Professor Sara Fovargue
School of Law
Professor of Law
Director of Academic Staff Development
Deputy Chair of the University Research Ethics Committee


Full contact details
School of Law
AF24
Bartolomé House
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
- Profile
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I joined the School of Law at the University of Sheffield in January 2022, having previously been Professor of Law at Lancaster University. I have also taught at the Universities of Manchester and Newcastle.
I was the first in my family to attend university. Having wanted to be a barrister (specialising in medical malpractice) since I was about 14, I realised while I was studying at the Inns of Court School of Law that a career at the Bar was not for me. I completed the academic stage to qualify as a barrister and then opted to start work on my PhD rather than to complete a pupillage.
I have been teaching and researching issues relating to health law and ethics, and family law (particularly relating to children) for over 20 years and I am passionate about these subjects. I have also taught Criminal Law, English Legal Systems/Legal Methods, and Gender and the Law.
- Qualifications
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- Non-practising barrister
- PhD, University of Manchester
- LLB(Hons) Law, University of Leicester
- Research interests
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Health care law and ethics generally - specifically:
- Consent and Capacity
- Decision Making for the 'Vulnerable'
- Risk and Regulation
- Clinical Research Involving Human and Non-human Animals
- Developing and Emerging Biotechnologies (such as xenotransplantation)
- Reproduction and Reproductive Technologies
- Organ Donation and Transplantation
- Conscientious Objection
Family law:
- Parents, Parenthood and Reproductive Technologies
- Children and Health
- Children and Childhood
- Publications
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Books
- Xenotransplantation and Risk. Cambridge University Press.
Edited books
- Leading Works in Health Law and Ethics. Routledge.
- The Legitimacy of Medical Treatment. Routledge.
Journal articles
- Editorial: Reproductive health, choice, and justice. Medical Law Review, 32(4), 441-443.
- Using symbiotic empirical ethics to explore the significance of relationships to clinical ethics: findings from the Reset Ethics research project. BMC Medical Ethics, 25. View this article in WRRO
- Editorial. Medical Law Review, 30(4), 581-583.
- Relationships, rights and responsibilities: (re)viewing the NHS constitution for the post-vaccination ‘new normal'. Medical Law Review. View this article in WRRO
- UK pharmacists' experiences and perceptions of conflict between personal ethical commitments and professional obligations, as set out in professional guidance. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice. View this article in WRRO
- Editorial. Medical Law Review, 29(1), 1-2. View this article in WRRO
- Neither ‘crisis light’ nor ‘business as usual’: considering the distinctive ethical issues raised by the contingency and reset phases of a pandemic. American Journal of Bioethics, 21(8), 34-37. View this article in WRRO
- Which ethical values underpin England's National Health Service reset of paediatric and maternity services following COVID-19: a rapid review. BMJ Open, 11(6). View this article in WRRO
- COVID-19 and beyond: the ethical challenges of resetting health services during and after public health emergencies. Journal of Medical Ethics, 46(11), 715-716. View this article in WRRO
- Anticipating issues with capacitous pregnant women: United Lincolnshire NHS Hospitals Trust v CD [2019] EWCOP 24 and Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM) v R [2020] EWCOP 4. Medical Law Review, 28(4), 781-793. View this article in WRRO
- Guest editorial. New Bioethics, 25(3), 203-206. View this article in WRRO
- Is conscientious objection incompatible with healthcare professionalism?. New Bioethics, 25(3), 221-235. View this article in WRRO
- Mine, yours, ours? Autonomy and the removal and use of organs and tissues before the European Court in Petrova v. Latvia and Elberte v. Latvia. Journal of Trafficking and Human Exploitation, 1(2), 143-160. View this article in WRRO
- Conscience and agent-integrity : a defence of conscience-based exemptions in the health care context. Medical Law Review, 24(4), 544-570. View this article in WRRO
- What role should public opinion play in ethico-legal decision making? The example of selecting sex for non-medical reasons using preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Medical Law Review, 24(1), 34-58. View this article in WRRO
- 'IN GOOD CONSCIENCE': CONSCIENCE-BASED EXEMPTIONS AND PROPER MEDICAL TREATMENT. Medical Law Review, 23(2), 221-241. View this article in WRRO
- CONSCIENCE AND PROPER MEDICAL TREATMENT. Medical Law Review, 23(2), 173-176. View this article in WRRO
- Does the theoretical framework change the legal end result for mature minors refusing medical treatment or creating self-generated pornography?. Medical Law International, 13(1), 6-31. View this article in WRRO
- The (Ab)use of Those with No Other Hope?. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 22(2), 181-191. View this article in WRRO
- N. Vermeulen, S. Tamminen and A. Webster (eds.), Bio-Objects: Life in the 21st Century (Ashgate: Surrey, 2012), ISBN 9781409411789 (hardback), £55, 240 pp.. European Journal of Health Law, 20(2), 231-239.
- A TRIBUTE TO PROFESSOR DAVID PRICE, 1954-2012. Medical Law Review, 20(2), 189-190.
- Editorial. Medical Law Review, 20(1), 6-7.
- Key changes in the regulation of assisted reproduction introduced by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. Clinical Ethics, 6(4), 162-166.
- The European Union Directive on Organ Donation and Transplantation. Clinical Ethics, 6(3), 117-121.
- Treating those who are mentally disordered under the Mental Health Act 1983: Part 2. Clinical Ethics, 6(2), 64-67.
- Assessing and detaining those who are mentally disordered under the Mental Health Act 1983 and Mental Capacity Act 2005: Part 1. Clinical Ethics, 6(1), 11-14.
- The best interests principle and providing treatment for adults without capacity in England and Wales. Clinical Ethics, 5(4), 180-183.
- The legal status of the fetus. Clinical Ethics, 5(3), 122-124.
- WHEN SHOULD PRECAUTION PREVAIL? INTERESTS IN (PUBLIC) HEALTH, THE RISK OF HARM AND XENOTRANSPLANTATION. Medical Law Review, 18(3), 302-329. View this article in WRRO
- One step forward, two steps back? The GMC, the common law and 'informed' consent. Journal of Medical Ethics, 36(8), 494-497. View this article in WRRO
- Research and adults without capacity. Clinical Ethics, 5(2), 63-66.
- Shifting the focus. Clinical Ethics, 5(1), 1-2.
- How much information is ‘enough’?. Clinical Ethics, 5(1), 13-15.
- A plea for precaution with public health: the xenotransplantation example. Clinical Ethics, 4(3), 119-124.
- Clinical Ethics Committee case 5: Should we discharge our vulnerable patient to a family who seem unable to look after her?. Clinical Ethics, 4(1), 6-11.
- Why Donor Insemination Requires Developments in Family Law—The Need for New Definitions of Parenthood. Medical Law Review, 16(3), 458-464.
- Editorial. Clinical Ethics, 2(1), 22-22.
- Autonomy, decision-making, and role of the law in protecting the 'vulnerable'. Clinical Ethics, 2(2), 55-55.
- Editorial. Clinical Ethics, 1(2), 85-85.
- Editorial. Clinical Ethics, 1(3), 138-138.
- A brief guide to the Human Tissue Act 2004. Clinical Ethics, 1(1), 26-32.
- Editorial. Clinical Ethics, 1(1), 21-21.
- Consenting to bio-risk: xenotransplantation and the law. Legal Studies, 25(3), 404-430. View this article in WRRO
- Review: Rights, Duties and the Body: Law and Ethics of the Maternal-Fetal Conflict. Medical Law Review, 13(1), 131-135.
- A Leap of Faith? Sanctioning Xenotransplant Clinical Trials. Liverpool Law Review, 26(2), 125-147. View this article in WRRO
- Warning: health ‘choices’ can kill. The Journal of Adult Protection, 5(1), 30-34.
- . Res Publica, 7(2), 183-187.
- Reeves v. Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [1998] 2 all ER 381. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 20(4), 421-437.
- Policing pregnancy: implications of the attorney-general's reference (no. 3 of 1994). Medical Law Review, 6(3), 265-296. View this article in WRRO
- View this article in WRRO
- Implementation of child-centred outcome measures in routine paediatric healthcare practice: a systematic review. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 21(1).
- The Law’s Response to Pregnancy and Childbirth: Consistency, Conflict or Compromise?. The Modern Law Review, 65(2), 290-303.
- 'OH PICK ME, PICK ME'--SELECTING PARTICIPANTS FOR XENOTRANSPLANT CLINICAL TRIALS. Medical Law Review, 15(2), 176-219. View this article in WRRO
- Xenotransplantation--Law and Ethics. Medical Law Review, 14(3), 434-442.
Chapters
- Introduction, Leading Works in Health Law and Ethics (pp. 1-8).
- View this article in WRRO
- Introduction, The Legitimacy of Medical Treatment: What Role for the Medical Exception? (pp. 1-11).
- Are we still ‘policing pregnancy’?, Pioneering Healthcare Law: Essays in Honour of Margaret Brazier (pp. 243-254). View this article in WRRO
- Bioethical conflict and developing biotechnologies: is protecting individual and public health from the risks of xenotransplantation a matter for the (criminal) law?, Bioethics, Medicine and the Criminal Law (pp. 140-156). Cambridge University Press
- Integrating feminisms' perspectives into the legal curriculum, Leading Works in Health Law and Ethics (pp. 148-163). Taylor & Francis
- Introduction, Leading Works in Health Law and Ethics (pp. 1-8). Taylor & Francis
Reports
- View this article in WRRO
- View this article in WRRO
Preprints
- Xenotransplantation and Risk. Cambridge University Press.
- Research group
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I would be happy to supervise students in the following subjects:
- Health Law and Ethics
- Family Law - especially relating to children and health.
- Grants
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Title/Description: The Future of Human Reproduction: New Agendas and Methods for the Humanities and Social Science
- Awarding Body: Wellcome
- People Involved: Professor Stephen Wilkinson (PI, Lancaster University); Dr Kirsty Dunn (CI, Lancaster University); Professor Sharon Rushton (CI, Lancaster University); Professor Elena Semino (CI, Lancaster University); Dr Emmanuel Tsekleves (CI, Lancaster University); Dr Nicola Williams (CI, Lancaster University)
- Years Funded for: May 2022-August 2025
- Amount Awarded (£): 1,019,767
Title/Description: When pandemic and everyday ethics collide: Supporting ethical decision-making in maternity care and paediatrics during the Covid-19 pandemic
- Awarding Body: UKRI/AHRC Covid-19 Rapid Response funding
- People Involved: Dr Lucy Frith (PI, University of Manchester); Dr Paul Baines (CI, University of Warwick); Dr Anna Chiumento (CI, University of Liverpool); Professor Heather Draper (CI, University of Warwick)
- Years Funded for: 2020-2021
- Amount Awarded (£): 258,812
Title/Description: Uterus transplantation: Law, ethics, patients and policy
- Awarding Body: ESRC IAA
- People Involved: Professor Stephen Wilkinson (Lancaster University); Dr Laura O'Donovan (Lancaster University); Dr Nicola Williams (Lancaster University)
- Years Funded for: 2021
- Amount Awarded (£): 14,180
- Teaching interests
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- Health Care Law and Ethics
- Family Law (especially relating to children)
- Teaching activities
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The modules I teach are:
Undergraduate
- Children and the Law
- Family Law
- Principles of Healthcare Law and Ethics
Postgraduate
- PhD Legal Research Methods
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Joint Editor-in-Chief, Medical Law Review.
- Member of the AHRC Peer Review College.
- Member of the SLS EDI Committee.
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
- External ethics adviser on Children Palliative Care Outcome Scale (C-POS), funded by European Research Council.
- Member the Children’s Health Ethics and Law Special Interest Group (CHELSIG).