The 2026 Society of Legal Scholars’ annual conference will be held at the University of East Anglia (UEA), from 2 – 4 September and will be an in-person event. There will be an opportunity to join the plenary talks and ECR session in a hybrid format.

All speakers will be required to present in person. However, we will also endeavour to allow speakers unable to attend due to ill-health or travel restrictions to present virtually. Please ensure you make a note of this when submitting your paper.

Those presenting do not need to be members of the Society, although we encourage those eligible to be members to join. The Best Paper Prize and the Best Paper Prize by Doctoral Student at the conference are only open to fully-paid-up members. For more information on becoming a member visit the SLS website.

The allocation of subject sections between the two halves of the 2026 conference is as follows: 

The theme of the conference is ‘Doing Law Differently’, inspired by UEA’s motto of ‘Do Different’ (derived from the local dialect). The theme invites reflection on legal research, methodology, pedagogy, and practice from new and diverse perspectives – both within the discipline of law and through interdisciplinary approaches. Drawing on insights from across and beyond legal studies, the theme seeks to promote advances in, and enhance a wider understanding of, the law for a range of audiences. Contributions addressing any aspect of this broad theme, as well as those focused on other topics, will be welcomed in the Subject Sections.

The SLS provides a positive inclusive environment for legal academics at whatever stage of their career to engage with each other and learn valuable lessons from a diverse and inclusive community of legal scholars. Doctoral students are very welcome and are encouraged to submit papers for consideration in the Subject Sections Programme.

If you are interested in delivering a paper or organising a panel, please submit your paper abstract or panel (maximum of three speakers) details by 11:59pm UK time on Friday 27 March 2026. All abstracts and panel details must be submitted through the Oxford Abstracts conference system which can be accessed using the button below – and following the instructions (select ‘Track’ for the relevant subject section).

Please note submission will open on Friday 30 January 2026

Those wishing to present a paper should submit a title and abstract of 300 words. Those wishing to propose a panel should submit a document outlining the theme and rationale for the panel and the names of the proposed speakers (who must have agreed to participate) and their abstracts. Sessions are 90 minutes in length and so we recommend panels of a maximum of three speakers, though the conference organisers reserve the right to add speakers to panels in the interests of balance and diversity.  For papers with more than three authors, the authors should consider submitting a panel. Submissions with multiple authors should clearly identify non-speaking and speaking authors.

As the SLS is keen to ensure that as many members with good quality papers as possible can present, we discourage speakers from presenting more than one paper at the conference. When you submit an abstract via Oxford Abstracts you will be asked to note if you are also responding to calls for papers or panels from other sections.

After the call for papers close, there is extensive liaison between Convenors and the Subject Sections Secretary to ensure that papers of sufficient quality can be accommodated within the programme, even if this means placing a paper in a different subject section from that to which the paper was originally submitted.

We intend to communicate decisions on papers and proposals to be included in the programme by Friday 8 May 2026.  All speakers will then need to book and pay to attend the conference and will have to register for the conference by Friday 19 June 2026 (more information on ticket prices is available here) to secure their place within the programme. 

This year we will also continue to offer support for attendance via our additional support fund for those who have special circumstances or who are in financial hardship warranting funding. Priority for support will be given to applicants who have no other source of funding.

If you do have any queries on the call for papers, please email slsconference@mosaicevents.co.uk or call +44 (0) 1904 702165.