Legal Event

Clive Weber (Ridgeway 1965-1969), Consultant lawyer at Wedlake Bell introduces his guest speaker and keeps us up-to-date with new solicitor training requirements and the careers website offer

Refugee law – where are we now?

As the displacement of peoples continues apace, this topic is ever-more important. We invited Guy Goodwin-Gill (Ridgeway 1960-1965), Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford to speak on the subject. Guy has an extensive portfolio of academic appointments and a distinguished law practise. He is currently a Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW.

He is Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, Emeritus Professor of International Refugee Law, and an Honorary Associate of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre. He practised as a barrister at Blackstone Chambers, London, from 20022018, specialising in public international law, human rights, citizenship, and refugee and asylum law. He represented pro bono the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as ‘Intervener’ in a number of appeals in the United Kingdom House of Lords and Court of Appeal, was counsel for refugees and asylum seekers in the UK Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, and has acted in the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.

He was formerly Professor of Asylum Law at the University of Amsterdam, served as a Legal Adviser in the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 19761988, was the President of Refugee & Migrant Justice (London) for 13 years, and President of the Media Appeals Board of Kosovo from 2000-2003.

He is the Founding Editor of the International Journal of Refugee Law (Oxford University Press), was Editor-in-Chief from 1989-2001, and has lectured and published widely on, among other topics, human rights, the responsibility of States, statelessness, free and fair elections, child soldiers, child rights, the international law governing the movement of people between States, and the protection of refugees.

Legal Training In The 21st Century

Of particular interest to aspiring lawyers will be the recent shake up in legal training requirements. Full details can be found on the website of the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority sra.org.uk.

Here are some key points:

From September 2021 there will be a Single Qualifying Examination (SQE) for solicitors; whether one has a law or other degree, or completed equivalent work experience for example through a solicitor apprenticeship; all roads will lead to the SQE.

Together with Professor Jane McAdam and Emma Dunlop, he is currently preparing the fourth edition of The Refugee in International Law. Recent publications include, ‘The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Sources of International Refugee Law’ (2020), 69 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 1. In March 2020, he received the Stefan A Riesenfeld Memorial Award at Berkeley Law, for his contributions to international law and international refugee law: ‘The Lawyer and the Refugee’. The fourth edition of his leading work co-authored with Jane McAdam ‘The Refugee in International Law’ has been recently published.

Oms Careers Website

The Legal section of the Careers website is under development and is intended to cover:

• Tips on how to qualify as a lawyer.

• Differences between private practice, in-house legal roles and government/local authority service.

• Overview of different legal specialisms.

• Contact details so that students/would-be lawyers can obtain further insight to help their career choices and progression.

The social events, talks and website developments are part of our commitment to the development to the OM legal community and our ability as a group to offer practical support to students who are unfamiliar with how the law works in practise as well as established law practitioners.

We look forward to welcoming you over the coming year.

Contact: Clive Weber cweber@wedlakebell.com

Training contracts (2 years full-time, or part-time equivalent) will now be more flexible, allowing for training seats in more than one organisation and for differing periods – not necessarily 6 months in each legal specialism.

Solicitor apprenticeships – for those not wishing to go to university (not for everyone and also bearing in mind costs) some solicitors’ firms now offer qualification through the apprenticeship route, being a mixture of work and academic study.