Tate Gallery's Viewing Platform v. Neighbouring Luxury Flats

U.K. Supreme Court handed down a judgment February 1 saying that the Tate Gallery of London is liable to claimants in nuisance. The claimants are several owners of neighbouring luxury flats with glass walls whose rooms are under near constant observation by visitors of the viewing platform of the Tate. The court has made available a video clip of its judgment summary here with a very clear explanation of the tort of nuisance. 9 min., subtitles available. Videos of two days of hearings in December are also available.

Legal Evolution - a Chicago Best Idea

University of Chicago law professor Saul Levmore gave a lecture on legal evolution October 12 as part of the series "Chicago's Best Ideas". Legal evolution, the idea that the Common Law evolves towards efficient results, was first presented by Richard Posner. 1hour (45 min. of Levmore, 15 min. audience questions), good subtitles on YouTube.

Law School Is Starting Already in the U.S. ...

Many American students are beginning their first year of law school by now. The University of Virginia asked Virginia Solicitor General Toby Heytens, a professor there, to give a short (one hour) overview of the U.S. legal system and a description of how a typical case goes through the legal system. Unfortunately you can't see the slides illustrating the talk, but you can put on the subtitles on YouTube to help you follow along.
A related video presents a description of five first-year law school courses (tort, contract, criminal law, civil procedure and legal writing). 58 min., no transcript, but subtitles available.

English Common Law: Structure and Principles

This six week online course offered by the University of London International Programme began June 24th. You can sign up for the course and download the videos until Sept. 1 (it's really the last minute!) or sign in to be advised when the course will be offered again.
The course is offered by Coursera, a provider of what are known as MOOCs (massive open online courses).  Several other courses on legal topics are starting soon. For instance, Introduction to International Criminal Law begins on Sept 1 and Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy will begin on Sept. 16.

Is Eating People Wrong?

In a 2011 interview, Canadian law professor Allan Hutchinson talks about his new book, Is Eating People Wrong?, which presents groundbreaking legal cases and how they shaped the common law world. The question in the title of Hutchinson's book refers to the famous English criminal case of R. v. Dudley and Stephens which involved the killing and eating of the cabin boy by shipwrecked sailors in 1884.

The Common Law

Speaking in Australia in September on the topic “Developing common law – how far is too far?” Lord Walker of the U.K. Supreme Court provided an international look at the role of judges in the development of the common law. 1 hour, speech notes available

Niall Ferguson on the rule of law and its economic consequences

Harvard economic historian Niall Ferguson gave the BBC's Reith Lectures for 2012. The general theme was  The Rule of Law and Its Enemies: 2012. In his third lecture, The Landscape of the Law,  Ferguson asks "... what, if anything, developing countries like China can learn from the West about the rule of law." 42 min, transcript available.

U.K. Parliamentary Sovereignty

Charon QC, aka Mike Semple Piggot, recently interviewed Carl Gardner on the subject of parliamentary sovereignty, following Gardner's article in The Guardian of 7 October 2010. 25 min, no transcript.

You can find all of Charon, QC's podcasts here.

U.S. Supreme Court cases "lite"or "up close and personal"

Duke University Law School has recently put online Voices of American Law -  "materials to assist in studying the Supreme Court and its role in American society". It is a project of Thomas Metzloff, a law professor there who teaches a course entitled Distinctive Aspects of U.S. Law for international students
The website includes a selection of 18 relatively recent U.S. Supreme Court cases. Each case presentation includes a short (1-2 min) introductory video (trailer) and one or more longer videos featuring interviews with the parties themselves, their lawyers, and judges and others involved in the case. There are also links to court documents and opinions and further information.  Lesson plans are also proposed as well as an "edited" version of the Supreme Court opinion. Topics include punitive damages, abortion, discrimination based on sex or sexual orientation, election finance, religious freedom, the interstate commerce clause, property and privacy rights.   You can watch the videos online or purchase them ($35 each).

Gresham College lectures

Gresham College, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1597, is an independently funded educational institution based in Barnard's Inn, Holborn, in the centre of London. It provides free public lectures by its eight professors and holds other events. The college does not award degrees or teach courses.
The lectures are usually available in streaming audio and video and downloadable audio and video, ± 60 min. -  transcripts available
Former Gresham Professor of Law Vernon Bogdanor's lectures include "The New British Constitution" 45 min., transcript
The current Gresham Professor of Law is Baroness Deech. She has given many lectures,  including a series last year on reproductive technologies and the law. The series this year is - Family Relationships and the Law since the 1960's. Available now, in streaming video or downloadable audio, with transcript and .ppt slides also available.

• Divorce law - a disaster?
• What's a woman worth? The maintenance law
• Cohabitation and the Law

Coming up in 2010

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters
Civil Partnerships
Cousin Marriage

Gresham College also holds Gray's Inn Reading lectures, including one in 2009 "Sisters-in-Law: The Irresistible Rise of Women in Wigs"
Other Reading lectures include:

• Tackling cross border crime 2004
• Family Law: Rights and social consequences 2005
• The International Dimension of Judicial Review 2006
• Access to Justice: Keeping the doors open 2007
• Terrorism: Cold War or Bad Law? 2008

Coming up in June 2010 — The creation of the Supreme Court - was it worth it?

BBC The Cases That Changed Our World

The Cases That Changed Our World — a four part series with Clive Coleman.

The first episode, about the 1670 trial of two Quakers which established that judges cannot intimidate juries, is available only until Nov. 11. It will be replaced by the second episode, about the Carbolic Smoke Ball case. The subjects for the last two episodes have not been announced yet.

15 min. BBC iPlayer, no transcript