Annika Newnham

• Child law
• Autopoietic theory
• The common intention constructive trust

Annika Newnham's research has focused on the different conditions for post-separation parenting in the two jurisdictions. It employs both autopoietic theory and a feminist perspective to consider how concepts like family, equality and parenthood are understood in the two countries, and examines law's over-reliance on rigid definitions and abstract presumptions as well as its inability to recognise the true value of care.

She has recently completed research into how courts decide contact and residence disputes with Dr Maebh Harding at the University of Warwick. Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the project looks particularly at shared parenting, but also at the interaction between private and public child law, and aims to contribute to policy debate and law reform.

Engaging with the practitioner and policy communities has involved speaking at the Hampshire Family Court Forum and the Westminster Legal Policy Keynote Seminars on Family Justice. She is Joint Stream Convenor of Family Law for the Socio-Legal Studies Association's Annual Conferences.

Another current research interest is the common intention constructive trust and its use to reallocate ex-cohabitants' interests in family homes. She has argued for a greater recognition of the value of care in this context, too, and for a move away from outdated property-law based interpretations of intention.