Society of Legal Scholars,
117th Annual Conference
Queen’s University, Belfast.
7 – 9 September 2027
QUEEN’S BELFAST
Welcome
The 118th Annual Conference of the Society of Legal Scholars will be hosted by the Queen’s University Belfast.
Law has been taught at Queen’s University Belfast since 1845, and Law was one of the university’s original founding Faculties. The School of Law remains in the heart of Queen’s beautiful campus in South Belfast, a twenty minute walk, or short bus/taxi journey from Belfast City Centre. The University is a member of the Russell Group and the Law School is home to three research centres, the Human Rights Centre, the Global Intellectual Property and Technology Centre (G-IPTech) and the Centre for International Economic Law along with the inter-disciplinary Institute for Criminal Justice and Criminology. It also hosts and edits the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, a leading legal journal since its foundation in 1936.
The conference will run from 7-9 September 2027, taking place over three days in order to keep costs as accessible as possible. The theme of the conference is: ‘Exploring Communities of Law and Legal Scholarship’. In 1962 Walter Hallstein, the first President of the European Commission, linked the idea of a community of law with that of a community founded on the Rule of Law. With this in mind the theme invites reflection on the role of legal scholarship in contributing to and sustaining the Rule of Law and on the identity, meaning and importance of our disciplinary, interdisciplinary and academic communities to us as scholars, to our students and to wider society. These are pressing issues at a time of global turmoil, unprecedented disruption within the higher education sector, and with AI changing the profession that many of our students are entering. Contributions addressing any aspect of this broad theme, as well as those focused on more specific topics, will be welcomed in the Subject Sections.
Professor Joan Loughrey
Professor of Corporate Law, Queen’s University Belfast
2026-2027 President of the Society of Legal Scholars
The conference will be based on the main campus next to the landmark Lanyon Building and the annual dinner will take place in the Great Hall in the centre of the campus. During the daytime, you will be able to visit the Botanic Gardens just a few minutes’ walk from the conference and visit the collections in the Ulster Museum. If you have a little more time, you can visit the award-winning Titanic Museum and see where the Titanic was built or a day tour can take you to the stunning North Coast and the Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Closer to the hand, the city centre of this UNESCO City of Music offers a range of cultural attractions including the lively Cathedral Quarter. There is a wide variety of cafés and restaurants including a number close to the conference venue.
To get here direct flights from the UK and over twenty European destinations arrive at one of Belfast’s two airports: George Best City airport (3 miles from city centre, 4 miles from conference venue; taxi and bus/train connections); or Belfast International (13 miles from city centre/conference venue; bus and taxi connections). There are also ferries from Liverpool or Cairnryan that arrive into the harbour, minutes from Belfast city centre. There is in addition a train from Dublin and a direct bus from Dublin airport to the centre of Belfast.
I very much look forward to welcoming you to Queen’s University Belfast in 2027.
Key Deadlines Summarised for 2027
January 2027
Abstract submission opens
March 2027
Abstract submission closes
May 2027
Conference registration opens
June 2027
Speaker registration closes
July 2027
Early bird registration closes
July 2027
Applications for SLS mentor scheme closes
August 2027
Registration for live events closes
August 2027
Best Paper Prize closes
Please contact the Secretariat:
SLS 2027 Conference Secretariat
c/o Mosaic Events
Tower House
Mill Lane
Askham Bryan
York
YO23 3FS
Tel +44 (0) 1904 702165
Please note the SLS Treasurer and SLS web team are unable to answer questions relating to the conference.