Below is a list of our current staff in the Law School. It details their research expertise and the areas of law in which they would welcome applications from prospective Master of Jurisprudence (MJur) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) candidates. Their staff profiles provide their contact details.
To improve the chances of acceptance onto a research degree at Durham Law School, it is strongly encouraged that prospective applicants contact relevant academics directly to discuss their research proposals.
Intellectual property rights (IPRs) and biotechnology
IPRs and access to medicines
Protection of plant genetic resources
IPRs and bioethics
Intellectual property rights and artificial intelligence
Sustainable Development
Sustainable Finance
Information Technology (with a focus on software development & protection, Fintech Regulation, and Digital Assets)
Anti-corruption law
Business and human rights
Corporate law and governance
Corporate Social Responsibility
Equity and Trusts
Property Law
Company Law
Legal History
UK/US corporate law
Corporate governance
Financial markets regulation
Renewable Energy Law and Sustainability
Risk Allocation in the Energy Industry
Energy Justice
The Just Energy Transition in the Global South
Land Law
Housing and Homelessness Law & Policy
Family Law
Equity & Trusts
Social Welfare Law & Policy
The Legal Profession, Barristers & the Bar
Foundations of Human Rights
Moral Theory especially Kantian and Gewirthian Theory
Theories of Punishment
Legal Theory
Moral Issues Arising in Law
Bioethics (including Medical Ethics)
Biolaw
Preventive counter-terrorism measures
Closed material procedures
Criminal terrorism offences
Terrorism sentencing
Counter-extremism and counter-radicalisation
Counter-terrorism and human rights
Counter-terrorism review and accountability
Comparative Criminal Law
International Criminal Justice
SETI and human law
Climate change law
Environmental law
Tort law
Criminal law
Violence against women
Crimes by/against older adults
Citizenship
Constitutional Law
Criminal Law
History of Political & Legal Philosophy (esp British or German Idealism)
Immigration
Law & Economics
Political & Legal Philosophy
Public Policy
Punishment & Sentencing
Medical law especially:
Treatment of children
Informed consent
Compulsion
Anti-militarism
Critical Military Studies
Socio-legal Studies
Gender and Criminal Law
Consent
Ethics
Political Philosophy
Special/specific/particular Jurisprudence
Free speech in international and comparative perspectives
Global constitutionalism and its development in China
International copyright law issues related to free speech
Comparative Contract Law
International Commercial Arbitration
International Investment Arbitration
Chinese and Comparative Private Law
Competition Law
The wider goals of competition policy e.g. consumer wellbeing and sustainability
Restraints of trade e.g. algorithmic cartels, resale price maintenance etc.
Abuse of a dominant position e.g. the monopolisation of online platforms (GAFAM), monopolistic abuse of data sharing or combination, excessive or predatory pricing etc.
Mergers e.g. public interest or data-driven mergers
State aid e.g. competition and inequality through unfair tax competition
Transnational Criminal Law with a particular interest in:
Cross-border cooperation in criminal matters;
Extradition;
The application of human rights to cross-border police investigations;
European criminal law (including the consequences of Brexit);
Criminal justice cooperation between the UK and Ireland;
Transnational responses to cybercrime (including policing of the darkweb);
Cross-border access to electronic evidence for policing purposes;
The application of extra-territorial criminal jurisdiction (including domestic prosecution for international crimes)
Human dignity
The moral basis of human rights.
The place of choice, duty and / or community in the law
The moral basis of the UK constitution
Human rights in the UK constitution
Phenomenology and law
Land access rights
International trade law (WTO and regional trade agreements)
International Investment Law
China and International Law
Law and society in China
Comparative corporate law and capital market regulations
International commercial arbitration
Investment law
Third-party funding
Alternative dispute resolution methods
Commercial mediation
Online dispute resolution
Protection for private information under the tort of misuse of private information and/or the UK GDPR/DPA 2018; comparisons with measures in other jurisdictions
Same sex marriage and/or same-sex registered partnerships; Article 8 ECHR
The Online Safety Bill in UK
Criminal offences applicable to online expression (including images, sounds etc)
Counter-terrorism measures, especially preventive measures – measures intended to prevent terrorist attacks such as TPIMs (UK) or their equivalents
Aspects of freedom of expression, especially in relation to Article 10 ECHR; comparisons with other jurisdictions
A British Bill of Rights?
Reform of the Human Rights Act?
Hate speech, especially online
The application of human rights in disputes between private parties
Comparative regionalism
European human rights law, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
The right to private and family life in the digital age
The freedom of expression in the digital age
Comparative law (criminal, public or medical law focussed)
Medical law
Health law
especially:
Reproductive justice
Foetal protection
Abortion
Embryo research
Euthanasia
Non-treatment decisions
Advance decisions
Mental capacity
Legal Regulation of Adult Relationships (Marriage, Civil Partnership and Cohabitation)
Divorce, Dissolution, and the Division of Assets
Family Property and Trusts of the Family Home
LGBTQ+ Family Law
Comparative Family Law
Human Rights and Family Law
Legal History relating to Families
Trusts Law
Property Theory
Continental Legal Philosophy
Electronic Money and Cryptoassets
International law
Law of the Sea
Law and Colonialism
Law and Literature
Critical approaches to property law
International Legal Theory
Law and Marxism
Legal Geography
European Convention on Human Rights
Freedom of Expression in the ECHR context
Socio-economic and cultural rights
Austerity policies and human rights
Bioethics/ medical Ethics and law
Emerging Biotechnology law and ethics
Neuroethics/ neuroscience/ neurotechnology law
Moral Status
Personhood
Animal Rights
AI ethics and law
Patents
Copyrights
IP public policies
Legal history of IP rights
Law and technology
Law and courts
Chinese courts and judges
Empirical legal studies
Private International Law (Conflict of Laws)
Cross-border Commercial Litigation
The Resolution of Cross-border Commercial Disputes in Chinese Courts
China’s role in the International Legal Order
Family law, especially:
Parent-child relations, Parenthood, Parental Responsibility
Legal Regulation of LGBTQ+ family relationships
Assisted Reproduction (e.g. surrogacy)
Family Law and Human Rights (e.g. Article 8 EHCR)
Adjudication and legal reasoning
Legal philosophy
Philosophy of private law
The normative standing of access to justice
Technological Management
Financial law
Financial regulation
International financial and monetary law
Financial law and regulation
Financial technology / FinTech
Sustainable finance
Corporate law and corporate governance
UK Constitutional Law and Reform
Bills of Rights (esp the Human Rights Act)
Judicial Power/Separation of Powers
Relationships between UK and international law
UK apex judges
UK Employment Law
EU Employment Law
International Employment Law
Legal regulation of pornography
Image-based sexual abuse
Reforming sexual offences laws
Cyberflashing
Justice and violence against women and girls
Devolution and the UK’s territorial constitution
UK/Scottish constitutional law
English/Scottish administrative law
Energy governance
Sustainable energy regulation
Women as offenders
Infanticide and infant killing
Foetal harm and killing
Feminist legal theory
Criminal justice and sex/gender
Motherhood/mothering and the law
Public International Law
International Environmental Law
International Law on Climate Change
Intersection of Climate Law and Climate Science
Regulation of takeovers
Directors’ duties
Minority shareholder protection
Corporate social responsibility
Päivi Neuvonen
European Union Law
European Human Rights Law (esp. anti-discrimination/equality)
Legal Theory and Philosophy (esp. Critical Legal Theory)
Regional Integration Organisations
International law, with a particular focus on theoretical approaches (in particular, critical perspectives)
Comparative Constitutional Law
UK Administrative Law
Empirical Methods in Public Law
Gender and women’s rights
CEDAW
Armed conflict
Transitional justice
Feminist approaches to international law
Medical ethics
Bioethics
Philosophy of human rights
Obstetric violence and abuse in childbirth
Discrimination in healthcare
Reproductive rights and justice
Economic and social rights
International human rights law,
Adjudication of rights
Judicial appointment processes
Comparative human rights law
Company/corporate law
Multinational enterprises and the law
Social enterprises and not-for-profits
Assisted Reproduction
Feminist Legal Theory
Gender and Law
Healthcare Law
Medical Ethics & Law
Reproductive Technologies
International Human Rights Law
The extraterritorial application of human rights
Incorporation of international obligations in the UK
EU Law
Financial Regulation
EU Constitutional law
Comparative federalism
Labour law / employment law, particularly where related to marginalised workers / issues of gender and migration
Human rights, where related to: the rights of workers / women / migrants; economic and social rights; positive obligations; or the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Christopher Szabla
International Law
Migration and Refugee Law
Law of Armed Conflict
Transitional Justice
International Law and Peacemaking
Violence and Law
Law and conflict
Critical theory- (particularly Derrida)
EU Internal Market Law (in particular, free movement of goods and services)
EU Health Law
The Interaction between EU Law and Medical Law (in particular, free movement of patients/doctors, professional qualifications/discipline, product liability law, regulation of medical devices)
EU Private Law
Judicial Protection in EU Law (in particular, State liability and private liability, and the horizontal application of free movement law)
Corporate law
Intellectual property (IP) law
IP and artificial intelligence
Personal data and privacy
Blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
IP for games and gamification
Competition Law including state aid / subsidies
Cartel control
WTO and International Trade Law
Law and economics (including projects incorporating that methodology)
Corporate and commercial law
UK Constitutional Law
Rule of Law
Caribbean Constitutional Law
Unwritten constitutional principles
Environmental Law (UK, EU, International)
Terrestrial and marine ecosystem protection and law
Energy Law concerning the low carbon energy transition
Renewable Energy and Law (UK, EU, International)
Climate Law (UK, EU, International)
Public law
Institutions
Empirical legal research
The judiciary: empirical studies
Sociolegal approaches to the law
The executive
The legislature/Parliament
Budgeting
Bureaucracy: the civil service; parliamentary administration
The legal profession
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