On 17th June Birmingham Law School and the Centre for Health Law Science and Policy hosted the first conference of the newly established Health Law and Ethics UK and Ireland Association. The Association has been established with the aim of fostering research in the field of Health Law and Policy. Health Law is today a large field of research and teaching activity across UK and Ireland institutions such that it is easy to forget that in fact in the vast majority of Law Schools it wasn’t until the late 1980’s that courses in the area often originally called “Medical Law” began developed.[1] In the late 1980’s and 1990’s the precise parameters of the subject came under discussion and as to whether this was `’medical law’ or rather whether it should be instead seen in terms of being “healthcare law” thus recognising the reality of the provision of healthcare with its involvement.[2] Today the boundaries of the discipline are clearly beyond the private law doctor-patient relationship focus. They include also the organisational aspects of the structures of healthcare delivery. It also engages with the very nature of “health” itself from the classic World Health Organisation definition of health as being a matter of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing.[3] Health law as a discipline also encompasses the broader international and indeed increasingly global law dimensions of law and regulation.[4] As the Covid-19 Pandemic tragically demonstrated disease is no respecter of borders. There is also a critical interface with medical and bioethics.[5]
Although there has been a notable burgeoning of scholarship in this area over the last 35 years there has not been a national body for Health Lawyers. Jean McHale from Birmingham Law School and Samantha Halliday in Durham Law School decided in 2024 to see if there was sufficient interest amongst colleagues in the area to take this forward. They hosted a cross UK and Ireland meeting of leading scholars in the area to ascertain interest and the result of this was a uniformly positive response. This led to a call for volunteers leading to the organising committee for the Association (this now includes as well as Jean McHale and Samantha Halliday, Dr Paula Case, University of Liverpool, Professor Mary Donnelly, University College Cork, Professor Judy Laing, University of Bristol; Professor Rosamund Scott, King’s College London and Professor Liz Wicks of the University of Leicester).
The aim of the Association is to afford colleagues from the UK and Ireland working in the area of Health Law and Ethics a supportive space to meet, to exchange ideas, and a forum in which to be able to disseminate and obtain feedback on their work. One of the first actions of the Organising Committee was to agree that we should initiate a series of Conferences and that these will move between Universities. It was agreed that Birmingham would host the first Conference and plans for this began in early summer of 2025 with the intention of holding the conference the following year in June 2026. These different aspects of the subject were reflected in the call for papers for the Conference across several broad Themes introduced to provide an initial basis for the Conference. The Themes were End of Life Law and Ethics, Reproduction Law and Ethics, Consent and Capacity Law and Ethics, Mental Health, Law and Ethics, Professional Accountability, Law and Ethics and Contemporary Issues in Health Law and Ethics.
The response to the call for papers and posters far exceeded the expectations of the organisers. Overall, there were some 79 separate presentations and PGR student posters and in total including presenters there were some 140 attendees. There was a diverse range of papers which in turn reflect the broad scope of the discipline today. Papers given explored issues as diverse as from informed consent to abortion, from the insanity defence to the historical evolution of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, from the law and palliative care to the regulation of the trade in human breast milk, and from pandemic planning to the regulation of the use of dead bodies. Across the day each Theme ran in parallel and in the case of some Themes two parallel streams ran across the day. To maximise opportunities for colleagues to present it was decided to hold only one Plenary. The Plenary lecture, the Professor Margaret Brazier Memorial Lecture was kindly delivered by Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery from University College London on the topic of “Polyamory, fidelity, and harmony in the stormy marriage.” Professor Margaret (Margot) Brazier an internationally renowned Health Law scholar very sadly died last year at the age of 74 after been living with Parkinsons’ Disease for many years. Professor Montgomery reflected on the huge contribution made by Professor Brazier to the discipline of Health Law; Professor Brazier was one of the earliest pioneers in establishing this as a subject in UK law schools. She blazed a trail, through her scholarship first in the Law of Tort[6] and later in Health Law[7]; also through her creation with the theologian Professor Tony Dyson, the bioethicist, Professor John Harris and the clinician Dr Mary Lobjoit of the Centre for Social Ethics and Policy at the University of Manchester,[8] her public service roles such as chair of the Retained Organs Commission[9] and through her own immense personal contribution as a person who supported and encouraged students and colleagues in their work over many decades. Professor Montgomery gave an inspiring lecture challenging us to critically reflect upon the parameters of our discipline and its future potential.
The success of the day was due to the collaborative work of the Organising Committee, the superb contributions of all participants whether presenters of papers and posters and also Conference chairs. Conference would also not have been possible without the kind generosity of the College of Arts and Law at the University of Birmingham in providing some additional financial support for the event and the wonderful practical support of Law School Professional Services colleague Meghan Howe and Matt Clulee from the College of Arts and Law Events team along with 4 undergraduate LLB student events assistants, Gurpreet Bansal, Ian Kee, Alfahd Latiff and Shanza Safdar who kindly joined us on the day. Attendees agreed that the Conference has provided an excellent foundation for the next stage of the development of HEAL UK & Ireland. The next Conference of the new Association will be held at Durham Law School on 10th September 2027. If those reading this blog are interested to hear more about the Association and to join its new mailing list they are invited to contact Jean McHale.
[1]There were however examples of courses on the subject of “Medical Jurisprudence” largely, though not exclusively taught to medical students, comprising what today we would see as forensic medicine but also in the case of some courses also broader issues such as those of civil law liability and public health law which have much longer antecedents in the early 1800’s. In addition, in more recent times teaching in Scottish Law schools of medical law broadly, stated, began in the late 1970’s, see further e.g. R. Wynter, J. Reinarz and G. Davis, “Law and Medicine: A History in Three Acts”, A. Krajewski and J. V. McHale (eds) Reimagining Health Law (Edward Elgar 2025) and see also the discussion in A. Krajewski and J. V. McHale “Reimagining Health Law” in A. Krajewski and J. V. McHale (eds) Reimagining Health Law (Edward Elgar 2025) (Edward Elgar 2025)
[2]See e.g. J. Montgomery, Health Care Law (OUP 1997), J.V. McHale and M. Fox with J. Murphy Healthcare Law Text and Materials (Sweet and Maxwell, 1997) and see also J. Montgomery, ‘What’s in a name? Labelling effects on analysis of the role of law in health’ (2019) 7(2) Journal of Medical Law and Ethics 116 and M. Brazier and J. Montgomery, ‘Whence and Whither Modern Medical Law?’ (2019) 70(1) Northern Ireland Law Quarterly 5.
[3] WHO Constitution of the World Health Organisation, signed 22nd July 1946 entered into force 7th April 1948.
[4] L. O. Gostin, Global Health Law (Harvard University Press 2014); L. O Gostin and B. Mason Meier, Global Health Law & Policy: Ensuring Justice for a Healthier World (OUP 2024).
[5] See e.g. D. Wilson, The Making of British Bioethics (Manchester University Press 2015): J. Miola, Medical Ethics and Medical Law: A Symbiotic Relationship (Hart 2007).
[6] M. R Brazier Street on Torts (8th ed) (Butterworths 1988) and she was also for many years a General editor of the leading practitioner text Clerk and Lindsell on Torts.
[7] See further, J. Montgomery, ‘The Compleat Lawyer – Medical Law as Practical Reasoning: Doctrine, Empiricism and Engagement’ (2012) 20 Medical Law Review 8; C. Stanton, S. Devaney, A.M. Farrell, and A. Mullock (eds), Pioneering Healthcare Law: Essays in Honour of Margaret Brazier (Routledge 2015).
[8] M. R Brazier, A. Dyson, J. Harris, and M. Lobjoit, ‘Teaching medical ethics symposium. Medical ethics in Manchester’ (1987) 13 Journal of Medical Ethics 150.
[9] See e.g. J.V. McHale, “Exploring the legacy of the Retained Organs Commission a decade on: Lessons Learned and the Danger of Lessons Lost” in C. Stanton, S. Devaney, A.M. Farrell, and A. Mullock (eds), Pioneering Healthcare Law: Essays in Honour of Margaret Brazier (Routledge 2015).