Dr Patrick O’Brien
@patrickcobrien.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Public Law at Oxford Brookes. Research: judges, judging, public law and constitutional theory.
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
Obviously, this speech is crassly offensive in multiple ways, and does violence to judicial independence. But I think it's also important to recognise that there was never a 'golden age' when Lord Chancellors just appointed and sacked whoever they wanted as judges. This is an authoritarian fantasy.
October 7, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Obviously, this speech is crassly offensive in multiple ways, and does violence to judicial independence. But I think it's also important to recognise that there was never a 'golden age' when Lord Chancellors just appointed and sacked whoever they wanted as judges. This is an authoritarian fantasy.
Unbound OJLS v unbound Public Law
October 7, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Unbound OJLS v unbound Public Law
So grateful to have this extremely helpful guidance on how to use my academic freedom.
September 4, 2025 at 8:25 AM
So grateful to have this extremely helpful guidance on how to use my academic freedom.
Which Tayto is better: ROI or NI? A age-old question. What better way to find out than scientific side-by-side and blind taste testing using a focus group of kids?
August 26, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Which Tayto is better: ROI or NI? A age-old question. What better way to find out than scientific side-by-side and blind taste testing using a focus group of kids?
From the company's website:
July 3, 2025 at 10:43 AM
From the company's website:
The Sky News TV feed on the running machine in the gym is displaying subtitles for the quiz show Tenable over Keir Starmer’s speech. It adds immensely to the experience.
June 9, 2025 at 8:11 AM
The Sky News TV feed on the running machine in the gym is displaying subtitles for the quiz show Tenable over Keir Starmer’s speech. It adds immensely to the experience.
- “Frasier, everyone who’s anyone is on a quest to cast the One Ring into the pit of Mount Doom, and yet here we are without plans on a Saturday night!”
- “I know Niles. It’s the longest Ring cycle since Wagner.”
- “I know Niles. It’s the longest Ring cycle since Wagner.”
March 12, 2025 at 3:37 PM
- “Frasier, everyone who’s anyone is on a quest to cast the One Ring into the pit of Mount Doom, and yet here we are without plans on a Saturday night!”
- “I know Niles. It’s the longest Ring cycle since Wagner.”
- “I know Niles. It’s the longest Ring cycle since Wagner.”
"Do you have a Nectar card?"
February 28, 2025 at 4:38 PM
"Do you have a Nectar card?"
Believe in your dreams. Magical things can happen.
January 10, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Believe in your dreams. Magical things can happen.
For these difficult times, a template letter to send to all your respected but annexation-curious American law professor friends
January 9, 2025 at 9:12 PM
For these difficult times, a template letter to send to all your respected but annexation-curious American law professor friends
[quivering hands scroll towards the 'x' to close the browser window, a deep primal scream of inchoate rage and frustration emerges unbidden from my very core]
December 2, 2024 at 1:17 PM
[quivering hands scroll towards the 'x' to close the browser window, a deep primal scream of inchoate rage and frustration emerges unbidden from my very core]
Phew, nailed it!
December 2, 2024 at 12:55 PM
Phew, nailed it!
Ok so now it's been gamefied. I'm the plucky CEO of a supply chain business, which is totally relevant to my actual job. I'd love to play it for laughs but honestly, if I have to repeat any of this I won't be responsible for my actions, so the path of truth and honesty it will have to be.
December 2, 2024 at 12:52 PM
Ok so now it's been gamefied. I'm the plucky CEO of a supply chain business, which is totally relevant to my actual job. I'd love to play it for laughs but honestly, if I have to repeat any of this I won't be responsible for my actions, so the path of truth and honesty it will have to be.
Julie, I think they're on to us. Dump the phone. DUMP THE PHONE!
December 2, 2024 at 12:47 PM
Julie, I think they're on to us. Dump the phone. DUMP THE PHONE!
Folks, I wasn't expecting this to make me question my career choices
December 2, 2024 at 12:40 PM
Folks, I wasn't expecting this to make me question my career choices
Remember kids
December 2, 2024 at 12:30 PM
Remember kids
It JUST.GOT.SERIOUS.
Not potato buying. Please no. Is nothing sacred any more.
Not potato buying. Please no. Is nothing sacred any more.
December 2, 2024 at 11:28 AM
It JUST.GOT.SERIOUS.
Not potato buying. Please no. Is nothing sacred any more.
Not potato buying. Please no. Is nothing sacred any more.
I could query the usefulness of this completely circular anti-bribery advice, but to be honest this guy DEFINITELY knew the action might be seen as improper if he was investigated for bribery.
December 2, 2024 at 11:23 AM
I could query the usefulness of this completely circular anti-bribery advice, but to be honest this guy DEFINITELY knew the action might be seen as improper if he was investigated for bribery.
This guy didn't do the training. Feel bad for him.
December 2, 2024 at 11:09 AM
This guy didn't do the training. Feel bad for him.
The entertainment value of the anti-bribery training I have to do for work is vastly enhanced by subtitles.
December 2, 2024 at 11:01 AM
The entertainment value of the anti-bribery training I have to do for work is vastly enhanced by subtitles.
A weird take. The electoral system coupled with longstanding party support trends absolutely rule out any one-party majority, so the premise here is wrong: running a campaign to win one would be mad. It’s definitely going to be a coalition, the only question is: of which parties?
November 27, 2024 at 7:04 PM
A weird take. The electoral system coupled with longstanding party support trends absolutely rule out any one-party majority, so the premise here is wrong: running a campaign to win one would be mad. It’s definitely going to be a coalition, the only question is: of which parties?
Thanks Ben! V much enjoying the inevitable venn diagram
November 18, 2024 at 2:14 PM
Thanks Ben! V much enjoying the inevitable venn diagram
... and again by the duties imposed on the new NI Human Rights Commission to create rights "supplementary to those in the European Convention on Human Rights" which will be taken "together with the ECHR" to constitute a Bill of Rights for NI.
November 18, 2024 at 10:11 AM
... and again by the duties imposed on the new NI Human Rights Commission to create rights "supplementary to those in the European Convention on Human Rights" which will be taken "together with the ECHR" to constitute a Bill of Rights for NI.