The Heart of Equity: International Conference in Honour of Professor Charles Mitchell KC (Hon) FBA at UCL Faculty of Laws, London [Sept 17-18, 2026]

An international conference will be held on 17 and 18 September 2026 at the Faculty of Laws, UCL (Bentham House, Endsleigh Gardens, London), to mark the retirement of Professor Charles Mitchell KC (Hon) FBA and to celebrate his scholarly work. The papers presented across the two days all concern equity, reflecting Professor Mitchell's contributions to the law of trusts, equity, unjust enrichment and legal history.

The conference is convened by Professor Paul Mitchell (UCL), Professor Steven Elliott KC (National University of Singapore) and Professor Stephen Watterson (University of Cambridge).

• Professor Sinead Agnew, Catherine Seville Professor of Private Law, University of Cambridge
• Lord Burrows, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
• Professor Rob Chambers, Thompson Rivers University
• Professor Paul Davies, Professor of Commercial Law, UCL
• Professor Steven Elliott KC, National University of Singapore and One Essex Court
• Dr David Foster, Lecturer in Law, UCL
• Professor Jonathan Garton, University of Warwick
• Professor Joshua Getzler, University of Oxford
• Dr Julius Grower, University of Oxford
• Professor Lusina Ho, University of Hong Kong
• Dr Jessica Hudson, University of New South Wales
• Dr Joyman Lee, University of New South Wales
• Professor Ying Khai Liew, University of Melbourne
• Professor Catharine MacMillan, King's College London
• Professor Ben McFarlane, University of Oxford
• Professor Paul Mitchell, UCL
• Dr Magda Raczynska, UCL
• Professor Lionel Smith, University of Oxford
• Dr Andreas Televantos, University of Oxford
• Professor Stephen Watterson, University of Cambridge
• Dr Frederick Wilmot Smith, Brick Court Chambers and All Souls College, Oxford

Sessions on Historical Perspectives, and Equitable Relationships and Equitable Rights:

• "When law and equity have been joined together": Central London Property Trust Ltd v Hightrees House Ltd (1946) (Catharine MacMillan)
• Bleak House and Legal History (Paul Mitchell)
• Reforming Equity Through History: Lord Wilberforce's Judicial Method (David Foster)
• Residual Rewards for the Fiduciary (Joshua Getzler)
• The Trust: Inventory, Not Definition (Lionel Smith)
• Understanding the Trust: Lessons from Livingston (Ben McFarlane)
• The Irreducible Core of the Charitable Trust (Jonathan Garton)
• Equitable Property Rights and Powers (Rob Chambers)
• What is a Mere Equity? (Stephen Watterson)
• Unpacking the Fiduciary Duty of Loyalty (Julius Grower)

Sessions on Equitable Liabilities and Remedies, and Wider Reflections:

• Equities, Equitable Estoppels and Trustees' Authority (Jessica Hudson)
• Security Rights, Knowing Receipt and Dishonest Assistance (Andreas Televantos)
• "Proprietary" Liability of Recipients of Misapplied Trust Assets: A Non-Proprietary Account (Lusina Ho)
• Rights, Wrongs and Accessories (Frederick Wilmot Smith)
• Equitable Allowance (Paul Davies and Magda Raczynska)
• Equitable Remedies in Asian Civil Law (Joyman Lee)
• What is a Court-Appointed Receiver? (Steven Elliott KC)
• In Defence of Conscience and the Performance Focus of Equity: Just Do It? (Sinead Agnew)
• Rights and Wrongs in Equity: 20 Years On (Ying Khai Liew)
• The Relationship Between Contract and Unjust Enrichment (Andrew Burrows)

The conference is open to all. Academics, practitioners, researchers and students interested in equity, trusts, unjust enrichment and private law may register. This is an attendance-only conference: there is no call for papers, and the programme features curated papers by invited speakers.

• Standard ticket: GBP 300
• Concession tickets are available for practitioners and academics
• A limited number of free places are available for UCL students
• Refunds are available up to 7 days before the event (per the Eventbrite booking page)

Register through the official Eventbrite booking page linked from the UCL Faculty of Laws event page. Ticket sales remain open until the conference begins on 17 September 2026.

For programme queries, contact the convenors: Professor Paul Mitchell (p.mitchell@ucl.ac.uk), Professor Steven Elliott KC (steven.elliott@nus.edu.sg) or Professor Stephen Watterson (sw603@cam.ac.uk). For event and logistics queries, contact the UCL Laws Events team at laws-events@ucl.ac.uk.