Law: Unit of Assessment 38

The vast majority of research in UoA 38 Law, is officially classified as world-leading, internationally excellent or recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour, with a significant amount being placed in one of the higher categories for quality in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.

Quality Level 4* 3* 2* 1* Unclassified
% of research activity 0 40 45 15 0

In RAE2001, Newcastle Law School was awarded a grade 5, a significant improvement on its previous ratings. The importance of maintaining a strong upward trajectory is a principal determinant in its present research strategy. To this end the Law School has:

  • Increasingly sought to promote intellectual concentration, most immediately in the establishment of research groups.
  • Managed a significant increase in staffing capacity of approximately 50%, seeing an increase in the number of staff during the period from 17 to 25.
  • Maintained its particular aspiration to promote the next generation of research active academic lawyers. Eight of the staff submitted in this exercise are early career researchers.  
  • Significantly enhanced its external grant and research income. Since 2001, the School has obtained awards of approximately £400,000.
  • Undergone significant restructuring of its postgraduate research programmes, which now encompass ESRC recognition in environmental law and policy.
  • Promoted a range of conference and seminar activity designed to enhance the School’s engagement with the wider legal and academic community.

Our research is structured around four research groups which map an agenda for the future:

  • Commercial Law
  • Environmental Regulation Research
  • Human Rights Group
  • Law, Society and Legal Education.

We are rapidly building up our postgraduate community by establishing targeted strategic links with a number of overseas Law Schools, including the Siberian Federal University, the Southwestern University of Political Science and Law in Chongquing, the University of Western Ontario and Istanbul Yeditepe University. We awarded 13 research degrees in the two academic years 2004/5 and 2005/6, and recruited 11 new PhD and MPhil students in 2006/7.

Our aim is to ensure that research in the Law School continues to speak to the pressing issues in contemporary legal education, not just critical intellectual debates, but also parallel initiatives to promote greater engagement in matters of public policy, as well as in legal education itself.