Stop in the Law of the Name! Nominative Lawmaking, Populism and Justice

Abstract Nominative laws—laws named after particular victims of violence or injustice such as Martyn's Law, Sarah's Law and Awaab's Law—have become increasingly prominent in the UK. In this article, we offer the first sustained attempt to explore this phenomenon and its social, political and legal significance. Two contributions are made. First, we demonstrate the breadth of nominative laws via an original typology organised around their four primary ambitions: rights, obligations, protections and punishments. Second, we situate these laws within relevant social and political dynamics, including the rise of populism, expectations of performative justice, and social memory. In doing this, the article argues that nominative laws are important for what they create and close down. On the one hand, they offer new opportunities for marking injustices and accelerating political action. On the other, they risk foreclosing space for political debate and contestation.