Brexit and Family Law Conference: Speakers

Paul Beaumont

Professor of EU and Private International Law, University of Aberdeen

Paul Beaumont has been a member of the UK delegation at The Hague Conference on Private International Law since 1996, was a member of the Hague's drafting committees on Choice of Court and Maintenance and is a member of the Council of the European Union Committee on Civil Law. From 1996 to 2013 he was a consultant on private international law to the UK Government and to the Scottish Government. He is a member of the UK Advisory Committee on Private International Law. Co-editor with Professor Jonathan Harris of the Journal of Private International Law, co-editor of the Hart Studies in Private International Law Series, and author and editor of a number of leading texts on international family law issues.

Janeen Carruthers

Professor of Private Law, University of Glasgow

A leading expert on the conflict of laws in the UK and the EU, with a particular specialism in the EU programme of harmonisation of private international law. Janeen has completed research for the European Parliament on the private international law rules on surrogacy regimes across the Member States, and is an expert on a range of private international law fields including mediation in civil matters, and succession. Co-author of Cheshire's Private International Law and International Private Law: A Scots Perspective. She has contributed evidence on Family Law matters post-Brexit to the UK and Scottish Parliaments, and the Scottish Government's Standing Council on Brexit.

Elizabeth Crawford

Honorary Research Fellow, School of Law, University of Glasgow

Formerly Professor of International Private Law, Elizabeth’s research has focused on the EU programme of harmonisation of civil and commercial law, and family law, particularly property and succession. She has contributed evidence on post-Brexit Family Law matters to UK and Scottish Parliaments, and the Scottish Government's Standing Council on Brexit. She has submitted evidence to the House of Lords European Union Committee, with Janeen Carruthers, on the EU’s regulation of succession and published on a range of private international law fields. Co-author, with Janeen Carruthers, of International Private Law: A Scots Perspective.

Anatol Dutta

Chair of Civil Law, Private International Law and Comparative Law at the University of Regensburg, Germany

Anatol Dutta has a special interest in international and comparative family and succession law, having been a member of the Expert Group of the European Commission on the revision of the Brussels IIa Regulation (2015) and as a member of the German Council of Private International Law, Federal Ministry of Justice (since 2015). He is also a corresponding member (for Germany) of Cambridge Family Law.

Ruth Lamont

Senior Lecturer in Family and Child Law, University of Manchester

Ruth’s research focuses on private international family law in the European Union, and the movement of children between countries in a current and historical context. She has published on the law relating to international child abduction and the protection of children from European jurisdictions in the English care system. She is currently working on a project (with Rosemary Broad and Dianne Scullion) on the safeguarding of unaccompanied minors and trafficked children in the English child protection system.

Nigel Lowe

Emeritus Professor of Law, Cardiff University

Member of the President’s International Family Law Committee and sometime Consultant both to The Hague Conference on International Private Law and to the Council of Europe and a member of the Panel of Experts appointed by the European Commission to advise them on reforming the revised Brussels II Regulation. He has written extensively on international family law issues, including, most recently, International Movement of Children, 2nd edition (2016) by Lowe and Nicholls. He is currently working (with Victoria Stephens) on a new statistical survey of applications made and received in 2015 under the 1980 Hague Abduction Convention.

Helen Stalford

Professor of Law, University of Liverpool

A leading expert on European children's rights, Helen has led projects on behalf of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and the Council of Europe to develop children's rights indicators, and acted as expert consultant to the Council of Europe, the European Commission and UNICEF on issues relating to child friendly justice, child protection and the children's rights implications of EU enlargement. Specialist Advisor to the House of Lords EU Home Affairs sub-committee in relation to their inquiry into the UK and EU's response to the plight of unaccompanied children in the current refugee crisis (March-July 2016). Founding director of the European Children's Rights Unit (ECRU).

Panel discussion

The day will conclude with a practitioner panel discussion, featuring

This programme may be subject to change.