Call for Papers: British Legal History Conference 2021 Law and Constitutional Change

via Norma Dawson, Queen's University, Belfast

CALL FOR PAPERS

The 2021 British Legal History Conference (BLHC)

In association with the Irish Legal History Society

Queen’s University, Belfast

7-10 July 2021

LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

Abstracts are invited for the 2021 BRITISH LEGAL HISTORY CONFERENCE which is being run jointly with the IRISH LEGAL HISTORY SOCIETY and hosted by Queen’s University Belfast. 

2021 will be a significant year in the “Decade of Centenaries”[1] in Ireland, north and south, marking both the centenary of the opening in June 1921 of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, and the centenary of the signing of articles of agreement for the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, which led to the establishment of the Irish Free State.  Against this background, BLHC 2021 will take place in partnership with the ILHS in Belfast. 

While the conference theme – “Law and Constitutional Change” – has been chosen in the context outlined above, this is without any intention to restrict the scope of the conference papers to Anglo-Irish history.   The theme will be interpreted in all its historical breadth, examining from any historical perspective the relationship between law and law-making on the one hand and, on the other, the shaping of constitutional principles and the disruption or maintenance of constitutional balance.

Please note the following rules:

-          Abstracts must be for individual papers only, not for panels

-          Only one abstract to be submitted per person

-          Abstracts must be submitted as Microsoft Word documents using the online portal on the Call for Papers page of the conference website.  Please do not submit by email.

-          Abstracts must not exceed 500 words

-          The deadline for submission of abstracts is Friday 30 August 2020

-          Queries can be emailed to BLHC-2021-info@qub.ac.uk    

-          At the conference, individual oral presentations will last 15-20 minutes.

We hope to publish the programme on the conference website in October 2020.  Details of plenary speakers will also appear there in due course.

Proposals from postgraduate and early career researchers are welcome.

Further information about travel to Belfast, accommodation, and so on, will be added to the conference website during 2020-2021:  https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/BLH-Conference-2021/

This, the second joint BLHC - ILHS conference, was proposed by Sir Anthony Hart, retired High Court judge, former president of ILHS and enthusiastic supporter of BLHCs, who died suddenly in July 2019.  A poster competition is planned during the 2021 conference as a tribute to Tony.  There will be two prizes, including one for the PGR/early career category. The prizes are generously funded by the Journal of Legal History and by the Irish Legal History Society.  Details of the competition will be posted on the conference website.

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[1] See https://www.decadeofcentenaries.com, a website sponsored by the Irish Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and other websites linked to it.