Dr Patrick O’Brien
@patrickcobrien.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Public Law at Oxford Brookes. Research: judges, judging, public law and constitutional theory.
What if the pointless and insoluble meta-Yuletide argument about Die Hard is all that’s keeping us together as a civilisation?
December 2, 2025 at 8:07 AM
What if the pointless and insoluble meta-Yuletide argument about Die Hard is all that’s keeping us together as a civilisation?
I remain utterly baffled by the failure of UK educational policy and commentary to spot the correlation between the growth in special needs requirements and the encouragement of a Dickensian approach to discipline and attainment in mainstream.
I wrote for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on the special needs problem highlighted by the budget and the big political battle over it coming next year.
share.google/kTTENR1gX4Y4...
share.google/kTTENR1gX4Y4...
Labour’s holiday homework: solve the problem of special needs education | The Observer
share.google
November 30, 2025 at 1:00 PM
I remain utterly baffled by the failure of UK educational policy and commentary to spot the correlation between the growth in special needs requirements and the encouragement of a Dickensian approach to discipline and attainment in mainstream.
Reposted by Dr Patrick O’Brien
1/9 I LOVE the intro chapter of this book on close reading. We do close reading in law, too. It shows concretely how close reading is done, in 5 steps: scene setting, noticing, local claiming, regional argumentation and global theorizing.
Am I the first law professor wanting to assign parts of this book to law students, esp. the Introduction by @johannawinant.bsky.social and @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 12:01 PM
1/9 I LOVE the intro chapter of this book on close reading. We do close reading in law, too. It shows concretely how close reading is done, in 5 steps: scene setting, noticing, local claiming, regional argumentation and global theorizing.
Adventurous UK political journalists may wish to explore the fate of the Irish Govt that attempted to put VAT on kids' shoes in 1982.
UK GOVT WILL REMOVE THE CURRENT EXEMPTION FOR MILK-BASED DRINKS FROM ITS SUGAR TAX FROM 2028
November 25, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Adventurous UK political journalists may wish to explore the fate of the Irish Govt that attempted to put VAT on kids' shoes in 1982.
Assuming [a] the Govt believes it's good politics to be seen to kick [a.1] universities and [a.2] 'foreigners'; but
[b] it will not be good politics to allow the university sector to collapse;
this will cost more money than it earns in the long term. A bleak snapshot of where UK politics now is.
[b] it will not be good politics to allow the university sector to collapse;
this will cost more money than it earns in the long term. A bleak snapshot of where UK politics now is.
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Assuming [a] the Govt believes it's good politics to be seen to kick [a.1] universities and [a.2] 'foreigners'; but
[b] it will not be good politics to allow the university sector to collapse;
this will cost more money than it earns in the long term. A bleak snapshot of where UK politics now is.
[b] it will not be good politics to allow the university sector to collapse;
this will cost more money than it earns in the long term. A bleak snapshot of where UK politics now is.
Ok, let's roll with the mad conceit: dogs have rationality and agency. What then?
What if they have to stay in university cities for their careers and relationships? What if they've convinced themselves that the punishing work schedule isn't that bad? What then The Times & Sunday Times, what then?
What if they have to stay in university cities for their careers and relationships? What if they've convinced themselves that the punishing work schedule isn't that bad? What then The Times & Sunday Times, what then?
If dogs could choose where to live, the data suggests they would go west — and avoid university cities with punishing work schedules ⬇️
Revealed: the best and worst cities in Britain to be a dog
If dogs could choose where to live, the data suggests they would go west — and avoid university cities with punishing work schedules
www.thetimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Ok, let's roll with the mad conceit: dogs have rationality and agency. What then?
What if they have to stay in university cities for their careers and relationships? What if they've convinced themselves that the punishing work schedule isn't that bad? What then The Times & Sunday Times, what then?
What if they have to stay in university cities for their careers and relationships? What if they've convinced themselves that the punishing work schedule isn't that bad? What then The Times & Sunday Times, what then?
Reposted by Dr Patrick O’Brien
Excited to see an advance version piece - using public policy ideas to rethink JR - up online now. academic.oup.com/ojls/advance...
It’s part of a bigger project so if interested to discuss please drop me a line. (Or pass on to anyone you think might have an interest!)
It’s part of a bigger project so if interested to discuss please drop me a line. (Or pass on to anyone you think might have an interest!)
Judicial Review and Good Administration: Refining the Public Interest Model of Judicial Intervention
Abstract. While UK judicial review is comparatively under-theorised, the literature has been catching up, with numerous theoretical underpinnings now ident
academic.oup.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Excited to see an advance version piece - using public policy ideas to rethink JR - up online now. academic.oup.com/ojls/advance...
It’s part of a bigger project so if interested to discuss please drop me a line. (Or pass on to anyone you think might have an interest!)
It’s part of a bigger project so if interested to discuss please drop me a line. (Or pass on to anyone you think might have an interest!)
Reposted by Dr Patrick O’Brien
New post: Tyranny, anarchy and the rule of law: Reflections on a major report by the Constitution Committee
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/20/t...
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/20/t...
Tyranny, anarchy and the rule of law: Reflections on a major report by the Constitution Committee
The House of Lords Constitution Committee’s new report on the rule of law provides an excellent overview of the concept and of the many challenges it finds itself under in the UK today. But the rep…
publiclawforeveryone.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:17 AM
New post: Tyranny, anarchy and the rule of law: Reflections on a major report by the Constitution Committee
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/20/t...
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/20/t...
Reposted by Dr Patrick O’Brien
Amid all of the bluster coming out about the landmark JR87 judgment, here's my account (with @anuragdeb.bsky.social and @lewisgrahamlaw.bsky.social) of this UKSC decision and to the wake up call it poses for religious education in NI:
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/j...
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/j...
JR87: indoctrination and religious education in Northern Ireland (and beyond?)
Introduction On 19 November 2025, the Supreme Court (Lord Reed PSC, Lords Burrows, Hamblen, Lloyd-Jones and Stephens JJSC) handed down judgment in Re JR87 [2025] UKSC 40. This case (involving an ap…
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Amid all of the bluster coming out about the landmark JR87 judgment, here's my account (with @anuragdeb.bsky.social and @lewisgrahamlaw.bsky.social) of this UKSC decision and to the wake up call it poses for religious education in NI:
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/j...
administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/j...
Reposted by Dr Patrick O’Brien
I'd like to think so. But a few years in UKHE suggests uni management will learn nothing.
In about three years the entire university pivot to AI curricula and schools and programs is going to be so deeply embarrassing. We will all pretend it never happened and I will be standing there, looking at people with a mirror in my eyes. This is all so embarrassing.
November 18, 2025 at 10:36 AM
I'd like to think so. But a few years in UKHE suggests uni management will learn nothing.
I have had a vague theory since the financial crash that once bad things pass out of actual living memory, plus a generation, (let’s say 75-80 years) they lose their emotional power - just knowing The Bad Thing intellectually isn’t enough. I haven’t had any cause to question the theory since then.
Imagine having a thumping majority in parliament and deciding to use it for something as squalid as this.
November 17, 2025 at 9:19 AM
I have had a vague theory since the financial crash that once bad things pass out of actual living memory, plus a generation, (let’s say 75-80 years) they lose their emotional power - just knowing The Bad Thing intellectually isn’t enough. I haven’t had any cause to question the theory since then.
Reposted by Dr Patrick O’Brien
Under new plans to be unveiled by Labour, UK citizenship test has a whole section on Northern Ireland. If you get any of them right, you don't get citizenship.
I'm forever reminded that I'm not truly British because I constantly forget to forget about Northern Ireland
What Americans don't understand is 'crassly forgetting Northern Ireland' is a core part of British culture, like cueing and only being able to communicate via laconic understatement.
November 14, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Under new plans to be unveiled by Labour, UK citizenship test has a whole section on Northern Ireland. If you get any of them right, you don't get citizenship.
Reposted by Dr Patrick O’Brien
Lord Briggs, “Protecting Human Rights: The Common Law As Starting Point”
supremecourt.uk/uploads/spee...
It’s interesting to see Lord Briggs make these remarks in the current political climate. But, as ever, I have serious reservations about putting too much faith in ‘common law rights’…
supremecourt.uk/uploads/spee...
It’s interesting to see Lord Briggs make these remarks in the current political climate. But, as ever, I have serious reservations about putting too much faith in ‘common law rights’…
supremecourt.uk
November 10, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Lord Briggs, “Protecting Human Rights: The Common Law As Starting Point”
supremecourt.uk/uploads/spee...
It’s interesting to see Lord Briggs make these remarks in the current political climate. But, as ever, I have serious reservations about putting too much faith in ‘common law rights’…
supremecourt.uk/uploads/spee...
It’s interesting to see Lord Briggs make these remarks in the current political climate. But, as ever, I have serious reservations about putting too much faith in ‘common law rights’…
Worth noting that almost every judge we spoke to hated our conclusions. And that we still think we’re right.
Lord Dyson also spent a fair amount of his 2024 Birkenhead lecture at Gray's Inn criticising our paper. We still think we're right. See here: www.graysinn.org.uk/app/uploads/...
November 3, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Worth noting that almost every judge we spoke to hated our conclusions. And that we still think we’re right.
V pleased that my Public Law article on judicial retirement (written with @bymyong.bsky.social) is now open access - see the link in Peter's post below. For those interested, some highlights of our research in this thread:
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
OBLS is committed to making our research available as widely as possible. So a pleasure to share that @patrickcobrien.bsky.social article on "The decline of the judicial retirement convention, 1950-2020" is now available open access here:
radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/...
radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/...
radar.brookes.ac.uk
November 3, 2025 at 9:27 AM
V pleased that my Public Law article on judicial retirement (written with @bymyong.bsky.social) is now open access - see the link in Peter's post below. For those interested, some highlights of our research in this thread:
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
This (from the NY Times Connections puzzle) is a nerdy but quite sweet piece of quiz diplomacy
October 27, 2025 at 11:33 PM
This (from the NY Times Connections puzzle) is a nerdy but quite sweet piece of quiz diplomacy
Reposted by Dr Patrick O’Brien
1/9 the video of my UCL current legal problems lecture is now up: "Bureaucracy and Distrust: The Civil Service in the Constitution". It looks at the civil service’s constitutional foundations, and how it might respond to a populist govt. @sirjjkc.bsky.social chairs.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx3P...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx3P...
Bureaucracy and Distrust: The Civil Service in the Constitution
YouTube video by UCL Laws
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 7:33 AM
1/9 the video of my UCL current legal problems lecture is now up: "Bureaucracy and Distrust: The Civil Service in the Constitution". It looks at the civil service’s constitutional foundations, and how it might respond to a populist govt. @sirjjkc.bsky.social chairs.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx3P...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx3P...
Worth noting that in many universities, promotion criteria are explicitly tied to grant success.
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
October 23, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Worth noting that in many universities, promotion criteria are explicitly tied to grant success.
Reposted by Dr Patrick O’Brien
If anyone is interested
ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/02/13/b...
ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/02/13/b...
October 23, 2025 at 7:58 AM
If anyone is interested
ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/02/13/b...
ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/02/13/b...
Mixed views on this. The answer to this question is *always* going to be "well, I wouldn't start from here". It's also true that a written constitution is only as good as the humans operating it. But it's also true that the last decade has exposed lots of holes below the constitutional waterline.
There is a case for a written constitution I suppose, though it's beyond me who would be trusted to write it and how you get broad consent for it. Though rewriting the rules because you don't like who the public might vote for isn't a great look. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
We must act now: without a written constitution, Reform UK will have carte blanche to toxify our nation | Goerge Monbiot
It means breaking with hundreds of years of tradition, but it can’t wait. As hard-right figures spread division and laud autocrats, a fail-safe is vital, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Mixed views on this. The answer to this question is *always* going to be "well, I wouldn't start from here". It's also true that a written constitution is only as good as the humans operating it. But it's also true that the last decade has exposed lots of holes below the constitutional waterline.
Plato's Cave, 2025.
October 22, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Plato's Cave, 2025.
Reposted by Dr Patrick O’Brien
Ministry of Justice convicted of a crime after they failed to enter a plea via their own online plea entering system, unaware of their conviction until notified by a reporter, but they reassure us it's all working great 👍
The Ministry of Justice has been convicted of a crime and fined £1,000, in a closed-door court hearing the department itself was apparently not aware was happening
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/m...
www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/m...
Ministry of Justice handed criminal conviction in fast-track courts
The Ministry of Justice is now seeking to overturn its conviction
www.standard.co.uk
October 21, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Ministry of Justice convicted of a crime after they failed to enter a plea via their own online plea entering system, unaware of their conviction until notified by a reporter, but they reassure us it's all working great 👍
Reposted by Dr Patrick O’Brien
Conor Gearty died a month ago yesterday. He was deeply committed to human rights law without idealising it. He recognised its power & value while acknowledging its limitations (& those of the people engaging with it). He was also an exceptional lawyer. This is a fitting final piece in the @lrb.co.uk
October 12, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Conor Gearty died a month ago yesterday. He was deeply committed to human rights law without idealising it. He recognised its power & value while acknowledging its limitations (& those of the people engaging with it). He was also an exceptional lawyer. This is a fitting final piece in the @lrb.co.uk
The fact that the FG presidential campaign has descended into an attack on the independent bar and the cab rank rule suggests that we’re a bit complacent in Ireland about the social and political forces that have precipitated democratic decay elsewhere.
Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan has given a staunch defence of the cab-rank rule in the last few minutes, telling reporters it's an "obligation" and "absolutely essential".
"I don't think it's correct or fair to criticise lawyers because of the actions of others".
@virginmedianews.bsky.social
"I don't think it's correct or fair to criticise lawyers because of the actions of others".
@virginmedianews.bsky.social
October 20, 2025 at 12:14 PM
The fact that the FG presidential campaign has descended into an attack on the independent bar and the cab rank rule suggests that we’re a bit complacent in Ireland about the social and political forces that have precipitated democratic decay elsewhere.
People who wonder why academics are so overwhelmingly sceptical about AI probably haven’t considered that university staff have had 20 years of Next Big Things that turn out to be damp squib electronic migraines.
"My name is OzyMOOCias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
In about three years the entire university pivot to AI curricula and schools and programs is going to be so deeply embarrassing. We will all pretend it never happened and I will be standing there, looking at people with a mirror in my eyes. This is all so embarrassing.
October 17, 2025 at 2:21 PM
People who wonder why academics are so overwhelmingly sceptical about AI probably haven’t considered that university staff have had 20 years of Next Big Things that turn out to be damp squib electronic migraines.