Outline of the seminar 

1. Welcome and Introductions - (5 mins)

 

2. PGR-led Discussion - (5-20 mins)

PGRs, please take this opportunity to raise any topic at all. 

 

3. ‘PGR Presents 1: 'How the Public Interest Litigation Shields against Social Injustice' with Malik Abbass, PhD Candidate in Law, The Law School  -  (15 mins plus Q&A 15 mins)

At present there is a pervasive concern in the legal circles of Pakistan as to how the public interest litigation can help them have an easy access to justice in the face of massive backlog of cases, rampant corruption in public sector, serious threats to the independence of the judiciary and bureaucratic red-tape culture. The speedy dispensation of justice has become a stupendous task in view of the considerable delays in the disposal of cases and scarcity of judges, with the consequence that the prevalent adversarial legal system benefit the rich due to these loopholes and the poor become victims of the time consuming and expensive conventional litigating process. Link to full abstract here........

 

4. ‘PGR Presents 2: 'Reinhold Niebuhr, a classical realist perspective on the morality of nations in Moral Man and Immoral Society' with William Wallace, PhD Candidate in Politics, FBLP  -  (15 mins plus Q&A 15 mins)

Abstract 

Chapter four: the morality of nations will be the focus of this presentation, we shall look at Niebuhr’s main hypothesis, his conclusions, and make comparisons to our own international political environment to identify his most salient points. By doing this I would like to foster a discussion on the value of “old” sources in research on contemporary matters in particular. Link to full abstract here........

 

5. 'Any other business’

 

To view the full PGR Research Culture and Community Programme click here for more details

If you have any general questions about the seminar programme, please contact Jackie McAndrew at the Doctoral College in the first instance on jackie.mcandrew@hull.ac.uk

 

 

 

Abstract - Malik Abbass

 

How the Public Interest Litigation Shields against Social Injustice.

At present there is a pervasive concern in the legal circles of Pakistan as to how the public interest litigation can help them have an easy access to justice in the face of massive backlog of cases, rampant corruption in public sector, serious threats to the independence of the judiciary and bureaucratic red-tape culture. The speedy dispensation of justice has become a stupendous task in view of the considerable delays in the disposal of cases and scarcity of judges, with the consequence that the prevalent adversarial legal system benefit the rich due to these loopholes and the poor become victims of the time consuming and expensive conventional litigating process. The grim scenario significantly prevents enforcement of the basic human rights guaranteed by the Constitution on account of a cumbersome and complex legal procedures militating against socio-economic justice in the society. Such a scourge of the marginalized vulnerable segments falling prey to the financial might, is manifestly a common phenomenon in the subcontinent since independence from the British rule. The provisions of the Constitution of Pakistan unequivocally shield them against inequality and social injustice; nonetheless the procedural constraints like locus standi inhibited these groups of aggrieved people to combat this challenge unless the concept of public interest litigation was introduced to provide laxity in the rigid legal procedures. The superior courts began to transform the longstanding formal procedures with a view to set these grave concerns at rest. The method so evolved was characterized as public interest litigation. It gave somewhat a sigh of relief to the deprived sections of the society for enforcement of their constitutionally guaranteed human rights in Pakistan. The present research dilates upon the underlying rationale of relaxing procedural rules in public interest litigation.

Abstract William Wallace

Reinhold Niebuhr, a classical realist perspective on the morality of nations in Moral Man and Immoral Society.

Reinhold Niebuhr was a central figure of the theory of international relations that we now call classical realism, his book Moral Man and Immoral Society published in 1932 offers interesting perspectives on the existence and apparent inevitability of social conflict. Chapter four: the morality of nations will be the focus of this presentation, we shall look at Niebuhr’s main hypothesis, his conclusions, and make comparisons to our own international political environment to identify his most salient points. By doing this I would like to foster a discussion on the value of “old” sources in research on contemporary matters in particular.