Regulation and governance of commerce and corporations research group

The Regulation and Governance of Commerce and Corporations research group supports scholarship on all aspects of the regulation, law and governance of commercial relations and the activities of corporations as well as the internal relationships of commercial organisations.

This includes the regulation of our economic life from our relationships as workers, to that as owners and consumers. Specifically, the group includes scholars concerned with commercial law and regulation; financial law and regulation; trade law, contract, tort, land law, property law, employment law, IP, company law, insolvency law, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, economic law and other areas that involve a critical reflection on the activities of corporations and commerce.

The research group incorporates strong doctrinal scholars, as well as contextual and critical scholars. Its scope is both national and international. It aims is to bring together scholars who are traditionally more disparate, and to bridge disciplinary boundaries and initiate new projects.

Our primary areas of interest

• Kate Bedford researches the intersection between law, gender, and political economy. She has a particular interest in the World Bank. She works critically on law and development, especially in Latin America. She has recently completed a large international research project on gambling regulation.
• Sylvie Delacroix’s work is focused on the intersection between law and ethics. As such, she likes to think critically about optimal ways of keeping emerging forms of regulatory power - such as that yielded by social media platforms - in check. She is particularly interested in the extent to which good regulation can delineate (and be supported by) a sphere of independent ethical engagement.
• Rilka Dragneva-Lewers works on regional integration, international trade, EU external policy, international diffusion of norms, and business sector legal reform with special reference to Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Rilka’s work has strong comparative and interdisciplinary elements.
• Joanna Gray researches around issues of banking and financial market regulation with a particular interest on how systemic risk and financial stability present as justiciable issues in the Courts.  She also has an emerging interest in how popular culture and dramatic narrative can be employed to advance and promote financial literacy and consumer protection.
• Robert Lee researches around issues concerning the regulation of emerging technologies and their application, including projects on critical materials, environmental genomics and responsible innovation.
• Julian Lonbay researches and advises on the law relating to legal education, lawyers and other professionals; and cross-border practice and the rules affecting such practice. He has participated in many conferences, research projects and events around the world. 
• Maureen Mapp researches the socio-cultural implications of regulating distributed ledger technologies including projects on cryptocurrencies and the Blockchain in Africa.
• Catherine Mitchell's research interests lie in contract law, particularly contract interpretation and the relationship between contract law and commercial contracting practice. 
• Katharina Moser researches around issues concerning consumer debt, personal insolvency law and welfare policy.
• Annalies Muscat carries out research on competition law.  She is particularly interested in EU competition law concerning dominant undertakings and in the application of EU competition law in small markets, especially in the smaller Member States.
• Walters Nsoh works in land and resource tenure rights, the legal and policy challenges to nature conservation, and the regulation and governance of natural resources.
• Lorraine Talbot researches into the political economy of the corporation, the law and governance of the corporation and the impacts of corporate activity on social progress. Her work takes a critical, law in context approach. 
• Chen Zhu’s main research interests include copyright and trade mark law. In particular, he is interested in the social and historical aspect of intellectual property rights relating to software, music and visual arts