A day of sunshine and celebrations for graduating Kent law students featured the annual Congregations ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral on Tuesday morning and an afternoon of awards at a prize-giving reception on campus.
The sun shone down on the ancient Cathedral as University Chancellor Gavin Esler conferred Kent Law School students with more than 300 Bachelor of Laws with Honours degrees, 110 Master of Laws degrees and four Doctor of Philosophy degrees.
An honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree was also awarded by the Chancellor to Baroness Vivien Stern CBE, in recognition of her contribution to criminal justice and penal reform.
Celebrations for law graduates and their families continued after the ceremony with a drinks reception on the Canterbury campus, in a marquee overlooking the city.
Head of School, Professor Didi Herman, welcomed graduates, visitors and staff to the reception which is held each year to celebrate the achievements of the School’s students.
Following a speech by alumna Rachael Hearn, 29 prizes were presented to students in recognition of their contributions to the School and to their academic studies. A further 10 prizes were awarded to Medway law students earlier this month, following their graduation ceremony at Rochester Cathedral.
In addition to the prize winners listed below, special mention was made of the following students:
- Alumna Stacy Douglas who won the 2014 Julien Mezey Dissertation Award from the Association for the Study of Law, Culture and Humanities
- The Kent Law Campaign Student Group who won the Volunteering Society of the Year from the Kent Union Awards
- Emily Smith, this year’s Chair of the Kent Law Campaign Student Group, who won the Chancellor’s prize for her outstanding dedication to the Kent Law Campaign
Postgraduate prizes (presented by Professor Toni Williams)
- Oxford University Press Prize. For academic excellence in LLM: Miss Laura Thompson; Miss Rosamund Jubber; and Mr Chris Berger
Undergraduate prizes (presented by Professor Nick Jackson)
Mooting Prizes
- Kent Law Society Prize. Best overall mooter (sponsored by Kent Law Society, Sevenoaks): Oliver Hartland
- Weekly Law Reports Prize. Best overall Stage 2 & Stage 3 mooters (sponsored by The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting, London): India Flanagan Stage 2 & Harley Ronan Stage 3
- Hallett Prize. Best external competition mooter (sponsored by Hallett Solicitors, Ashford): Samuel Davis
- Canadian Moot Prize. Best performance in the Canadian Moot (donated by Nick Jackson): Nicholas Smith
- Internal Mooting Prizes. Canterbury: Alexander Armstrong, Maya Athanatou, India Flanagan, Oliver Hartland, Mariel Kagiorgi, Maria Kelepeshi, Vlad Lavrishchev, Hannah Lennox, Harley Ronan, Justin Yuen.
Law Clinic Prizes
- Oxford University Press Prize. Best contribution to Kent Law Clinic by a non-finalist (sponsored by Oxford University Press, Oxford): Ashley Kerr
- Fairweather Prize. Outstanding student contribution to Kent Law Clinic at Canterbury (sponsored by Fairweather Solicitors, Canterbury): Oliver Hartland, Alex Courtnage & Hannah Lennox
- Brachers Access to Justice Prize. Outstanding contribution to Access to Justice by a Kent Law Clinic student (sponsored by Brachers Law, Maidstone): Corinna Lobis.
Subject Prizes
- European Degree Prize. Best performance by a finalist completing a 4 year programme including an Erasmus year (donated by Professor Geoffrey Samuel): Oliver Hartland
- Lawford Davies Denoon. Best performance in Law & Medical Ethics (sponsored by Lawford Davies Denoon Solicitors, London): Christalla Calcutt
- Gardner Croft Prize for Negotiating. Outstanding overall Negotiating team (sponsored by Gardner Croft Solicitors, Canterbury): John Mesec & Will Cooper
- Gardner Croft Prize for Negotiating. Most promising team (Canterbury) (sponsored by Gardner Croft Solicitors, Canterbury): Kelechi Kalu & Robert Watson
- Clement-Walker Prize for Mediation. Most outstanding Mediation teams (donated by Janie Clement-Walker): 1) Hirad Asnafi & Jonathan Boettcher 2)Kelly McNulty & Stacia Franz
- Hillier Prize. Best Introduction to Obligations final assessments x 2 (sponsored by The Peter & Michael Hillier Trust): Nicholas Smith & Suleen Latif
- Forensic Science Expert Testimony Prize. Best Expert Testimony Report: Charlotte Seacombe; Best Expert Testimony Defence in Court: Claire Russell
Stage Prizes
- Hart Publishing Prize. Best performance by a Stage 1 student (winner) (sponsored by Hart Publishing, Oxford): Sean Wells
- Hallett Prize. Best performance by a Stage 1 student (runner up) (sponsored by Hallett Solicitors, Ashford): Kate Meir
- Routledge Law Prize. Outstanding achievement by a Stage 1 student (sponsored by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, Oxfordshire): Siana Mcnamara
- Hallett Prize. Best performance by a Stage 2 student (sponsored by Hallett Solicitors, Ashford): Joseph Hartland
- Sweet & Maxwell Prize. Best performance by a finalist (sponsored by Sweet & Maxwell, London): Winner – Harley Ronan; Runner up – Andre Sinanan
Other Prizes
- Faculty of Social Sciences Prize. Distinguished performance in the Stage 3 examinations: Angela Alvey, Tory Hibbitt, Harley Ronan, Oliver Hartland, Maria Kelepheshi, Safal Mukhia, Sharon Schmidt, Andre Sinanan
- Hallett Prize. Best dissertation in any year (sponsored by Hallett Solicitors, Ashford): Harley Ronan
- Hallett Prize. Work Placement (sponsored by Hallett Solicitors, Ashford): Perdeep Grewal
- Annual Advocacy Award 2014. Best advocate for the Police Probationer’s Mock Trials: Alex Courtnage
- Scott-Moncrieff Essay Prize. Best essay on Social Justice (sponsored by Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, Scott Moncrieff Harbour & Sinclair): Claire Splawn
- Head of School’s Prize. Outstanding student work on Critical Legal Thought: Harley Ronan
- Special Award for KLS Student Community Building. Best contribution to Community Building: Alex Beresford, Matt Dawkins, Emek Delibas, Isioma Idigbe, Harley Ronan, Justin Yuen
- Antony London Prize. Best contribution to the Kent Law School (donated by Antony London’s family): Hannah Duddridge (pictured above receiving her award from Head of School Professor Didi Herman). Emek Delibas, Harley Ronan, Justin Yuen were also nominated for this prize, announced on the day.
Medway Prizes (presented at Medway on 8th July 2014)
- Norman Cooper Advocacy Prize. Best UKM mooter (donated by Jeremy Cooper): Charles Wood
- Internal Mooting Prizes.. Medway: Charles Wood & Nathan Dady
- Gardner Croft Prize for Negotiating. Most promising Negotiating team (donated by Gardner Croft Solicitors, Canterbury): Gjystoma Simoni & David Torrance
- Colley Prize. Outstanding student contribution to Kent Law Clinic at Medway (sponsored by Colley Solicitors, Rochester): Kye Pearson
- Davis, Simmonds & Donaghey Prize. Best contribution to KLS at Medway (winner) (sponsored by Davis, Simmonds & Donaghey Solicitors, Gillingham): Eleanor Dhiman
- Lesley Phippen Prize. Best contribution to KLS at Medway (runner up) (donated by Lesley Phippen): Louise Johnson
- Stantons Prize. Best performance by a Certificate in Law student at Medway (winner) (sponsored by Stantons Solicitors, Gravesend): Xanthe Twinda
- Director of Certificate in Law Prize. Best Performance by a Certificate in Law student at Medway (donated by Karen Devine): Winner – Kauser Fadal; Runner up – Lewis Irons
- Davis, Simmonds & Donaghey Prize. Best performance by an ex Certificate student at Medway (sponsored by Davis, Simmonds & Donaghey Solicitors, Gillingham): Winner – Ibtisam El Jeaadi; Runner up – Autumn Newton Baxendine
- Jarmans Prize. Best performance by a finalist at Medway (sponsored by Jarmans Solicitors, Sittingbourne): Winners – Angela Watson & Clare Nichols; Runner up – Kye Pearson.