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Law Discussion Group

The Thomas More Institute, which promotes principled engagement with a variety of public issues of moment, established in 2007 a Discussion Group for exploration of the philosophical and moral underpinnings of the Law especially among younger practitioners. Particular attention is given to Natural Law approaches. Meetings are held at more or less monthly intervals, 7.30pm to 9.00pm on Monday evenings, at a venue near the City. Normally a short prepared paper is given by a participants or a guest speaker to set the scene prior to discussion becoming general around the table. At times sessions are of a more philosophical or theoretical nature while other meetings revisit the thinking behind specific judicial decisions.

Papers delivered at the latest sessions

10 May 2010
Should the Law Protect Fools? -- or, a Discourse on Recent Developments in the Law to Prevent a Fool and his Money from being so Easily Parted
Joel Coles

12 April 2010
Conflicts of Interest: Can they Ever be 'Managed'?
Stephen Hornsby

8 February 2010
Regulation, Administrative Law and Socio-Legal Research: The Debate over Legitimacy and Governance in the International Arena
Andrés G. Watty

11 January 2010
Juristocracy from a UK and European Perspective
Gerard Conway
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14 December 2009
Concordats and Formal Legal Relations between States and the Holy See Today: Reasons and Consequences
Prof. Marek Smid
 
2 November 2009
Convergence and Contrast in Health Care Law Around the Atlantic
Martin Meenagh
 
22 June 2009
'By St. Julian!': a Human Rights Reflection on the Feast of St. Thomas More
Mark de Pulford
 
11 May 2009
Is an Unjust Law No Law? Some Modern Examples
Roger Turner, a solicitor advocate
 
27 April 2009
Rupert Talbot-Garman, a solicitor with Middleton Potts, specialising in international commercial shipping
 
30 March 2009
When is Trading Wrongful?
Anthony Doherty, a Masters student at UCL Law School, reading International Banking and Finance Law
 
23 February 2009
The Law and Ethics of Money Production
David Burke, solicitor with Sidley Austin LLP
 
1 December 2008
Spiritual Roots of English Legal Positivism
Prof. Anthony Carty, Professor of Public Law, University of Aberdeen
 
17 November 2008
A Thomist Looks at the Markets
Howard Trust, Group General Counsel, Schroders
 
27 October 2008
Human Rights in International Law - Losing the Plot?
Nigel Parker, adviser on international human rights law

30 June 2008
Legislative Dilemmas: Cooperation and Cooperation2
Stephan Barrie, Education Officer for the Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics, London

19 May 2008
Rights, Value Pluralism and Linguistic Vagueness
Gunnar Beck, lecturer in EU Law and Legal Theory at SOAS, and a parliamentary legal adviser on EU law 
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31 March 2008
Freedom of Conscience in UK Law: What is it About?
Thomas Chacko, St Edmund Hall, Oxford

25 February 2008
Human Rights Law: Help or Hindrance?

Shu Shin Luh and Felicity Williams, barristers at Doughty Street Chambers

26 November 2007
Was the Iraq War Lawful?
Peter Smith, trainee Barrister and Matthew McDermott, international regulatory consultant

29 October 2007
Discovering the Natural Law in Everyday Discourse
Michael Moore, Integrity Psychologist and commentator on socio-legal issues

24 September 2007
The Morality of Tax Avoidance
David Burke, Cadwalader Wickersham and Taft LLP

25 June 2007
Bland and Fallacious Distinctions? Acts, Omissions and the Sanctity of Life
(cf. Airedale NHS Trust v Bland)
Richard Sear, 1 Hare Court, Temple

21 May 2007
Legislating Morality: The Myth of Legal Neutrality
Matthew O’Brien, Corpus Christi College, Oxford

16 April 2007
Why Natural Law Matters
Russell Wilcox, TMI


If you would like to receive more information about the activities of the Law Discussion Group, please contact us at: info@thomasmoreinstitute.org.uk