Paolo Sandro
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paolosandro.bsky.social
Paolo Sandro
@paolosandro.bsky.social
6K followers 1.4K following 4.7K posts
Associate Professor of Public Law and Legal Theory @lawatleeds.bsky.social, author of 'The Making of Constitutional Democracy: From Creation to Application of Law' (Hart 2022), Open Access at
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4562656#
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paolosandro.bsky.social
READ THIS
The events of the Northern Ireland conflict must look very distant to the UK Supreme Court; a persistent irritant as it attempts to grapple with the latest controversies. It is not as if the Court is not aware of the underlying problem, describing the delays faced by the Thompson family as ‘profoundly disturbing’ (at [18]). But, unlike the courts in Belfast, which are confronted with the daily effects of these failings, the Supreme Court continues to accept that it is in the UK Government’s sole purview to address these issues, and to deny any effective role for the judicial authorities in overseeing security determinations.
December 18, 2025 at 2:21 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
One of the best introductions to the early period of the English common law was written by...a Belgian scholar. Raoul Van Caenegem was an incredible legal historian (paging @anthonymkreis.bsky.social ) and British students would be lucky to learn from his book. What's happened to this country? /end
picture of front cover of the book 'the birth of the English common law' by Van Caenegem, published by Cambridge university press
December 16, 2025 at 9:57 AM
paolosandro.bsky.social
My gosh this gets worse and worse
the university is paying large sums to an organisation that appears to be part of the university, but is also a private company, with no employees, and that is controlled by one of the university’s most senior academics and a former chancellor of the university who is married to the chair of its board of governors.
December 13, 2025 at 10:34 AM
paolosandro.bsky.social
I've just sent the following email to the editors of The Journal of Comparative Law:
Dear editors of JCL, hope this finds you well. My name is Paolo Sandro, I'm an associate professor of law at the University of Leeds. I'm writing to you to express my utmost dismay at your decision to publish Pierre Legrand's disturbing 200 pages attack against the authors of OUP's a very short introduction to comparative law. I'll limit myself to one point (one of too many, unfortunately): attacking people on the basis of their nationality, as Legrand's does over and over again in the text, is a textbook case of racism. This would be already clearly unacceptable in everyday discourse, but it is hard to fathom how you thought this could be even remotely ok in what is supposed to be a scholarly critique among colleagues. To make things worse (if possible) Legrand belittles, in almost every conceivable way, these two colleagues for, among other things, not citing him (or not citing him enough) in their book. It's disgusting. For what's worth, I think you have severely failed in your duties as journal editors, and you owe - besides the prompt retraction of the piece - the most profound apology to the two colleagues targeted. Kind regards, Paolo Sandro
December 12, 2025 at 9:23 AM
paolosandro.bsky.social
Guess who sits on the Editorial Council of the journal that published this monstrosity (The Journal of Comparative Law):
EDITORIAL COUNCIL William Alford, Harvard University Abdullahi An-Na’im, Emory University Stathis Banakas, University of East Anglia John Bell, University of Cambridge (Emeritus) Albert Chen, University of Hong Kong Donald Clarke, George Washington University Alison Conner, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (Emerita) Roger Cotterrell, Queen Mary University of London Aleksei Egorov, Vitebsk State University William Ewald, University of Pennsylvania Fu Hualing, University of Hong Kong Tania Groppi, Università degli Studi de Siena Wael Hallaq, Columbia University Jaakko Husa, Helsinki University Evhen Kharytonov, National University “Odessa Law Academy” Pierre Legrand, L’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
December 11, 2025 at 10:16 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
Highly recommended
Nevertheless, the rule of law is a reminder that rules matter enormously, and that social life without them would be impossible, or at least significantly worse.250 In a large, complex society characterized by the fact of reasonable pluralism, legal rules allow us to dispute, deliberate, and disagree without succumbing to unilateralism. Precisely because political morality is contested, we need public standards that bind the powerful even when they are tempted to collapse law into their own vision of the good or, worse, the unconstrained satisfaction of their self-interest.
December 11, 2025 at 11:12 AM
paolosandro.bsky.social
The pot calls the kettle black

You couldn't make this up, honestly
December 7, 2025 at 7:08 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
'evidence led'
screenshot by the substack page of this guy @commontruth, with 'evidence led' (without hyphen) highlighted
December 5, 2025 at 9:01 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
Train is delayed due to a problem currently under investigation
December 1, 2025 at 8:26 AM
paolosandro.bsky.social
In fact, those with status under the EUSS are the foreign national group most likely to be both in work and claiming UC (see fig 2). This suggests – and our research supports this – that many EU citizens are in low paid work in the UK and are using UC to top up their pay. The pandemic showed us that many of the industries where these EU nationals work are essential– for example care workers or those working on farms and in factories. If this group were unable to ‘top-up’ their low paid work with UC, it is unlikely they would be able to remain in these jobs long-term. These jobs are shunned by British workers, but they do ensure cheap food, albeit subsidised by the taxpayer.
November 20, 2025 at 2:47 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
'These repeated references to ‘maintaining compliance’ as opposed to ‘being compliant’, as well as avoiding legal scrutiny, run the risk of venturing into the world of Humpty Dumpty- enabling states to maintain that words (laws) mean just what they say they mean.'
One of the five tests presented and used in the Wolfson Report is the ‘sovereign borders test’. In respect of which the Report states at [16-17] that the UK could, free from the purported constraints of the ECHR, ‘adopt more robust policies in this area and still maintain compliance with other international instruments to which the UK is signatory, principally the Refugee Convention and the Convention Against Torture’ (emphasis added). The report cites Australia in support of this contention. Stevie Martin, Stephanie Palmer and I have written in our forthcoming editorial for the December 2025 issue of the European Human Rights Law Review that any suggestion that Australia’s immigration laws, policies and/or practices comply with international rights instruments including the Convention Against Torture is plainly incorrect. Consequently, it is troubling from a rule of law perspective to read statements such as the following, at [73], that: ‘where there is no body capable of providing a definitive conclusion on the interpretation of an instrument, the UK will be in a better position to argue that its actions and policies are compatible with the instrument in question, provided it has bona fide opinion as to the meaning of the instrument’. Particularly when observing that the Report immediately goes on to state that ‘[t]his in part explains how the Australian Government maintains that its border policy is compliant with international law: while it is signed up to the Refugee Convention, it is not a member of the ECHR. As a result, its position cannot be authoritatively second-guessed in any competent international court’ (emphasis added). These repeated references to ‘maintaining compliance’ as opposed to ‘being compliant’, as well as avoiding legal scrutiny, run the risk of venturing into the world of Humpty Dumpty- enabling states to maintain that words (laws) mean just what they say they mean. This was arguably the underlying ethos of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum
November 19, 2025 at 10:31 AM
paolosandro.bsky.social
And the absolutely poignant conclusion:
Wherever we looked for the prominent flaggers and leaders of this movement, we found people smugglers and sex doll salesmen, people with dubious criminal pasts and people willing to put in a good word for Adolf Hitler. Farage told us the flag-raisers were just ordinary folk sticking it to the system. A few months’ worth of local journalism later, that now looks like a shaky claim.
November 1, 2025 at 10:13 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
Much like the supporters of Twamley in Salford, when we published Logan’s social media posts, the backlash was immediate, including a series of remarks from his supporters on a popular local Facebook page insinuating that The Bell team who broke the story are paedophiles.
November 1, 2025 at 10:09 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
Confronted with these posts, Logan initially went into denial mode: we had the wrong Kieran, he said. When a journalist from the Daily Record finally got Logan on the phone, he instead decided to try to put his Hitler approval in context. “Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. I understand that Hitler went nuts at the end,” Logan explained. “No wonder, the drugs do that to most people. But at the start he had good intentions. Maybe they slipped a bit but he had good intentions for his country.”
November 1, 2025 at 10:08 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
And yet, it is striking how many of the key players we have looked into — the people who have gone out of their way to put up hundreds of flags — seem anything but ordinary. In my experience, most people do not share overtly racist social media posts; they do not have criminal records for people smuggling or involvement in racist crimes. But time and again, our reporters — and others looking into this — have found key flag raisers with these kinds of CVs.
November 1, 2025 at 10:06 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
is this meme top: us law profs cosying up to Trump middle: murder bottom: is this legal?
October 25, 2025 at 9:07 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
Simpsons so far meme: top image: I've never felt so unwelcome in this country bottom image..you have never felt so unwelcome.. so far
October 21, 2025 at 10:30 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
I might have just created the best public law slide of my life
powerpoint slides depicting three decisions by UKSC discussing constitutional statutes with accompanying drake meme photos: next to HS2 and Privacy International, Drake approves, next to Re Allister, Drake says nooooooooooo
October 16, 2025 at 2:53 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
Photo of book criminal justice politics powers and human rights by Keir starmer and others Photo of book European human rights law by Keir starmer Photo of Blackstone's human rights digest, by Keir starmer
October 14, 2025 at 10:00 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
'On 30 May 1924, Matteotti openly spoke in the Italian Parliament, alleging the fascists committed electoral fraud in the 1924 general election, and denounced the violence they used to gain votes. Eleven days later, he was kidnapped and killed by the secret political police of Benito Mussolini.'
Picture of Giacomo Matteotti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giacomo_Matteotti
October 13, 2025 at 3:51 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
At last, Vermeule & co. have fully dropped the act
Lawful Proscription: Designation of Antifa as a Domestic Terror Organization What Trump’s Executive Order means and how the law must change for it to mean anything more. MANAGING EDITORS- NEW DIGEST OCT 07, 2025 The New Digest is delighted to publish this guest essay by J.T. Alexander. Mr. Alexander is an attorney in Alaska with a prior career in counterterrorism and counterintelligence.
October 12, 2025 at 11:08 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
screenshot of Valentin vacherot new ATP live ranking, n 40 in the world, up 164 position with one tournament
October 12, 2025 at 2:45 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
Finally, from the conclusion, whatever policy is chosen, 'it will need to be given crystal-clear expression' in a GE manifesto, including, for example, that 'it should specify that the UK Government would leave the ECHR and repeal the HRA irrespective of the stance of devolved administrations.' /end
Whatever policy is chosen, it will need to be given crystal-clear expression in any future general election manifesto, explaining what steps a future Government intends to take on the ECHR, and drafted in such a way as to 454 As does the EU, which has a comprehensive returns programme which operates through agreements with Russia, Belarus, Hong Kong, Pakistan and 77 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries who are not signatories to the ECHR: https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and- asylum/irregular-migration-and-return/effective-firm-and-fair-eu-return-and-readmission- policy_en. Page 177 of 185 PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL / SUBJECT TO LEGAL PROFESSIONAL PRIVILEGE avoid any suggestion that it is a conditional intention (for example, it should specify that the UK Government would leave the ECHR and repeal the HRA irrespective of the stance of devolved administrations). That would be important not only for parliamentary handling, especially in the House of Lords, but also (and more importantly) so that we can be clear with the electorate as to what our policies are, and the manifesto on which Conservative Party candidates would stand.
October 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
state action. The result is the following passage, which is worth highlighting in full, with no comment. /7
Second, where there is no body capable of providing a definitive conclusion on the interpretation of an instrument, the UK will be in a better position to argue that its actions and policies are compatible with the instrument in question, provided it has bona fide opinion as to the meaning of the instrument (see Article 31). This, in part, explains how the Australian Government maintains that its border policy is compliant with international law: while it is signed up to the Refugee Convention, it is not a member of the ECHR. As a result, its position cannot be authoritatively second-guessed in any competent international court.107
October 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM
paolosandro.bsky.social
Wolfson does not ('at this time') consider necessary to leave the Refugee Convention nor the Convention against Torture because neither of them establishes a supranational court with the power to offer a definitive interpretation of their provision, so individuals have no ability to challenge /6
Unlike the ECHR, neither the Refugee Convention nor the ECAT has a standing, authoritative interpretive court.106 The effect of this is twofold. First, the ability of an individual to challenge an action that they allege is in breach of one of those international instruments is limited, save where those instruments have been directly incorporated into domestic law. Second, where there is no body capable of providing a definitive conclusion on the interpretation of an instrument, the UK will be in a better position to argue that its actions and policies are compatible with the instrument in question, provided it has bona fide opinion as to the meaning of the instrument (see Article 31). This, in part, explains how the Australian Government maintains that its border policy is compliant with international law: while it is signed up to the Refugee Convention, it is not a member of the ECHR. As a result, its position cannot be authoritatively second-guessed in any competent international court.107 It is clear, then, that a stringent regime could be pursued outside of the ECHR, while remaining within the Refugee Convention. For completeness, therefore, while I consider it would be prudent to consider withdrawal from ECAT and, at least, significantly amend the Modern Slavery Act 2015, I do not consider it necessary at this time to leave the Refugee Convention to be able to achieve your policy goals on immigration (although it would be necessary to remove or limit the reference to those instruments in domestic UK legislation).
October 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM