Vacancies

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR SLS OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS
(Deadline Wednesday 10 May 2023, 17:00hrs BST).

The SLS invites nominations for the following posts:

Vice-President Elect (from October 2023, to be Vice President from October 2024 and President from October 2025)
Four Ordinary Members of Executive (from October 2023)
Up to five members of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (from October 2023)
One member of the Legal Education Sub Committee (from October 2023)
Two members of the Research Grants Committee (from October 2023)
Two members of the Research Sub-Committee (from October 2023).

The SLS encourages applications from members, in good standing, of all genders, ethnicities, types of institution, and career stage based anywhere in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Ethnic minority* and early career members of the SLS, currently under-represented in these roles, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Anyone interested in any of the above posts or who would like to nominate another person is welcome to contact the Honorary Secretary, Professor Anne Davies, for more information: anne.davies@law.ox.ac.uk.

Nominations for SLS Officers will be considered and voted on by the members who are present at the Society’s AGM on Thursday 29 June 2023. Nominations for ordinary members of the Executive will be considered and voted on by the members who are present at the Council Meeting on Thursday 29 June 2023.

* We recognise that ‘BAME’ fails properly to capture the varied and particular experiences and identities of People of Colour in the UK and Ireland. Our use of this term aims to be inclusive of all disadvantaged groups.

For further details of the vacancies and how to apply, please see below:

(i) OFFICERS

Under r 14 of the Society’s Rules, the President is elected two years in advance, becoming first Vice President Elect, then Vice President, and then President. We are therefore now looking to elect the President for 2025/26.

Other officers are elected a year in advance and are subject to re-election on an annual basis. There is a convention that they will be available to serve for a period of five years, subject to being re-elected annually during that time. Where colleagues are on maternity, parental, caring and other leave appropriate cover is provided by other officers.

The following will be standing for re-election in June 2023:

Professor Stephen Hardy, University of Hull (Honorary Treasurer)
Professor Nicola Wake, Northumbria University (Honorary Subject Sections Secretary)
Professor Anne Davies, University of Oxford (Honorary Secretary)
Professor Marek Martyniszyn, Queens University Belfast (Hon. Membership Secretary)
Dr Desmond Ryan, Trinity College Dublin (Convenor for Ireland)
Professor Paul Beaumont, University of Stirling (Convenor for Scotland)

Nominations for Vice-President Elect must have a proposer and seconder and be signed by the candidate. The proposer, seconder and candidate must all be members of the SLS. Where a member seeks to be nominated and does not know another member who can propose or second them, they are encouraged to contact the Honorary Secretary, Professor Anne Davies: anne.davies@law.ox.ac.uk

Nominations must be returned to the Honorary Secretary via the Administrative Secretary (Rosa Bladon: admin@legalscholars.ac.uk) by Wednesday 10 May 2023, 17:00hrs (BST).

Nomination forms are available here or from admin@legalscholars.ac.uk .

(ii) EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

In addition to the officers of the Society, the Executive Committee has nine elected members, three of whom must be “recent” members of the Society (being members who, at the date of their election, have fewer than eight years membership). In many cases these will be early career researchers.

The Committee meets three times a year in London (November, January, and May – meetings are hybrid with in-person and virtual attendance options) and the Society pays travelling expenses.

Members are elected for an initial term of three years and may serve one further term of three years.

Please see the SLS website here for further details.

There are four Ordinary Member vacancies on the Executive Committee. Nominations must have a proposer and seconder and be signed by the candidate. The proposer, seconder and candidate must all be members of the SLS. Where a member seeks to be nominated and does not know another member who can propose or second them, they are encouraged to contact the Honorary Secretary, Professor Anne Davies: anne.davies@law.ox.ac.uk.

Nominations must be returned to the Honorary Secretary via the Administrative Secretary (Rosa Bladon: admin@legalscholars.ac.uk) by Wednesday 10 May 2023, 17:00hrs (BST). Nomination forms are available here.

(iii) SUB-COMMITTEE MEMBERS

There are up to five vacancies on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee; one vacancy on the Legal Education Sub-Committee; two vacancies on the Research Grants Committee and two vacancies on the Research Sub-Committee. These are open to all members. The Society recognises that from 2023, men will be under-represented on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and would therefore particularly encourage men to apply.

Appointments are normally made by Council and the usual term of office is three years. If there are insufficient candidates to carry out the work of the committees, the Executive may co-opt members. Where co-option is necessary the Executive will seek to ensure that the whole membership of the Society is represented, and thus take account of gender, race, institution type, jurisdiction, and career stage.