant study of foreign and international law with analysis of the constitutional, socio-political, cultural, and economic ramifications of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

The course was also designed in anticipation of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), to provide a strong foundation to prospective solicitors that will aim to take the exam in order to qualify.

Students will be able to learn about specialist areas of law particularly relevant to Goldsmiths’ rich heritage in the creative arts, innovation, and social engagement: covering topics such as Media Law, Art Law, creativity and Intellectual Property Law, Commercial Law, disruptive technologies, Criminology and Human Rights, and Criminal Law.

Patrick Loughrey, Warden of Goldsmiths said: “Law is the bedrock of our civil society and a powerful tool for challenging social injustice. In these rapidly-changing and uncertain times legal expertise, harnessed for the public good, has never been more important across a range of fields including human rights, commerce, and the creative arts. This is why we are so happy to launch such an inclusive, vibrant, and forward-looking Law degree programme.”

Professor Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, Inaugural Chair in Law at Goldsmiths, said: “We are developing a distinctive programme that is not only professionally relevant but that addresses major socio-political, cultural and economic questions we face in the world today. Our diverse curriculum will encourage students to think critically about challenges such as those posed by the rapid growth of technology on individual rights and the creative industries, and what the decision to leave the European Union means for the UK’s relationship with Europe and the rest of the world.”