How law schools might contribute to social change
Dr Javier Solana’s speech at the 2nd RebLaw Scotland conference, University of Glasgow, 9 February 2019
This is not a usual conference for an academic, but I suspect this is not your usual plan for a Saturday afternoon either. I’m sure that every one of you has a story to share about how they became interested in social justice, or perhaps more specifically, in the role of layers in promoting social justice. I’m very grateful to the RebLaw team for giving me the opportunity to share with you my story and to illustrate how law schools might support activism and contribute to social change.
Six years ago, I attended a similar event like this at Harvard Law School, where I was studying a Masters degree. It was called Harvard Law & Social Change. Interestingly enough, it was also organised on a Saturday afternoon. At that event, different people, Harvard Law School alumni if I’m not mistaken, came to speak about the work that they were doing, as lawyers, to promote social change in different parts of the world. It was very inspiring to see such talented people using their legal skills to try to prompt change in their worlds.
After I graduated from Harvard, I went on to do a PhD in financial law. (For those of you who attended the previous session in this room, I’m one of those boring lawyers in the video.) I’m not sure if there’s any area of law that comes any further from social justice…
Twenty months ago, however, I was at a workshop in Brussels, and a representative from an NGO who was presenting some of his latest research on the accountability of the European Central Bank (ECB) mentioned that a recent study by another NGO had revealed that the ECB was buying bonds issued by some of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the EU. (Let’s not get into details. This is not a usual academic conference.) I was surprised to learn this. I was among the few lawyers in the room. I remember pondering over this issue for the rest of the workshop asking myself: Does the ECB not have an obligation to respect the environment? I’ve been grappling with this question ever since. I’m currently finishing a paper where I present some answers. Earlier versions of this paper have given me the opportunity to speak to central bankers about the climate emergency and their obligation to promote environmental protection. It has also given me the opportunity to interact with organisations doing incredible work on public interest litigation. Twenty months ago I was trying to understand financial crises. I didn’t know that public interest litigation even existed. Today, besides that ECB paper, I’m also researching the extent to which public interest litigation can reshape finance. Even “boring” lawyers can be “concerned” lawyers.
As an academic who has recently started engaging with social justice issues, I’d like to share with you how I think that law schools can support activism and contribute to social change.
Law schools, and the universities in which they sit, are open spaces where people can be exposed to different ideas. As “concerned” academics, we try to bring social justice perspectives into our lectures and seminars to give students a broader picture. Some of these perspectives may even be grounded in our own research. As part of our administrative roles, we also organise events where civil society organisations can present their work to students and the broader academic community. Bringing these perspectives into our courses and giving these organisations a platform might help students think more critically about the world around them. It might also spark their interest in alternative legal careers.
In addition to exposing students and colleagues to social justice issues, we also support our own students in their development of basic lawyering skills, e.g. through mooting exercises based on simulated commercial law problems but also with exercises based on social justice problems, sometimes in collaboration with organisations that are working on these problems in the real world. The collaboration between the University of Glasgow and several Citizens Advise bureaux over the last twenty-five years is a prominent example. Moreover, this year, we have launched the GO Justice Challenge, a competition where small teams of students work on a social justice problems identified by a partner organisation and compete for a cash prize and the opportunity to implement their project with the organisation. In addition, this year we have also launched the Finance and Social Justice Project, where a group of eight Masters and PhD students are supporting an environmental law NGO in the exploration of the potential for strategic litigation to promote sustainable finance in the EU. All of these activities are part of a broader initiative called Glasgow Open Justice, or GO Justice, an ecosystem where we support and develop all the different projects within the School that aim to promote social justice. I’m sure that colleagues from other law schools who are here with us today would have a lot to say about their own projects.
We live in turbulent times. Worrying times. But these times abound with opportunities for change. If law has a role to play, and I firmly believe so, perhaps even more so after today’s conference, that’s you, students and NGOs; that’s us, academics. We all have a role to play. We need to speak more. Whether you’re a “concerned” academic, a student with an idea or an NGO that needs support, law schools are a unique forum for us to come together. Law schools are home to the biggest pools of legal talent in the country. You may already be doing pro bono work. Perhaps you’ve only just started studying law and the few hours of your week, or your month, that you spend thinking about these issues may seem negligible. But look around you. Look at this room. Imagine what we could do with those few hours of yours if we added them to the few hours of everyone else in this room.
Six years ago, I attended a similar event at Harvard Law School. Only now, when I see this unconventional interest in public interest litigation growing in me, a financial law academic, do I realise that on that day a seed was sown. If you’re taking one thing away from this conference, let it be that moment when you heard one of the panelists talk about their work and you thought: “I didn’t know that lawyers could do that.” Seize that feeling and plant it somewhere safe inside of you. From today, do not miss the opportunity to water it, no matter how often, no matter how small. Who knows what might grow from it. And when you see a sprout beginning to surface, think about your law school, remember this room, and remind yourself just how many people were keen to start a garden, even on a Saturday afternoon.
Dr Javier Solana is a Lecturer in Commercial Law at the School of Law.
