Law

The study of Law has been a central part of the life of All Souls College since its foundational statutes stipulated that sixteen of the forty fellows were to be Jurists. It has pioneered university legal education in a number of areas. Roman law has been studied at the College since the foundation of the Regius Professorship of Civil Law by King Henry VIII. All Souls also played a pivotal role in establishing the academic study of English law, when William Blackstone was appointed the first Vinerian Professor in 1758. Since 1859, the College has been the home of the Chichele Professor of Public International Law. All Souls also played a significant role in initiating the study of criminology in Oxford, helping the refugee German criminologist Professor Max Grünhut to find a scholarly home in 1938. In 1973, the University Readership in Criminology became linked to All Souls and the University Professorship in Criminology is now attached to the College.

The College has traditionally maintained a strong connection with the wider legal community, seeking to maintain an exchange of ideas between the academy and the profession. The JUSTICE/All Souls Review of Administrative Law, chaired in the 1980s by the Warden of the College, Lord Neill of Bladon, helped to influence the development of English public law. In celebration of his Wardenship, an annual lecture is delivered by leading academics and Justices of the United Kingdom Supreme Court. The current Fellowship includes a number of eminent barristers and judges, as well as leading academics with particular expertise in jurisprudence, criminal law and criminology, the history of English law and the continental civilian tradition, international law and English public and private law.

Current Fellows:

Emeritus and Honorary Fellows:

Events this week

June

15 Jun 26

George Eliot as Historian Reading Group, Week 8 - Eliot as Historian