About Us

A unit of Law has been entered in all research evaluation assessments since 1992, showing a consistent improvement in its research profile.

Our Research Vision is to transform our “University of Opportunity” into a “Global University of Positive Outcomes, Influence and Impact”. We are increasing the outcomes, the influence and impact of our research, knowledge transfer and scholarship on our student experiences, our clients and other stakeholders, including professional and governmental bodies locally, regionally, nationally and globally.

Welcome to the website for the University’s Law Research Centre. Whether you study, research or teach at our Centre, you are a valued member of our community. As a community, we strive to share our expertise to enhance the knowledge and opportunities of our students, who also benefit from monthly presentations, research and working groups, and our Law Journal. Whether you are already here or want to come here, and whether you want to study subjects as diverse as Insolvency Law or Criminal Justice, with either a doctrinal or theoretical approach, we welcome you to our Centre.

- Prof Pete Walton 

How we work

The University made a long-term strategic investment in legal research following RAE1996, leading to the establishment in 2010 of the Law Research Centre (LRC), which oversees all of the University’s law research. The LRC sits within the Law School, which itself sits within the Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences (FABSS). The LRC provides a focal point for law research and associated areas covered by the REF Law panel, for example, black letter law, socio-legal research, feminist theory, IP social justice, criminal justice and criminology. PhD researchers enjoy the vitality of the LRC and are supported by supervisors who are members of it. We aim to provide research-led teaching to all our students in an expanding range of modules that seek to integrate staff research interests. We have modules that reflect our staff’s expertise in Insolvency Law, Intellectual Property Law, Protest Law, Evidence Law, Financial Services and Financial Crime, Punishment and Society in England and Wales since 1718 and Police Decision-making, Discretion and Difference.  

The LRC provides support for research covering different specialisms and employing diverse methodologies. It consists of two areas of excellence:

• Commercial Law, focusing on arbitration law, corporate law, financial services law and crime, capital markets law, employment law, insolvency law and intellectual property law.
  
  
• Criminal Justice, concentrating on historical and current aspects of criminal justice and human rights in both the national and international context of policing, criminal law, the law of evidence and human rights, including issues around homelessness.