The University of Law Podcast The University of Law

This episode, the last in the series, is a tribute to Lord Judge, who was Lord Chief Justice from 2008 to 2013 and who died last November (2023). 

On retiring as Lord Chief Justice, he had become a leading figure in the House of Lords. Highly influential and respected as a legislator, he was a strong defender of the rule of law and independence of the judiciary. 

The interview is conducted by Frances Gibb, journalist and former legal editor of The Times, for a landmark podcast series, The Judges: Power, Politics and the People, hosted by The University of Law. The series features the most senior former judges in England and Wales of the last three decades – those who have reached the apex of the justice system. It asks: who are the men and occasionally women who have reached the pivotal positions at the top of the judiciary? What do they feel about their time in office - their key decisions and dealing with ministers? 

In this episode, LLB student Alexander Gill is joined by Head of Student Support Services Keith Houghton to discuss wellbeing, access to support at the University, and why making time for hobbies outside of your studies is so important.

In this episode, LLB student Alexander Gill is joined by Aruna Verma who is Dean at the University's Moorgate campus. Aruna answers 24 questions about what she enjoys about her role, her academic and professional experience which includes setting up the University's campus in Hong Kong, and offers some tips and advice for students.  

Lord Burnett of Maldon has recently stepped down as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and head of the judiciary, after six years in post (2017-2023). He had carved out a career acting in public inquiries, which included the 1987 King’s Cross fire, the convictions of the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven, the 1997 Southall and 1999 Ladbroke Grove rail crashes, and the inquest into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed. 

In this episode, Lord Burnett speaks about the impact of funding cuts to the criminal justice system and expresses concerns about the “ramping up” of sentence lengths, urging more use of community sentences for young offenders.

The interview is conducted by Frances Gibb, journalist and former legal editor of The Times, for a landmark podcast series, The Judges: Power, Politics and the People, hosted by The University of Law. The series features the most senior former judges in England and Wales of the last three decades – those who have reached the apex of the justice system. It asks: who are the men and occasionally women who have reached the pivotal positions at the top of the judiciary? What do they feel about their time in office - their key decisions and dealing with ministers? 

In this episode, Online Programmes Director Navdeep Chouhan is joined by Lori Rockett the Programme and Student Lead at the university to discuss the benefits of online study. Lori shares what she has seen teaching online, why it is so helpful for students with other commitments to have the opportunity to study online and who studying online is for.

Lord Mackay of Clashfern is best known as having been Lord Chancellor for 10 years from 1987-97, in the governments of both Margaret Thatcher and John Major. An outsider to the English legal profession, he brought in some of its most far-reaching reforms, ending the Bar’s monopoly of advocacy in the higher courts and the solicitors’ monopoly of conveyancing. Lord Mackay has had a distinguished career as an advocate, judge and politician. 

In this episode, Lord Mackay speaks about some of the judicial appointments he made, having made some of the most influential judicial appointments of the last 50 years, including that of Lord Bingham as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.  At the time it caused a stir because of his lack of a criminal law background but he is widely acknowledged to have been the most outstanding judge of his generation. 

The interview is conducted by Frances Gibb, journalist and former legal editor of The Times, for a landmark podcast series, The Judges: Power, Politics and the People, hosted by The University of Law. The series features the most senior former judges in England and Wales of the last three decades – those who have reached the apex of the justice system. It asks: who are the men and occasionally women who have reached the pivotal positions at the top of the judiciary? What do they feel about their time in office - their key decisions and dealing with ministers?