Thread by @michaelpforan

This has been a crazy year for me so I thought I'd do a round-up of publications, starting with the blog post that was technically from last year but which kicked the whole thing off. Here I floated the possibility of a s35 Order to block the GRR Bill:

ukconstitutionallaw.org/2022/12/21/mic…

That made for a very hectic Christmas this time last year with radio appearances and publications in the Times, Unherd, and Holyrood:





thetimes.co.uk/article/uk-gov…
unherd.com/thepost/why-sc…
holyrood.com/comment/view,w…

In January, I published a long-form policy paper setting out the case for making a s 35 Order, with a forward by Lord Keen, former Advocate General for Scotland:

policyexchange.org.uk/publication/th…

A few days later, Alistair Jack, the Secretary of State for Scotland made the Order. In interviews about a potential legal challenge from the Scottish government, two former Supreme Court judges, Lord Hope and Lord Sumption expressed serious doubts about the likelihood of success

I was then invited to give evidence before the Women and Equalities Select Committee with Naomi Cunningham, Lord Charlie Falconer, and Robin Moira White. You can watch the full thing here:

parliamentlive.tv/event/index/51…

In February I wrote a response to solicitor Gwyneth King, who specialises in the law relating to welfare benefits. She wrote a piece setting out some facts on equality law, almost all of which were incorrect. My response: .scottishlegal.com/articles/micha…

April started off with a piece commenting on the EHRC letter to Kemi Badenoch advising ministers to carefully consider clarifying the meaning of the protected characteristic of 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010:

thecritic.co.uk/ministers-must…

A chapter for aa book with @yuanyi_z and @richardmarcj on the Changing Constitution was published. I argue that the Human Rights Act failed to provide the kind of concrete policy development of rights that legislation like the Equality Act does:

bloomsbury.com/uk/sceptical-p…

On the same day, I published a short comment discussing the released text of the Scottish government's petition to judicially review the s35 Order. I thought some of the arguments were strange:

scottishlegal.com/articles/micha…

In May, things kicked off politically when a comedy club, The Stand, unlawfully discriminated against @joannaccherry by cancelling her appearance due to the discriminatory views of its employees. I wrote that this is no justification:

holyrood.com/comment/view,c…

Back to academic publications. Later that month a paper I co-wrote with the excellent @Caseyco231 on unwritten principles of constitutional justice was published in the Supreme Court Law Review, available here:

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

June saw a lively debate between me and Robin Moira White. It began with my publication of a piece in @ScottishLegal about two important cases on the horizon for sex, gender and the law; one on the s35 challenge and one on the @ForWomenScot appeal:

scottishlegal.com/articles/micha…

Robin responded, beginning by hurling some mud in the form of ad hominem attacks, claiming that I analyse the law from a political standpoint and warning readers that I am known for my work with right-wing think tanks and 'anti-trans' campaign groups:

scottishlegal.com/articles/robin…

I responded, sticking to the law but criticising Robin for selectively quoting cases, cutting sentences to distort their meaning, and omitting centrally important judicial statements to give the impression that the law says something that it doesn't:

scottishlegal.com/articles/micha…

Robin did not respond.

Later in June I published an article on Irish constitutional law, looking at the law relating to citizenship:

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

In July I wrote a piece explaining why The Good Law Project and Mermaids lost their attempt to get @AllianceLGB struck off the charities register. In short, they had no standing.

thecritic.co.uk/why-mermaids-l…

Later that month, I published another piece on the anticipated gender guidance for schools, setting out the legal framework and some considerations that the government was likely dealing with:

thecritic.co.uk/on-protecting-…

In August, I published a short piece setting out some of the legal considerations that would be relevant for any proposed conversion therapy ban, if it sought to cover both sexual orientation and gender identity:

thecritic.co.uk/a-bill-must-be…

That month, I also co-founded a substance @thenewdigest looking at classical legal theory and its relationship with contemporary constitutional challenges:

thenewdigest.substack.com

As a part of that, I kicked things off with a Note on legal definitions, with a particular focus on the definition of 'sex' in law:

thenewdigest.substack.com/p/a-note-on-le…

In September, I co-authored a piece with Naomi Cunningham for @legalfeminist on the freedom to manifest protected beliefs against the backdrop of Jo Grady, General Sec for UCU misstating the law in her official communication to members:

legalfeminist.org.uk/2023/09/14/the…

Another academic publication; this time on the rule of law and the environmental emergency. I argued that liberal constitutionalism, when conceiving of the rule of law, does not have the resources needed to tackle to climate crisis:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

Sticking with that theme, I then published a short blog post in @thenewdigest on Peace, Justice and the Rule of Law, arguing that one must focus on constitutional goods such a peace, health, the elimination of poverty, if law is to achieve justice:

thenewdigest.substack.com/p/justice-peac…

In November, the Court of Session gave judgment in For Women Scotland 3. I wrote a short piece explaining the judgment, which has since been woefully misinterpreted by activists:

unherd.com/thepost/scotti…

December has been a very busy month so far, but I'm running out of space in one thread so will pick up below with December and what to expect in 2024.

December started with a paper I co-wrote with a good friend, Khomotso Moshikaro on the virtues & vices of scholarly activism. What are the ethical considerations that academics should be aware of when their work might have impact on society?

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

From here things really kicked off as the Lady Haldane delivered another impactful December judgement, this time in the s35 judicial review. I wrote a quick piece explaining the decision:

unherd.com/thepost/scotla…

I also wrote a much longer piece targeted at an academic audience which goes into the decision in some depth:

ukconstitutionallaw.org/2023/12/13/mic…

This month also saw the publication of a lecture I gave on the definition of sex in law for @MenVSexism:

Finally, this year ended with two podcasts. The first was an appearance on BBC Radio's Antisocial to discuss the law relating to social transition in schools with @cwknews and @hannahsbee:

bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

The second was an interview with @bindelj for her series looking at men who fighting for women's rights. I have to admit that I feel out of place amongst the lineup. These men are on the front line doing incredible grassroots work. I write blog posts.

Still, it was an honour to be asked and I'm delighted with how the interview went. Julie is a fantastic interviewer and a real champion for the most vulnerable women facing the most horrific forms of male violence.

So that's the year. Next year I'll have a fair few publications in the pipeline but I think I'll leave this already overly long thread at that.

Merry Christmas everyone! Wishing you all joy and fulfilment in the New Year.