Article by Anna Labedzka

The Postgraduate fora are becoming an integral part of the research calendar of the City Law School. They are showcasing the diversity of the areas of law explored by the young researchers, their passion and eagerness to contribute to academic debates.

The Fourth Annual Postgraduate Forum was held on 15 May 2015 and it is worth noting the proceedings of this lively event. It was a great opportunity for the City Law School’s PhD students to present updates on their research, to share challenging findings and provide fascinating presentations that led to lengthy and vibrant discussions. Dr Riccardo Montana opened this year’s Forum, welcomed all participants and extended best wishes from Dr Mauro Barelli. Dr Montana also chaired the first panel, which gave an opportunity to Hussam Alhmary to talk about the rule against gharar (uncertainty). His presentation was followed by a paper by Neshat Safari on the role of the derivative claim as a legitimate mechanism of protecting shareholders in the English legal system.

The second panel was chaired by Dr Carmen Draghici. Petya Ilieva provided an insightful talk on the sources of law in international commercial arbitration. It was followed by a presentation by Annabel Beales, on free, prior and informed consent and its challenges. Pinar Canga delivered a presentation on the review of the mechanisms and legal frameworks of the detention of minors in the UK and Turkey.

Dr John Stanton chaired the third panel, which brought together three PhD candidates working under the supervision of Professor Jason Chuah. Aniekan Akpan provided a presentation on the Court of Justice of the European Union interpretation of art. 2(1) of Regulation 3577/92. Carlo Corcione contributed with an overview of his research on the third parties protection in carriage of goods by sea. Faizah Abd Rahman talked about the role of fault in establishing shipper liability for cargo under international conventions. A panel composed of Dr Elaine Fahey (Chair), Dr Enrico Bonadio and Dr Mazen Masri reviewed and marked all presentations. The Panel found the presentation by Annabel Beales to be the best and awarded her with the prize of £250. The judges commended the structure and coherence of the presentation as well as Annabel’s engagement with the audience.

The final part of the Forum provided its participants with an opportunity to hear an interesting talk by Dr Chiara Berneri on life after PhD. Dr Berneri successfully passed her viva in March 2014. Her work entitled ‘The Movement and Residence Rights of Third Country National Family Members of EU Citizens: A Historical and Jurisprudential Approach’ was supervised by Professor Daniel Wilsher with Professor Steve Peers acting as her external supervisor. She presented an overview of her current academic activities, publishing plans as well as useful tips on how to achieve work-family life balance.

Professor Andrew Choo and Dr Riccardo Montana delivered the concluding remarks, including the words of gratitude for help with organization of the event extended to Mr Peter Aggar and Ms Maria Cesay. This closed the formal proceedings of the day, but as it is well known academic discussions have no end, and therefore the participants followed the ancient tradition and relocated to a less formal venue to continue their conversations.

If you would like to join our research community, please visit the PhD course pages of the City Law School.

Many thanks to Anna Labedzka, PhD Candidate, The City Law School, City University London