The aim of the Forum is to provide a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue on the criminal law and the criminal justice system. Its members and affiliates (mainly from LSE Law School but also other LSE Departments and institutions) conduct research on various aspects of criminal law and criminal justice from a variety of methodological standpoints (moral, political and social theory, criminology, anthropology, epistemology etc.).
The Forum organises an annual seminar series on criminal law and criminal justice theory. The aim of the series is to facilitate scholars and students coming together to discuss cutting edge research and share their views in a rigorous but friendly environment. We see our seminars as a vital break from the ‘solitary confinement’ of academic rumination: an occasion to meet new people working or studying in the field and to strengthen the community of scholars interested in the criminal justice system.
We have had the pleasure to host some of the most established scholars worldwide in criminal law and criminal justice studies, but also younger scholars producing exciting new work. See the posters in the right-hand column for the names of colleagues who presented their work in the Forum. The seminars consistently attract a numerous and active audience of people from various backgrounds and areas of expertise, including philosophers, sociologists, criminologists, and lawyers. The range of topics has been impressively wide. This interdisciplinarity – which is a defining trait of the Forum and the LSE Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Group – has always enriched the experience of both speakers and attendees. We regularly host book launches celebrating the publication of important new work (and putting it to close scrutiny!). Some of our seminars are organised in co-operation with the LSE Mannheim Centre for Criminology.
The forum was greatly enriched by the participation of Prof. Mike Redmayne, who passed away in June 2015.
Should you be interested in receiving details regarding the Forum or individual events do not hesitate to contact the Forum co-ordinator.
2023/24 Seminars and events
Autumn Term 2023
2 October 2023
Rebecca Campbell (Michigan State)
'Justice Denied: Exploring the U.S. Criminal Legal System’s Response to Sexual Assault'
14 November 2023
Ely Aaronson (Haifa)
'Transnational Configurations of the Criminalization-Racialization Nexus and the Origins of InternationalCannabis Prohibitions'
5 December 2023
Alex Sarch (Surrey)
'Collective Knowledge and the Limits of the Expanded Identification Doctrine'
Winter Term 2024
16 January 2024
Gabrielle Watson (Edinburgh)
'Just Words? Ethics and the Language of Criminal Justice'
13 February 2024
Liat Levanon (KCL)
'Evidence Law in Times of a Big Data Revolution'
12 March 2024
Nicolas Nayfeld (Panthéon-Sorbonne)
'Prison Abolitionism and Confinement: an Ambiguous Relationship'
Events take please in the Moot Court Room (LSE Cheng Kin Ku, 7th floor) at 6pm. A Zoom link will be circulated in advance of each seminar for those wishing to attend remotely. For further information, contact f.picinali@lse.ac.uk
Forum Coordinators
Dr Federico Picinali (LSE Law)
Forum Members
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis (LSE Social Policy)
Jonathan Fisher QC (LSE Law)
Dr Janet Foster (LSE, Sociology)
Prof. Jeremy Horder (LSE Law)
Prof. Jon Jackson (LSE, Methodology)
Prof. Nicola Lacey (LSE Law)
Prof. Jill Peay (LSE Law)
Dr Peter Ramsay (LSE Law)
Prof. Robert Reiner (LSE Law)
Prof. Paul Rock (LSE Professor Emeritus of Sociology)
Prof. David Soskice (LSE Government)