Socio-Legal Studies Association Archive

Address at time of writing c/o Professor S Wheeler, Chair, Law Department, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT. Email lawsw@leeds.ac.uk

World wide web http://www.kent.ac.uk/nslsa/

According to a statement of ethical practice in the Socio-Legal Studies Association's 1995 Directory of Members, socio-legal studies may be defined as embracing "disciplines and subjects concerned with the social effects of the law, legal processes, institutions and services". SLSA was established to promote and support the work of socio-legal scholars, to facilitate the regular exchange of ideas and information and to represent the socio-legal research interest in discussions with other bodies.

SLSA grew out of an informal group of academics who met at annual conferences to discuss matters of interest. In 1988 it was decided that the group needed a higher profile, and a conference was arranged in Oxford which was attended by over 100 people. The success of the conference permitted another to be held in Edinburgh in 1989, at which the proposal was made to create a formal Association. A Steering Committee was set up to formally establish the SLSA at the 1990 conference in Bristol, using some funds from various law faculties and from the Nuffield Foundation. A newsletter was first published in March 1989; in 1990 an editor was appointed to produce a regular newsletter.

Papers in the SLSA archive comprise at present the correspondence and papers of founder member and Chairman (from 1993-1996), Professor Martin Partington. They were deposited by him with the Records of Legal Education Archives in 1997. The papers consist of his copies of agenda, minutes and papers of Executive Committee meetings, plus his own files of correspondence as founder member, fund raiser, organiser of the 1990 conference and Chairman. The records were not kept in any formal order, and the two classes of papers frequently overlap in content and subject matter. Minutes of AGMs and conference papers have sometimes been integrated with one or other of the above groups of records and sometimes filed separately. The archive also contains a complete set of the Newsletter and Directory of Members. SLSA publications are available in most law libraries.

Printed papers relating to the 1997 Conference, plus some copies of the Newsletter and Directory of Members, were passed to the Archives in 1997 by the current editor of the Newsletter.

Chairs of SLSA:-

1990-1993	Professor Hazel Genn
1993-1996	Professor Martin Partington
1996- date	Professor Sally Wheeler

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SLSA ARCHIVES: CLASS LIST

quantity: 4 boxes

access: open

Class Ref Dates Description

A.SLSA 1 1989-1996 Minutes, agenda and papers of the Executive Committee and predecessors

A.SLSA 2 1990-1994 Minutes, agenda and papers of AGMs

A.SLSA 3 1989-1996 Correspondence of Professor Martin Partington (SLSA Chairman 1993-1996)

A.SLSA 4 1993 Papers relating to the response of SLSA to the ESRC review of socio-legal studies

A.SLSA 5 1993-1997 Papers and proceedings of annual conferences

A.SLSA 6 1989-1997 Socio-Legal Newsletter

A.SLSA 7 1995-1997 Directory of Members

 

SLSA ARCHIVES: HANDLIST OF RECORDS

A.SLSA 1: MINUTES, AGENDA AND PAPERS OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND PREDECESSORS, 1989-1996
2 boxes

Ref Dates Description

A.SLSA 1/1 1989-1991 Minutes, agenda and papers of the Steering Group of the proposed SLSA, later the Executive Committee

A.SLSA 1/2 1992-1993 Minutes, agenda and papers of the Executive Committee

A.SLSA 1/3 12 Jan 1994 Minutes, agenda and papers of the Executive Committee

A.SLSA 1/4 19 May 1994 Minutes, agenda and papers of the Executive Committee

A.SLSA 1/5 20 Oct 1994 Minutes, agenda and papers of the Executive Committee

A.SLSA 1/6 3 Feb 1995 Minutes, agenda and papers of the Executive Committee

A.SLSA 1/7 18 May 1995 " " "Minutes, agenda and papers of the Executive Committee

A.SLSA 1/8 7 July 1995 Minutes, agenda and papers of the Executive Committee

A.SLSA 1/9 10 Oct 1995 Minutes, agenda and papers of the Executive Committee

A.SLSA 1/10 25 Jan 1996 Minutes, agenda and papers of the Executive Committee

A.SLSA 2: MINUTES, AGENDA AND PAPERS OF AGMS, 1990-1994
1 folder

This class consisted of one bundle of papers of AGMs which was kept separately from the general run of papers. The material comprises minutes, agenda, supporting papers and related correspondence. After 1994 records of AGMs are filed with Executive Committee minutes.

A.SLSA 3: CORRESPONDENCE OF PROFESSOR MARTIN PARTINGTON (CHAIRMAN 1993-1996), 1989-1996
1 box

Ref Dates Description

A.SLSA 3/1 1989-1990 General correspondence, including papers on the establishment of SLSA, the newsletter, arrangements for the 1990 Bristol conference, requests for funding and outline articles of association

A.SLSA 3/2 1991-1992 General correspondence, including papers relating to the 1991 Sheffield conference, recruitment of members and SLSA seminars

A.SLSA 3/3 1993 General correspondence, including papers on editorship of the newsletter, discussions on proposed activities, responses to consultation papers and participation in conferences, seminars etc

A.SLSA 3/4 1994 General correspondence, including papers relating to research, publications including the newsletter and the directory of members and the ESRC review of socio-legal studies

A.SLSA 3/5 1995 General correspondence, including papers relating to HEFC's Research Assessment Exercise, sponsorship of prizes for socio-legal research, finance, publications and membership

A.SLSA 4: PAPERS RELATING TO RESPONSE OF SLSA TO THE ESRC REVIEW OF SOCIO-LEGAL STUDIES, 1993
1 folder

In 1993 the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) undertook a review of the current state of and future prospects for socio-legal studies in Britain. As part of this review, a seminar was held in April 1993 to discuss socio-legal studies. A paper was presented at the review on behalf of SLSA, written by Hazel Genn and Martin Partington, the then past and present Chairs of SLSA respectively. This file contains drafts of the paper, the final version, supporting documentation and correspondence. Some related correspondence will also be found in A.SLSA 3/2.

A.SLSA 5: PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS OF ANNUAL CONFERENCES, 1993-1997
4 folders

The first annual conference of the SLSA was held in Bristol in 1990. Papers relating to the 1990 conference, and to those held in Sheffield in 1991 and at Keele University in 1992, will be found in the general correspondence files at A.SLSA 3/1-2. In 1993 a separate conference file was created; this separate filing system has been continued for conference programmes. A small amount of correspondence relating to conferences from 1993 will also be found in the general correspondence files at A.SLSA 3/3-5.

Ref Dates Description

A.SLSA 5/1 1993 Annual Conference, Exeter: correspondence, papers and conference programme

A.SLSA 5/2 1994 Annual Conference, Nottingham: programme

A.SLSA 5/3 1995 Annual Conference, Leeds: programme

A.SLSA 5/4 1997 Annual Conference, Cardiff: papers and conference programme

A.SLSA 6: SOCIO-LEGAL NEWSLETTER, 1989-1997
20 pamphlets

The earliest newsletters were the result of a joint initiative by the Socio-Legal Group (later SLSA) and the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at Oxford University. The main purpose was to link people teaching and carrying out research in socio-legal studies throughout Britain and abroad. The newsletter is generally published twice-yearly; in 1990 the newly formed SLSA took over financing and editorship. Correspondence relating to the newsletter will be found in A.SLSA 3.

Issue No Date

No 1 Spring 1989

No 2 Autumn 1989

No 3 Spring 1990

No 4 Autumn 1990

No 5 Spring 1991

No 6 Autumn 1991

No 7 Summer 1992

No 8 Winter 1992

No 9 Summer 1993

No 10 Autumn 1993

No 11 Spring 1994

No 12 Summer 1994

No 13 August 1994

No 14 Autumn 1994

No 15 Spring 1995

No 16 Summer 1995

No 17 Autumn 1995

No 18 Spring 1996

No 19 Summer 1996

No 20 Autumn 1996

No 21 Spring 1997

No 22 Summer 1997

A.SLSA 7: DIRECTORY OF MEMBERS, 1995-1997
3 volumes

The Directory was compiled from forms returned by SLSA members. They are listed alphabetically under institutional affiliation. Three directories have been published to date. Information relating to earlier membership lists will be found in the general correspondence files at A.SLSA 3, as will material relating to the compilation and publishing of the directory.

You can search records for the Socio-Legal Studies Association Archive on the SHLs Archives Catalogue.

Access is by prior appointment. (Email: ials@sas.ac.uk or telephone 020 7862 5790)