The School of Law and Social Justice goes from strength to stength as it welcomes nine new academic members of staff. Seven academics join the Liverpool Law School and two join the department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology (SSPC). They have all taken up their new University of Liverpool positions at the beginning of the 2025/26 academic year.
Prof Valsamis Mitsilegas, Dean of the School of Law and Social Justice, said this about the new appointments:
“I am delighted to welcome these exceptionally talented new colleagues to the SLSJ. They will make a tremendous contribution to the success of the School, in an environment which will nurture and support their academic trajectory.”
Each of the nine new academics was invited to introduce themselves and tell us a little about their backgrounds, what their interests are and what their specialisms will be in their new roles. A few academics new to the city also gave their first impressions of Liverpool. Below, you can find out a bit about them.
Law
Jessica Drew
Jessica joined the Liverpool Law School in September 2025, having previously taught at Edge Hill University. Her research focuses on international legal protections for people displaced across borders by the adverse effects of climate change. She is particularly interested how crisis framing shapes legal development, the challenges of refugee protection across Europe, and the consequences of climate change-induced loss of territory. Jessica holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law (University of Liverpool) and an LLB in Law (Edge Hill University).
Francesca Farrington
Prior to joining the School of Law and Social Justice, Francesca was a Lecturer at the School of Law, University of Aberdeen (2022-2025). Her main research interests include institutional theories of law, rule of law promotion, and the private international law dimension of transnational corporate accountability. Francesca is teaching on Law, International Business and Society, Corporate Governance, and Contract Law.
“So far, Liverpool is warm (metaphorically not meteorologically) and inviting, and I am looking forward to exploring all the city has to offer in terms of food, culture, music and arts.”
Mireia Garces de Marcilla Muste
Before joining the SLSJ, Mireia was a lecturer in law at the University of Exeter and she completed her PhD at LSE. Mireia's research lies at the intersection of medicine, law and society, and she am particularly interested in examining how legal and medical institutions regulate our bodies. At Liverpool, she is teaching criminal law.
Georgia Jenkins
Georgia joined the University of Liverpool as a Lecturer in Law, teaching LAW338 (Introduction to Copyright) and a postgraduate module on AI, creativity, platform regulation, and fundamental rights. Her research explores digital copyright law and the balance between access and protection especially in socio-cultural contexts where creativity, identity, and power collide. Georgia is currently focused on how artificial intelligence affects authors, artists, performers, and creative users, viewed through the lens of personhood and fundamental rights.
“Before joining Liverpool, I was based at the University of Kent, living in the countryside, so Liverpool has been a vivid shift. I've been enjoying the live music scene and food, but the street art is one of my favourite things about Liverpool so far.”
Honor McAdam
Honor joined Liverpool Law School in October of 2025 from De Montfort University and has also taught at a number of other higher education institutions across the United Kingdom and China. Honor holds a BA (Hons.) from the University of Western Ontario, an LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School, an MSc in Law, Anthropology and Society from LSE and a PhD in Law from the University of Glasgow. She was also called to the bar in Ontario, Canada where she briefly practiced as a labour and employment lawyer.
Honor has expertise and interests across a number of specialisms but is particularly interested in legal theory, human rights law, environmental and climate law and justice, and corporate accountability at present. In addition, Honor is also interested in pedagogical scholarship particularly around the enrichment of student experience and climate conscious legal education. She is currently leading the climate justice pathway on the Law and Social Justice in Action module and is also on the teaching team of the EU law module.
“I have lived in Liverpool very briefly before and am happy to be back!”
Maciej Padamczyk
Maciej joined us from Queen Mary, University of London, where he has been doing his PhD on patentability of emerging biotechnologies, focusing on the theory of regulation and the role of jurisprudence in governing new technologies. He participated in several high-impact public studies, including the Ukrainian IP court study at Queen Mary, where he researched best procedural practices in leading IP jurisdictions. He also has a background in human rights, as well as legal practice and contract review experience. His interests include IP law, legal theory, and bioethics.
“I am very impressed with Liverpool, a vibrant city with a lot going on, especially in music, and full of lovely, friendly people!”
Mustafa Yilmaz
Before joining the University of Liverpool, Mustafa held a Research Fellowship at the Centre for Maritime Law (CML) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He previously taught at The City Law School, City St George’s, University of London, and at Ankara University. Mustafa holds a PhD in Maritime Law from The City Law School, where his research recontextualised containerisation in the law of the international carriage of goods by sea, advancing a container-centred theoretical framework that challenges traditional mode-based approaches.
Mustafa is a maritime law scholar with a particular focus on containerisation, carrier liability, and emerging technologies in the shipping industry, including autonomous ships and smart containers. He has published widely in leading journals and currently has around ten works in press. He is also the author of Legal Aspects of Autonomous Ships (Yetkin Publishing, 2022), the first monograph dedicated to the legal implications of autonomous shipping. At Liverpool, Mustafa teaches within the Digital Justice and Emerging Technologies module, focusing on how new technologies affect maritime law, and also contributes to teaching in International Arbitration.
“My first impressions of Liverpool have been extremely positive. The School has been very welcoming and supportive, and I have found the city’s cultural energy and friendliness make it a wonderful place to live and work.”
Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology (SSPC)
Ruth Armstrong
Ruth is a post-doctoral researcher in the department focussing on researching theories and practices of generative justice, the role of social movements in systems change, and how the policies, practices and culture of institutions and the formation of the staff who lead them intersect with their capacity to work alongside broadly defined lived experiences of the criminal justice system.
Ruth holds a law degree from Nottingham University and the University of Texas, and a masters and PhD in Criminology from Cambridge. She has specialised in processes of desistance from crime and teaching senior practitioners in the criminal justice system. For the last four years, Ruth has been working nationally and globally with cross-sector senior leaders in the Ministry of Justice, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, the UN and Prison Radio International among others, to support senior leaders in systems change leadership through her consultancy - Justice Matters (https://justicematters.org.uk)
“I am new to Liverpool and absolutely delighted with both the city and the department! It feels alive in such tangible ways. My colleagues have been warm and welcoming and I’m loving getting to know them and their work, and hope to build collaborations as we go. The overall tone of the University of Liverpool as a higher education establishment that takes its civic duty seriously lights my fire, and in a city that is renowned for its people power, and a School that has the hugely exciting Centre for People’s Justice at it’s heart, and the fact I’m from the North West originally (the Lake District), it feels a lot like coming home, and I love it!”
Scarlet Harris
Dr Scarlet Harris has come to SSPC from her previous role as a Teaching Associate in the department of Sociology, University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on state racisms, racial capitalism and abolitionist social movements. This year she is teaching on various modules across sociology and criminology at undergraduate level and as part of the new Criminology and Criminal Justice MA.
“I’m new to the University of Liverpool but have family in the city, so know the city (and its football!) fairly well already. I’m delighted to now be working and teaching in such a vibrant department and school – and of course the wider city with its histories, activism and social movements which intersect with my research interests in important ways.”
Find out more
- View a full list of Law academics on the Liverpool Law School's 'Our People' page
- View a full list of SSPC academics on Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology's 'Our People' page
- Connect with School of Law and Social Justice colleagues on LinkedIn