Legal Theory
The legal theory research area is one of the teaching and research strengths of Edinburgh Law School. The research area is responsible for two of the large Ordinary classes (Critical Legal Thinking and Jurisprudence) and for a range of courses at Honours and Masters level, and have a vibrant postgraduate research community.
Legal theory research at Edinburgh Law School covers a large variety of topics, including the role of law in post-state contexts, legal argumentation, general jurisprudence, and the philosophical foundations of private law, public law, criminal law, and international law.
Amalia Amaya Navarro, British Academy Global Professorship
Sharon Cowen, Professor of Feminist and Queer Legal Studies
Martin Kelly, Lecturer in Legal Theory
Chloë Kennedy, Senior Lecturer in Criminal Law
Euan MacDonald, Senior Lecturer in Jurisprudence
Claudio Michelon, Professor of Philosophy of Law
Burkhard Schafer, Professor of Computational Legal Theory
Neil Walker, Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations
Journal articles
Challenging common good constitutionalism: Common Good Constitutionalism: Recovering the Classical Legal Tradition, by Adrian Vermeule, Polity Press, 2022, 270pp
Kelly, Martin David. In: Jurisprudence, 04.03.2024, p. 1-24. View article
Data, disclosure and duties: Balancing privacy and safeguarding in the context of UK university student sexual misconduct complaints
Cowan, Sharon; Munro, Vanessa E.; Bull, Anna et al. In: Legal Studies, 03.05.2024, p. 1-20. View article
Ambivalence, judicial craftmanship, and the development of the law: Variations on a theme of Benjamin Cardozo
Amaya, Amalia. In: The Yale Journal of Law and Humanities, Vol. 34-1, No. 34-1, 14.06.2023, p. 1-20. View article
Law and political imagination: The perspective of Paul Kahn
Walker, Neil; Goldoni, Marco. In: German Law Journal, Vol. 24, No. 4, 26.06.2023, p. 619-622. View article
Sovereignty, property and climate change
Walker, Neil. In: Edinburgh Law Review, Vol. 27, No. 2, 31.05.2023, p. 129-156. View article
Edited Collections
Direito Privado, Razão e Justiça
Michelon, Claudio. 1 ed. São Paulo : Almedina, Brasil, 2023. 226 p. View Collection
Book chapters
Gardner's pluralistic virtue jurisprudence
Amaya, Amalia. From Morality to Law and Back Again: A Liber Amicorum for John Gardner. ed. / Michelle Madden Dempsey; François Tanguay-Renaud. 1. ed. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2023. p. 38-55. View Chapter
The uses of precedent in legal argument
Michelon, Claudio. Philosophical Foundations of Precedent. Ed, Timothy Endicott; Hafsteinn Dan Kristjánsson; Sebastian Lewis. Oxford University Press, 2023. p. 117-129 (Philosophical Foundations of Law). View chapter
Primary duty/secondary duty?
Michelon, Claudio. Private Law and Practical Reason: Essays on John Gardner's Private Law Theory. ed. / Haris Psarras; Sandy Steel. Oxford University Press, 2023. (Oxford Private Law Theory). View chapter
Books
New Constitutional Horizons : Towards a Pluralist Constitutional Theory
Mac Amhlaigh, Cormac. Oxford University Press, 2022. 248 p. (Oxford Constitutional Theory). View book
Law and Polity Project
The Law and Polity Project addresses the challenges of how the modern state polity is affected by new legal and political forms.
Visit the Law and Polity Project website
Edinburgh Centre for Legal Theory
Inaugurated in 2016, the Centre for Legal Theory promotes research collaboration between staff, students, and visitors.
Visit the Edinburgh Centre for Legal Theory website
Legal Theory Research Group
The Legal Theory Research Group organises a variety of events throughout the year, including a seminar series, work-in-progress sessions, a reading group, and a Spring workshop series.
Visit the Legal Theory Research Group website
