Cornwall: Second Homes and Devolution
The lack of affordable accommodation for permanent residents of many rural and coastal communities is a long-standing problem, as is the related controversy around the ethics and economics of second homes. Many villages have witnessed their younger generation bleed...
The Mayflower Compact
There is no ‘phone, internet, or even postal service. You are about to be left on the edge of the known world, a long way from where anyone is expecting you to be. You had intended to settle on a different part of the coast, but the weather and circumstances changed...
Constitutions and Codification
Whenever you indentify yourself as a British constitutional lawyer at an international gathering, there is a high chance that some helpful soul is going to earnestly tell you that the United Kingdom doesn’t have a Constitution. It is tempting to go into a dramatic...
Haunting, Hoaxes and Hierarchy-Did an 18th century ghost threaten the Established Church?
The approach of Halloween and plethora of pumpkins made it seem an appropriate time to discuss the infamous Cock Lane ghost, and what the bizarre saga tells us about law, power and religion, both historically and in the contemporary world.The episode began with a...
Escape Rooms-Teaching and Public Engagement
This autumn we hosted a workshop aimed at academics interested in using Escape Rooms as a vehicle for teaching and public engagement. Adam Giles of The Great Escape Game presented and answered questions, taking our research on John Dee and Alchemists as a case...
Challenge to Guidance on Transgender Issues in Cornish Schools
Conservative Christian parents Sally and Nigel Rowe have again made headlines, with the announcement of their intention to bring a judicial review action against the Department of Education. The Rowes argue that the Ministry ought to have intervened to challenge the...
Marriage Law-Why Consummation Should Be Abolished.
Consensus amongst the legal community is unusual, but there is widespread agreement that Marriage Law in England and Wales is long overdue for reform. The Law Commission is currently formulating policy proposals on the legal arrangements for weddings.Predictably...
When is it appropriate to treat extreme ideologies as terrorism?
At the time of writing, the United Kingdom is still reeling from the tragic news of a shooting in Plymouth, which took the lives of five innocent people, including a little girl of three. To make the pill even more bitter, it now appears that the weapon used to...
Exorcism and Domestic Abuse
Media reports and a press release from the CPS detailed the conviction of Dr Hossam Metwally for administering potentially lethal drugs to his partner in the course of religious rituals, intended to free her from jinn, or evil spirits. Unsurprisingly, the...
Why does a liberal democracy need a police force?
Thomas Hobbes famously described what it would mean to live in a state of nature. In such a world there would be:"No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary,...
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