The lawyer is not meant to have a body. We cloak ourselves in robes, in particular forms of uniform dress and all the rest of it, but we have a very happy time telling bodies what to do or not to do - abject bodies that don't conform, people whose bodies do things that they're not “meant to” – and happily regulating those people and their bodies, but we do it through what we're meant to do as lawyers, which is to practice techniques which divorce us and the things that make us.

This post will analyse the facts of the case and whether Gender-Based Persecution, especially through the concept of gender under the Rome Statute, can encompass non-heterosexual and non-conforming gender identities. Additionally, this post, with the aid of queer theory, will address that, at the trial and sentencing phases, the Trial Chamber will have to address LGBTQIA+ victims specifically. Finally, the post will argue that the “one size fits all” clause must not invisibilise real and concrete queer victims of gender-based persecution.

On 9 June 2025, a hybrid workshop “Climate (Im)Mobility: Legal and Policy Pathways to Displacement and Entrapment in the Global Climate Emergency” was held at the University of Southampton with the funding support of the Social and Legal Studies journal. Thanks to their generous support, the organisers Andrea Maria Pelliconi, Sara Arapiles and Pratik Purswani convened the event, which brought together ten scholars to exchange ideas at the intersection of law, climate justice, sovereignty, and displacement…

he unexpected ramification of these unregistered marriages is that they may also be a barrier for those seeking reunification with spouses abroad, notably those who have sought asylum abroad.

Whatever the anti-racist intentions of well-meaning parliamentarians and campaigners, however, families have experienced FGM safeguarding policies as racism-in-action.

The joint winners of the 2024 Social & Legal Studies Editors' Choice Awards are .... Santer, K. O. (2024). Governing Through Scalar Elasticity: An Analysis of the Accountability Gap in Migration Control in the Central Mediterranean. Social & Legal Studies, 33(1), 3-20. and King, T. J., Shaw, J. D., & Kennedy, L. (2024). Documenting the Document: The Forensic Hospital Report and Its Knowledge Moves.

We studied the impact of such discriminatory legislation on vulnerable sections of society, in this case, inter-faith couples. We argue that the nature of these legislative developments and their role within the ideological framework of Hindu nationalism necessitates an urgent re-evaluation of the presumptions that underlie the characterization of India as a “democracy” in the contemporary period.

In this blog post, I want to further discuss the routineness, almost mundanity, of the mechanisms of criminalisation which can directly bear upon language minoritised peoples who come to be targets of criminal ‘justice’ intervention. I will write here about an Australian case of wrongful conviction in which language difference played a significant role.

The sea opens opportunities to study socio-legal implications of rights and forms of justice. It is borderless and global, while most people rely on its resources. Despite concerns about climate change and marine extinction, economic interests often impede preservation and equitable resource distribution. The sea’s importance draws donors and parties like the United Nations (UN) to establish global rules and regulations for its use and exploitation.  

With the implementation of the Minimum Wage Directive, the Hungarian government has once again missed an excellent opportunity to involve autonomous social partners in addressing economic and social issues. This decision represents yet another step away from a well-functioning pluralistic democracy and from the broader realization of social justice in Hungary...

Academic writing often neglects to explore or acknowledge the intellectual inspirations and experiences that shape a scholar's approach to their work. Specifically, while methodology (the “how” of research) is often explicitly discussed, the broader intellectual and experiential contexts—or “intellectually lived experiences”, such as the personal, cultural, and intellectual encounters that influence a scholar’s thinking (the “why” behind their perspectives)—are often overlooked.

The adaptability of law also provides scope for emancipatory creative lawyering, although to play an effective part in movements for wider social change it must be grounded in both a grasp of the wider political economy and political practice. However, law’s versatility also means that such movements can be accommodated or reintegrated with modifications of power structures.

Despite the seeming indeterminacy, advocates and adjudicators have tried to pin time down as a proxy for structuring experiences and ascribing values. Ultimately, I found that time functions as a proxy, it is central to the judicial imagination, a register of recognition, and a sense-making device – albeit largely implicit and intuitive.

And yet, even when the law is identified as a source, when not the source, of injustice, it is paradoxically also seen as the main remedy to such injustice, as debates usually focus on the need for…

Application forms not only impose administrative burdens on people, they also exact an emotional toll. The response to the paper has illuminated the pressing need for lived experience research on a…

Table of contents for Social & Legal Studies, 33, 6, Dec 01, 2024