School of Law and Social Justice to host SLSA 2025 plenary on Hillsborough legacy, marking 36 years of justice and activism
The 2025 Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Conference, hosted by the University of Liverpool's School of Law and Social Justice, coincides with the 36th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster. On Wednesday 16 April 2025, the session, titled Liverpool and The Legacies of Hillsborough: A Multi-Sectoral, Socio-Legal Campaign, will spotlight the enduring impact of the tragedy and the tireless justice campaign it inspired.
The panel brings together pivotal figures from the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, highlighting the collaborative roles of community activism, academic research, the arts, and legal advocacy in pursuing justice for the families affected by the disaster.
The Hillsborough tragedy occurred on 15 April 1989, during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, claiming the lives of 97 people. Over the decades, the disaster has been the subject of extensive investigations, including a Home Office inquiry, criminal proceedings, judicial reviews, and the longest inquests in UK legal history. Hillsborough has become a symbol of the fight against police misconduct, state collusion, and systemic injustice, as families and campaigners have challenged institutional failures at every turn.
This session will examine how socio-legal collaboration and community-driven accountability efforts have shaped the formal processes surrounding the disaster. The Hillsborough campaign is recognised as an example of grassroots activism driving systemic change and inspiring other justice movements globally.
The panel includes: acclaimed Liverpool-based writer and producer, Jimmy McGovern; leading socio-legal scholar, Phil Scraton; Elkan Abrahamson, legal representative to many of the Hillsborough victims’ families; and Margaret Aspinall and Sue Roberts who are members of the Hillsborough Family Support Group.
The session will also reflect on the potential introduction of a new Hillsborough Law in 2025, a legislative effort to prevent future miscarriages of justice and improve institutional accountability.
This event promises to be a poignant and insightful exploration of Hillsborough’s legacy, emphasising the critical intersections of law, society, and activism in the pursuit of truth and justice.
Call for papers
Authors wishing to present a paper (in person only) at the conference should visit the SLSA 2025 conference website, where you will find descriptions of the streams and current topics that make up the conference. Please choose the most appropriate stream or current topic for your proposed paper and prepare an abstract of no more than 250 words.
For those not able to attend in person there will be the opportunity to watch the plenary session live while a revamped poster competition will enable online participation. We will offer a wide range of opportunities to showcase poster presentations, both online and in person. The call for posters is also now open, but more details on the format will follow shortly. Please indicate in your poster submission whether you would prefer to present it online or in-person. For examples of previous prize-winning posters, click here.
Submission of abstracts for papers and posters should be made via Oxford Abstracts.
The call for papers and posters closes on: 6 January 2025.
If you have any queries, please contact the Conference Team: slsa2025@liverpool.ac.uk.