Welcome, everyone, to the 2021 edition of the newly revived Kent Law Review. Run by students, for students, we aim to provide a platform that allows students to contribute their own voice to the wider academic discussion of law. Whether repurposed essays or specially written pieces, all the articles here are the work of Kent students, getting their first experience in academic publishing, and being able to share their ideas with the University as a whole. Our editors have been working hard to re-establish the journal and select the best pieces for publication, and working with the writers and providing feedback to ensure that all the work in here is the highest quality possible and the best reflection of academic thought at Kent.

To mark the return of Kent Law Review, this issue includes special interviews with Head of Kent Law School, Professor Lydia Hayes, about the creation of the Journal and the importance of academic writing; and with our Essay Competition winner, Larissa Balkissoon. Against lots of other strong contenders, Ms Balkissoon’s essay, ‘Cannabis: A Political Garden Tool’, was chosen by our student editors for its strength of academic argument and clear, engaging writing style. Her interview gives an insight into why she was so passionate about this topic and how she came to write this essay.

To maintain good first impressions in this introduction piece I would rather not fall into the use of clichés, but nevertheless it is hard to deny that this has been a particularly difficult year for many people, limiting our normal everyday activities and adjusting to the new reality of working online. This is why we are even more grateful to all our editors for volunteering their time to put together this Journal, and to all the students who took the time to write and submit their work, even if they were not published. Thank you to everyone who was a part of this collaborative effort to revive the Kent Law Review. We hope you enjoy, or are interested in, or inspired by, or just want something to pass the time on your train journey by, reading our Journal.

Sincerely,

The KLR Team

Mehin Abdullayeva, Jireh Akandwanaho, Albert Badia Costafreda, Lauren Barnard, Riya Bhattacharya, Sarah Blanchard, Pedro Boina E Carvalho, Shaghayegh Ghezelayagh, Hannah Guy, Aditya Kanuparthi, Sophie Knappett, Amber Lennox, Paarth Manjarekar, Morton Thornton, Prof Maria Drakopoulou, Dr Ida Petretta.