The elusive internship
There are a lot of discussions at the moment about graduate prospects and whether there is the proverbial light at the end of the degree tunnel. The Guardian recently reported that there are now 70 applications to every available vacancy and “that nearly 78% of employers are insisting on a 2.1 degree, rendering a 2.2 marginal…” The article then went on to suggest a wide range of work experiences including that graduates should “consider flipping burgers or shelf stacking to build skills”. But the article strongly recommended taking up internships, boldly suggesting that “the only way was unpaid work. ” The value of taking up an internship has never been questioned; the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) recently suggested that “some employers are even using internships as a way of assessing potential new recruits.” [Read the rest of this entry...]

Welcome to the third edition of The Argument – a critical analysis of the law by law students at the University of Kent.

In spite of our growth and increasing recognition within the legal community, the editorial team has been committed to preserving the foundational principles of The Argument. The premise of the publication has been, and will continue to be, to serve as a platform for critical law students to question and contemplate pertinent legal issues that are important to them, without the constraints inherently imposed within the academic setting. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Coming to the end of my three year LLB it can be easy to believe that all sides of law have been studied. Kent Law School itself proclaims that it offers a ‘pioneering critical approach to the study of law’ and yet there is another view, notably overlooked, but voiced by those who do not support Law; the Anarchist. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Could you give us a brief background to your education?

I studied law in Cardiff largely because I knew Cardiff relatively well as my family had spent some time living there. I took the standard LLB law course and after graduating I went to the College of Law in Guildford, Surrey to do what was the equivalent of the LPC back in 1983-84. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Law is full of stories. After all, that is exactly what cases are. One such story takes place in Iraq on the fateful day of March 12, 2006. In the town of Mahmudiyah, approximately 50 miles from Baghdad, 5 US soldiers aided and took part in the gang-rape and murder of 14 year old Abeer Qasim Hamza Al-Janabi. Their method was particularly brutal and chilling; they had been drinking alcohol while discussing raping Al-Janabi at their checkpoint headquarters. They decided to go to her house in daylight hours, wearing plain clothes so they wouldn’t be recognised and the 5 soldiers named as Sergeant Paul E Cortez, Specialist James P Barker, Private Steven D Green, Private Jesse V Spielman and Private Brian L Howard proceeded to separate Abeer Qasim from the rest of the family. [Read the rest of this entry...]