Titled ‘Reviewing the boundaries of health law – new directions and dimensions’, the new special journal issue of the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly legal research journal is a marker of the aims of the Centre for Health, Law, and Society (CHLS) to broaden and deepen health law and scholarship, following the Centre’s symposium launch event in October 2017.
The symposium highlighted the work of scholars within the Centre as well as links between health law scholarship and policy and practice, and celebrated the Centre's mission to push the boundaries of scholarship in health law; expand its methods and approaches; broaden its practical reach and points of focus; enhance its place in shaping education; and increase its engagement with, relevance to, and impacts on people, organisations, regulators, and policy-makers across society.
In their editorial introducing the special issue, Professor John Coggon and Professor Judy Laing write:
“Our hope is that this rich collection of essays is indicative of some of the challenges and proper directions for the next generation of health law scholarship, and represents well the contributions that we anticipate will be made by scholars across the field, including from within CHLS.
We are both honoured to be the founding Co-Directors of the Centre, and proud that it spans such an impressive range of research expertise, as evidenced by the breadth and depth of contributions from 11 of CHLS’s members to this collection.”
Contributors include the Centre’s Dr Albert Sanchez-Graells, Dr Oliver Quick, Dr Catherine Kelly, Professor Keith Syrett, Louise Austin, Dr Sheelagh McGuinness, Dr Jane Rooney, Dr Peter Dunne, Louise Hatherall, and Professors Coggon and Laing.
The issue includes extended articles on topics such as mental health and capacity law, NHS procurement and supply chain management, resource allocation, historical analysis in patient safety, as well as legal and academic commentaries.