The Law Report in Winter

While the northern hemisphere was on holiday recently, in the southern hemisphere Australia was going full steam. Some interesting stories from the Australian program The Law Report include :

• a discussion of new German legislation about hate speech on social media
• the rule of law in China
• reflections on justice and injustice
• transgender and identity

About 30 min, transcripts available.

What is Justice?

Melvyn Bragg’s BBC Radio 4 programme, The History of Ideas, this week explores the idea of justice. The first 11 minute recording is a general introduction to the question and is followed by four 11 minute recordings on specific subjects.

• Barrister Harry Potter on Deterrence
• Philosopher Angie Hobbs on the Rawls’ Veil of Ignorance
• Criminologist David Wilson on Thomas Hobbes and Civil Disobedience
• Historian Alice Taylor on Habeas Corpus

Finally there is an "omnibus" with all 5 parts of the programme together (58 min).
There are no transcripts, but the 4 specific subjects are accompanied by short animated clips :

• deterrence/retribution
• Rawls’ veil of ignorance
• civil disobedience 
• habeas corpus 

Justice

On BBC Radio 4's programme The Ideas That Make Us of 19 September, Bettany Hughes examines the idea of justice.  Hughes interviews philosopher Angie Hobbs, British Museum curator Dr Irving Finkel, historian Dr Peter Frankopan and out-going Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge. 15 min, no transcript.

Words for Graduates - Yale Law School

Yale Law School has posted a video of graduation ceremonies for the class of 2013. The Dean begins with lots of cheerleading describing YLS as the best of the best You can see each graduate get his/her diploma and a handshake, and sometimes even a hug. At just after 1 hour, Anne Alstott, a professor at the law school, gives a 30 minute talk about generational justice. She is followed by Justice Sonia Sotomayor who speaks of how to have a successful life in the law. 1h 50 min, no transcript. It is not clear how long this video will be available.

More Michael Sandel

Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel, whose course Justice has been available on the internet for several years, has begun a series of three lectures at the London School of Economics, Michael Sandel: The Public Philosopher, which will be available on BBC's Radio 4. The first, "Should universities give preference to applicants from poor backgrounds?", questions the wisdom of affirmative action programs and is already online. The next lecture will examine the question "Should a banker be paid more than a nurse?' The final lecture will be "Should we bribe people to be healthy?" 42 min. podcast, streaming audio or downloadable .mp3, no transcript available.

Justice

Michael Sandel, the Harvard professor who teaches the very popular undergraduate course entitled Justice, has a website we have already mentioned. It includes "News and Events" which has links to short videos, notably bits that were part of the BBC documentary “Justice: A Citizen’s Guide to the 21st Century” this year which are unavailable for those outside Britain. "Torture and human dignity" talks about a recent case in Germany. 6 min 37 sec, no transcript

More Michael Sandel on Justice

The website Philosophy Bites interviewed Michael Sandel on the subject of justice on January 14th.
20 min., no transcript
Another interesting interview on this site is with Cécile Fabre concerning how moral cosmopolitans (those who foreground individual rights), can approach questions of just wars.

Law and Economics

The first in the series of Law, Economics and Philosophy podcasts of the University of Amsterdam, with Eric Posner of the University of Chicago, can be found here. Posner discusses the economic analysis of contract law and questions of climate change justice.
30 min. no transcript
You can download the .mp3 audio or subscribe to the series on iTunes.

Justice

Michael Sandel, professor of government at Harvard University, spoke at the Harvard Book Store January 2, 2010, presenting the ideas he develops in his book Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?
The presentation involves lots of interaction with the audience. You will feel pulled in too.
video, 55 min. no transcript
The Amazon page presenting the book has a short (3min52) video on it from Harvard University. On the Harvard site, you can find a longer (28 min.) video with excerpts from his class entitled Justice — starting with the classic trolley problems. Highly recommended.
Added later  - you can find videos of the complete classes (12 episodes) here. No transcripts, but readings provided by Professor Sandel can be found here. Sandel also provides discussion guides for two levels - beginner and advanced.

Judges (and other legal professionals) in England and Wales

The official site of the judiciary of England and Wales has some very interesting activities, including "you be the judge" as well as interviews with district judges (what qualities are needed to be a judge, what are the most difficult decisions...)
Adobe flash required, subtitles (closed captioning or CC as it is known) and transcripts (with a few mistakes).

The site also has a link to an interview with Lord Neuberger, now Master of the Rolls and former Law Lord, who talks about his career. The interview is on the icould site which also has 4-5 min. interviews with different kinds of solicitors, a former barrister now a solicitor, legal executives, heads of legal departments, a paralegal, and prison officers. 

shorter versions (±1:30 min.) of these interviews are also available - transcripts available.