Benedict Douglas
@benedictdouglas.bsky.social
Law Lecturer. Trying to work out the nature of being human, sometimes by looking vacantly into space. Unique spellings©
https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/benedict-douglas/
https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/benedict-douglas/
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
I‘m giving a public talk at UCL on Thurs 16 Oct. The title is “Bureaucracy and distrust: the civil service in the constitution” looking at the civil service’s constitutional foundations, and how it might respond to a populist govt. @sirJJkc.bsky.social will chair!
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
Hybrid | CLP - Bureaucracy and Distrust: The Civil Service in the Constitution
This lecture will be delivered by Dr Ben Yong, as part of the Current Legal Problems Lecture Series 2025-26
www.ucl.ac.uk
October 6, 2025 at 6:53 AM
I‘m giving a public talk at UCL on Thurs 16 Oct. The title is “Bureaucracy and distrust: the civil service in the constitution” looking at the civil service’s constitutional foundations, and how it might respond to a populist govt. @sirJJkc.bsky.social will chair!
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
The news of Conor Gearty's death has just been announced and I'm not coping. He was a mentor and the pole star in my constitutional thinking. He was also a great friend and fantastic fun to be around. I'm heartbroken for Aoife and the children.
September 12, 2025 at 10:02 AM
The news of Conor Gearty's death has just been announced and I'm not coping. He was a mentor and the pole star in my constitutional thinking. He was also a great friend and fantastic fun to be around. I'm heartbroken for Aoife and the children.
Whoever wrote this headline deserved the rest of the day off
Where there’s a will there’s a whey: cheese producers lean into their craft as Trump tariffs bite
Europeans put their faith in centuries-old, all-natural production to maintain US custom
www.theguardian.com
September 9, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Whoever wrote this headline deserved the rest of the day off
Academise a book: That's not my Justice or Rationality
Academise a book: Pride and Heuristics
September 8, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Academise a book: That's not my Justice or Rationality
You can replace the word "sovereignty" with "domination" quite easily in this article
David Frost being explicit - a hard UK sovereignist agenda entails leaving the ECHR, scrapping the Windsor Framework and imposing 'full control' over Northern Ireland by Westminster fiat.
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/87d3793...
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/87d3793...
Britain needs to get serious about sovereignty
Withdrawal from the ECHR is just the first step in Parliament taking back control
www.telegraph.co.uk
September 5, 2025 at 1:21 PM
You can replace the word "sovereignty" with "domination" quite easily in this article
Lovely use of the phrase "constitutional Tetris" in explaining why lack of effective devolved (and local?) democracy in England enables Farage to stir up xenophobia
NEWYDD - gan @ailsahenderson.bsky.social a minnau.
NEW by me and my fellow student of Englishness, Prof. Ailsa Henderson.
theconversation.com/nigel-farage...
NEW by me and my fellow student of Englishness, Prof. Ailsa Henderson.
theconversation.com/nigel-farage...
Nigel Farage and the political power of English grievance
The Conservatives and Labour have allowed resentment to fester in the biggest part of the UK – and the only region not to have its own parliament.
theconversation.com
September 1, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Lovely use of the phrase "constitutional Tetris" in explaining why lack of effective devolved (and local?) democracy in England enables Farage to stir up xenophobia
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
Roger Masterman and Matthew Nicholson, "The Dissolution of Dualism" (Cambridge Law Journal, Ahead of Print)
Link: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Link: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
THE DISSOLUTION OF DUALISM | The Cambridge Law Journal | Cambridge Core
THE DISSOLUTION OF DUALISM
www.cambridge.org
August 13, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Roger Masterman and Matthew Nicholson, "The Dissolution of Dualism" (Cambridge Law Journal, Ahead of Print)
Link: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Link: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
Whenever I’m asked to explain phenomenology
July 22, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Whenever I’m asked to explain phenomenology
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
Must-see Magna Carta event at Durham Cathedral on 15th October : Henry Jones @durham-university.bsky.social, @ruthhoughton.bsky.social & @benedictdouglas.bsky.social on Magna Carta's contemporary relevance, chaired by @thombrooks.bsky.social. Tickets: durhamcathedral.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
July 15, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Must-see Magna Carta event at Durham Cathedral on 15th October : Henry Jones @durham-university.bsky.social, @ruthhoughton.bsky.social & @benedictdouglas.bsky.social on Magna Carta's contemporary relevance, chaired by @thombrooks.bsky.social. Tickets: durhamcathedral.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
Another opportunity to join Durham Law School as a three-year career development fellow in public law. A great Law School and a vibrant public law community with opportunities to teach in both core and optional modules, and excellent support for research. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX378/c...
Career Development Fellow in Public Law at Durham University
Searching for an academic job? Explore this Career Development Fellow in Public Law opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.
www.jobs.ac.uk
July 15, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Another opportunity to join Durham Law School as a three-year career development fellow in public law. A great Law School and a vibrant public law community with opportunities to teach in both core and optional modules, and excellent support for research. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX378/c...
Jeanette Winterson beautifully foreseeing the problem with AI art and in student essays in 1995
June 23, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Jeanette Winterson beautifully foreseeing the problem with AI art and in student essays in 1995
The Assisted Dying Act will only create a general increase in self-determination and liberty if the wider inequalities of our society are addressed
June 20, 2025 at 2:12 PM
The Assisted Dying Act will only create a general increase in self-determination and liberty if the wider inequalities of our society are addressed
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
Thanks to @publiclaw.bsky.social for publishing my article on decision making under the Prevent and Channel duties. So long in the writing that the Prevent Duty guidance and definition of extremism were updated and a review of Prevent was published, which didn't slow things down further at all.
... @jessieblackbourn.bsky.social (on Administrative Justice and the Prevent and Channel Duties); Aisling Ryan (on the animators of administrative law); and @doubleaspect.blog (on judicial deference to administrative limitations on rights).
June 19, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Thanks to @publiclaw.bsky.social for publishing my article on decision making under the Prevent and Channel duties. So long in the writing that the Prevent Duty guidance and definition of extremism were updated and a review of Prevent was published, which didn't slow things down further at all.
Our duty dominated society is not ready for the legalisation of assisted suicide.
The UK’s culture means some people are likely to choose assisted dying because they feel they have a "duty to die". The safeguards in the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill do not address this.
In this post I suggest constitutional change is a way to reduce the danger
In this post I suggest constitutional change is a way to reduce the danger
The Need for a Constitutional Solution to the “Duty to Die” Concern - Durham University
www.durham.ac.uk
June 20, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Our duty dominated society is not ready for the legalisation of assisted suicide.
Reskeeting for my UG Intro to Law class who had to do a problem question on whether Tintin could claim as a secondary victim if he suffered psychiatric injury if he saw Snowy injured in an accident.
June 19, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Reskeeting for my UG Intro to Law class who had to do a problem question on whether Tintin could claim as a secondary victim if he suffered psychiatric injury if he saw Snowy injured in an accident.
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
The Common Market Law Review has just published my new article:
"Repositioning Free Movement of Services: A Substantive Perspective on the Structure and Dynamics of the Internal Market"
kluwerlawonline.com/journalartic...
@delidurham.bsky.social
"Repositioning Free Movement of Services: A Substantive Perspective on the Structure and Dynamics of the Internal Market"
kluwerlawonline.com/journalartic...
@delidurham.bsky.social
June 16, 2025 at 1:54 PM
The Common Market Law Review has just published my new article:
"Repositioning Free Movement of Services: A Substantive Perspective on the Structure and Dynamics of the Internal Market"
kluwerlawonline.com/journalartic...
@delidurham.bsky.social
"Repositioning Free Movement of Services: A Substantive Perspective on the Structure and Dynamics of the Internal Market"
kluwerlawonline.com/journalartic...
@delidurham.bsky.social
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
Call for papers for a major two-day conference on Legal Methodologies exploring the nature of the discipline, with really important keynote speakers. Any abstracts, if you are interested in participating, to be emailed to law.research@ncl.ac.uk by 7 July.
June 12, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Call for papers for a major two-day conference on Legal Methodologies exploring the nature of the discipline, with really important keynote speakers. Any abstracts, if you are interested in participating, to be emailed to law.research@ncl.ac.uk by 7 July.
It’s good to see the Committee explicitly recognise the existence or level of a Minimum Income Requirement is an ethical decision, as well as a political one.
Preventing people from living with their family based on how much they earn is unethical, this should guide the political debate & decision
Preventing people from living with their family based on how much they earn is unethical, this should guide the political debate & decision
The Migration Advisory Committee has reviewed the financial requirements for Brits & settled migrants to bring partners & children to the UK.
They see the final decision as a political one govt must make, so didn't recommend any single threshold. Here's a short summary 🧵
www.gov.uk/government/p...
They see the final decision as a political one govt must make, so didn't recommend any single threshold. Here's a short summary 🧵
www.gov.uk/government/p...
June 10, 2025 at 11:00 AM
It’s good to see the Committee explicitly recognise the existence or level of a Minimum Income Requirement is an ethical decision, as well as a political one.
Preventing people from living with their family based on how much they earn is unethical, this should guide the political debate & decision
Preventing people from living with their family based on how much they earn is unethical, this should guide the political debate & decision
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
Wild camping on Dartmoor is legal, supreme court rules
Wild camping on Dartmoor is legal, supreme court rules
Case came to supreme court after court of appeal determined the term ‘open-air recreation’ included camping
Wild camping will be allowed on Dartmoor after the supreme court ruled that a multimillionaire landowner was wrong to ban it on his land.
Dartmoor was – until the legal action – the only place in England where wild camping without the permission of the landowner was enshrined in law. In Scotland, people have enjoyed this right since 2003. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
May 21, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Wild camping on Dartmoor is legal, supreme court rules
Looking forward to reading this and applying it to animal rights!
@drjoshdoeslaw.bsky.social GEWIRTH REASERCH CLAXON 🚨🐑🚨
@drjoshdoeslaw.bsky.social GEWIRTH REASERCH CLAXON 🚨🐑🚨
📣 New article published today
🔗https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/14777509251339277
🔑 Deryck Beyleveld and I present a new argument to explain and defend our moral precautionary thesis.
🔗https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/14777509251339277
🔑 Deryck Beyleveld and I present a new argument to explain and defend our moral precautionary thesis.
May 6, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Looking forward to reading this and applying it to animal rights!
@drjoshdoeslaw.bsky.social GEWIRTH REASERCH CLAXON 🚨🐑🚨
@drjoshdoeslaw.bsky.social GEWIRTH REASERCH CLAXON 🚨🐑🚨
I'm giving a magic little paper tomorrow at 3pm:
"NO JUSTICE, JUST US: Death & Love in Terry Pratchett's Discworld"
Drop me a message me if you'd like a link
"NO JUSTICE, JUST US: Death & Love in Terry Pratchett's Discworld"
Drop me a message me if you'd like a link
April 9, 2025 at 10:55 AM
I'm giving a magic little paper tomorrow at 3pm:
"NO JUSTICE, JUST US: Death & Love in Terry Pratchett's Discworld"
Drop me a message me if you'd like a link
"NO JUSTICE, JUST US: Death & Love in Terry Pratchett's Discworld"
Drop me a message me if you'd like a link
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
April 8, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Rereading one of my favourite articles, in which Sir John Laws explains parliamentary sovereignty is like a cat.
Constitutional Guarantees*
What I am going to talk about in this lecture is prompted by a very old chestnut. It consists in two linked questions: how, if at all, can special status b
academic.oup.com
April 4, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Rereading one of my favourite articles, in which Sir John Laws explains parliamentary sovereignty is like a cat.
Reposted by Benedict Douglas
Standing up to the authoritarian wave requires more than cheerleading for democracy; it demands making democratic societies more participatory, responsive, and adaptable at all levels, from local to national, in response to the societal shifts driven by the Internet over the past 15 years.
February 21, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Standing up to the authoritarian wave requires more than cheerleading for democracy; it demands making democratic societies more participatory, responsive, and adaptable at all levels, from local to national, in response to the societal shifts driven by the Internet over the past 15 years.
The OJLS is red
typos are few
law reform needed
open access for you
typos are few
law reform needed
open access for you
Love and Human Rights
Abstract. This article explains and critiques the protection of love within judgments concerning relationships under the Human Rights Act 1998. Using theor
doi.org
February 14, 2025 at 9:31 AM
The OJLS is red
typos are few
law reform needed
open access for you
typos are few
law reform needed
open access for you