Dr Brian Christopher Jones

School of Law

Lecturer in Law

Director of Internationalisation

law-and-democracy.com

brian.c.jones@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 6732

AF03, Bartolomé House

Full contact details

Dr Brian Christopher Jones
School of Law
AF03
Bartolomé House
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND

Profile: I joined Sheffield in January 2020, after holding lecturer positions at the University of Dundee (2017-19) and Liverpool Hope University (2015-16). Before this, I was a postdoctoral fellow in the Law Department at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan (2012-2015). Currently I am Director of Internationalisation at the Law School, and also serve as an Executive Committee Member for the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS).

My research primarily focuses on public law, touching on aspects of comparative constitutional law, constitutional theory, and law & politics. I've published in high quality journals from around the world, such as: International Journal of Constitutional Law, Public Law, Stanford Law & Policy Review, Legal Studies, Parliamentary Affairs, Statute Law Review, King's Law Journal, Wisconsin Law Review, and Hong Kong Law Journal, amongst others.

My 2020 monograph, Constitutional Idolatry and Democracy: Challenging the Infatuation with Writtenness (Edward Elgar, 2020), received many positive reviews. Professor David Feldman (Cambridge) classified it as ‘a thought-provoking book', noting that, 'every public lawyer and student of public law would benefit from reading it to test their assumptions'. And Professor Sandy Levinson (Texas) said, 'I can’t imagine a better book to discuss in a seminar, whether of students or senior academics'. I've also edited two book collections: Law and Politics of the Taiwan Sunflower and Hong Kong Umbrella Movements (Routledge, 2017) and Democracy and Rule of Law in China's Shadow (Hart, 2021).

My work has been cited by former President of the UK Supreme Court, Brenda Hale, in addition to media outlets such as: the New York Times, the Economist and the Wall St. Journal. I've also appeared on BBC Breakfast and BBC Radio to discuss various aspects of my research.

Qualifications: PhD (Law), University of Stirling
MA (Socio-legal studies), George Mason University
BA, University of Missouri-Columbia

Research interests

Public Law
Comparative Constitutional Law
Constitutional Theory
Judicial Review
Socio-Legal Studies
Law & Politics

Publications

Books

() Law and Politics of the Taiwan Sunflower and Hong Kong Umbrella Movements. Routledge.

Journal articles

Jones BC (2022) Analysis Judicial review and embarrassment. Public Law(2), 179-188.
Jones BC (2022) Judicial review and embarrassment. Public Law, 2022(Apr), 179-188.
Daly TG & Jones BC (2020) Parties versus democracy: Addressing today’s political party threats to democratic rule. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 18(2), 509-538. View this article in WRRO
Jones B (2019) Constitutional paternalism: The rise and problematic use of constitutional guardian rhetoric. New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, 51(3), 773-806. View this article in WRRO
Jones BC (2019) Our forgotten constitutional guardians: Preserving respect for the law. Statute Law Review. View this article in WRRO
Jones BC (2018) Dissonant constitutionalism and Lady Hale. King's Law Journal, 29(2), 177-186. View this article in WRRO
Jones B (2018) The rule of law in UK public law textbooks: from critique to acceptance?. Public Law, 2018(Oct), 594-604. View this article in WRRO
Jones BC (2018) Constitutions and bills of rights: invigorating or placating democracy?. Legal Studies, 38(3), 339-359. View this article in WRRO
Jones BC (2018) Meg Russell and Daniel Gover, legislation at Westminster: Parliamentary actors and influence in the making of British law. Edinburgh Law Review, 22(3), 434-436. View this article in WRRO
Christopher Jones B & Sarat A (2017) Justices as “sacred symbols”: Antonin Scalia and the cultural life of the law. British Journal of American Legal Studies, 6(1), 7-23. View this article in WRRO
Jones BC (2016) The online/offline cognitive divide: Implications for law. SCRIPTed, 13(1), 83-94. View this article in WRRO
Jones BC (2016) Disparaging the Supreme Court, Part II: Questioning institutional legitimacy. Wisconsin Law Review, 2016(2), 239-261.
Jones B (2016) Preliminary warnings on 'constitutional' idolatry. Public Law, 2016(Jan), 74-92. View this article in WRRO
Jones BC (2015) Erwin Chemerinsky: The Case against the Supreme Court. Journal of Law and Society, 42(3), 464-469.
Jones B & Su Y-T (2015) Confrontational Contestation and Democratic Compromise: The Sunflower Movement and its Aftermath. Hong Kong Law Journal, 45(1), 193-210. View this article in WRRO
Jones BC (2015) Assessing the Constitutionality of Legislation: Constitutional Review in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan. Asia Pacific Law Review, 23(2), 37-62.
Jones B (2013) Manipulating Public Law Favorability: Is It Really This Easy?. British Journal of American Legal Studies, 2(2), 511-532. View this article in WRRO
Jones B (2013) Processes, Standards and Politics: Drafting Short Titles in the Westminster Parliament, Scottish Parliament and US Congress. Florida Journal of International Law, 25(1), 61-116. View this article in WRRO
Jones B (2013) Westminster's Impending Short Title Quandary: And How To Fix it. Public Law, 223-232. View this article in WRRO
Jones B (2012) Drafting Proper Short Bill Titles: Do States Have the Answer?. Stanford Law and Policy Review, 455-476. View this article in WRRO
Jones BC (2012) Transatlantic Perspectives on Humanised Public Law Campaigns: Personalising and Depersonalising the Legislative Process. Legisprudence, 6(1), 57-76.
Jones BC (2012) Do Short Bill Titles Matter? Surprising Insights from Westminster and Holyrood. Parliamentary Affairs, 65(2), 448-462.
Jones BC & Shaheen RM (2012) Thought Experiment: Would Congressional Short Bill Titles Survive FTC Scrutiny?. Seton Hall Legislative Journal, 37(1).
Jones BC () The Legal Contribution to Democratic Disaffection. Arkansas Law Review, 75.
Jones BC () Surprisingly (Un)Inspiring Judicial Decisions: Lochner, Brown, Roe and Others. SSRN Electronic Journal.

Chapters

Jones BC (2020) Idolatry and Constitutional Change
Jones BC & Su YT (2017) Confrontational contestation and democratic compromise: The Sunflower Movement and its aftermath, Law and Politics of the Taiwan Sunflower and Hong Kong Umbrella Movements (pp. 15-29).

Teaching interests: I highly value and thoroughly enjoy teaching, and consider it of equal importance to producing research outputs. I’ve been a Fellow in the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) since December 2016. One of the joys of being in a lecturer’s role is being able to interact with bright and creative individuals, and also witness the myriad of impressive things they go on to achieve after graduation. I strive to ensure that students are critical thinkers, and can express themselves well both in written form and orally.

Teaching activities

The module that I teach are:

LAW139: Public Law in the UK and EU
LAW206: Advanced Administrative Law
LAW207: Advanced Constitutional Law
LAW31008: Comparative Public Law