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Anurag Deb

@anuragdeb.bsky.social
7K followers 2.3K following 2.5K posts

PhD candidate at Queen's University Belfast. Looking at legislative drafting. Research Officer at the Northern Ireland Assembly. Looking at the Windsor Framework. Interested in devolution, public law, politics and climate change. He/him

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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The Industrial Accelerator Act - aka the "Made in Europe scheme" - will apply to Northern Ireland via the Windsor Framework unless the Stormont brake is successfully triggered. BBC News - Healey to ask EU finance ministers to let UK into Made in Europe scheme www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
John Healey to ask EU finance ministers to let UK into Made in Europe scheme
The chancellor wants the Made in Europe programme to deepen ties with the UK "rather than erecting new barriers".
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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Months of work on FWS & the problem of making it fit with NI law alongside @sylviademars.me and @aoifemod.bsky.social is finally ready to see daylight. Short answer, it doesn't fit. Yes, the situation is so serious that it warranted the Mean Girls quote in the title. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
'She Doesn't Even Go Here!': For Women Scotland and Northern Ireland Law
The UK Supreme Court's For Women Scotland (FWS) decision has caused considerable and controversial impact upon equality law's protections for trans people in Gr
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Out of a sanctioned strength of 10, the NI High Court now has 3 women (Smyth, M Smyth and Doherty JJ). This takes the total number of women in the NI senior judiciary to 5 (including Keegan LCJ and McBride LJ), out of 14 total judges in the higher courts. barofni.com/news-events/...
barofni.com
Congratulations to Fiona Doherty KC and Moira Smyth KC
The Chair of the Bar Council Denise Kiley KC has extended her congratulations to Fiona Doherty KC and Moira Smyth KC who were sworn into office as High…
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Northern Ireland gets its first Lady Justice of Appeal. www.irishlegal.com/articles/the...
irishlegal.com
The Honourable Madam Justice McBride sworn into office as a Lady Justice of Appeal in Northern Ireland
His Majesty the King has approved the appointment of The Honourable Madam Justice McBride as a Lady Justice of Appeal in Northern Ireland. She was sworn into office today at a ceremony in the Royal Co...
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
The complexities of the reserved/devolved binary in criminal law, procedure and administration (because the straddle this binary) have a long and interesting history. In the 1940s, NI faced the opposite problem to the Scottish example here. 1/
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
6 years, 100s of sources and at least a dozen stupefying dead-ends later:
Thesis title page: The Birth of Laws: Legislative Drafting as Ethical Translation Meme of Frodo at Mount Doom: "It's done. Until the viva"
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
In his wider piece in Current Legal Problems (linked in the post below) @bymyong.bsky.social makes the (imv, excellent and irrefutable) argument that there is an epistemic problem with understanding the executive *primarily* through external legal constraints. Carltona is part of this problem.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 25/08/2026
Dolly Parton, US country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80
theguardian.com
Dolly Parton, US country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80
Songwriter of I Will Always Love You, Jolene and 9 to 5 also invested millions in child literacy, Covid-19 vaccine development and other causes Dolly Parton, one of the greatest singer-songwriters in country music who was also much cherished for her philanthropy, has died aged 80. Her death was announced by nephew Brian Seaver on Instagram. Continue reading...
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
This millennial would just like to qualify the last line: "And went to work *hoping* nothing would happen, only to spend most of the day praying for the shift to end, fighting the urge to puke and inevitably having to do so sneakily (+ also failing to be sneaky)." Ah, what a time 🥹
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
This goes for signing open letters, too 😊
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
A lot of opinion-havers, including academics, could benefit from the general civil/public service restrictions on public speech. Do you have an opinion? Think 10 times about posting it. And then don't 😊
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Repurposing archival material (which didn't make it to my thesis) for a work briefing (where it unexpectedly makes total sense) so that I can justify doing a PhD 😂
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
After the fiasco with Prada and the definititely-not-inspired-by-the-Kolhapuri-chappal, Diptyque has gentrified a 40p mosquito repellent 😭 www.independent.co.uk/life-style/d...
A coiled "scented spiral" called Citronnelle Incense, on a gold stand, from Diptyque.A black coiled mosquito repellent from Goodknight, an Indian brand.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Who wants the academic version of this (because the last 6 years of PhD reading has almost obliterated memories of books I'd read before)? Come on, don't be shy.
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Lewis Graham @lewisgrahamlaw.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
It's been two full years since we re-started the Admin Court Blog (@admincourtblog.bsky.social). In the past year, we have published 73 blog posts which have had over 27,000 visitors. Thank you for all the support :) @finishedloading.bsky.social @samuelwillis.bsky.social @anuragdeb.bsky.social
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Remembering the hilarious thread of the dangers of trying to be fashionable in Ireland as I walked out of the house in a trench coat and was promptly met with "Go Go Gadget" by a passing admirer 😂
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The NI legal year ended a month ago, and the new legal year starts a month ahead of England and Wales and Ireland, for um, *NI July* reasons.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
@dphinnemore.bsky.social kindly links the Assembly Research Paper I did on this below, so this is just a reminder to look out for more such papers and briefings from across the Assembly Research Service. We publish a lot! 😊
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David Phinnemore @dphinnemore.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
On the Windsor Framework... and for the next EU-UK Joint Committee... clarification that the end of EU customs duty relief for low value items does not entail handling charges for consumer parcels moving from GB into Northern Ireland. eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Remains to be seen what impact moving control of EU relations out of the Cabinet Office will have on intergovernmental relations, esp vis-à-vis any decision-shaping on the UK's part in areas of devolved competence. In 3rd countries like Switzerland, EU+IGR are necessarily intertwined.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
The people who think Emily Wilson's LRB review of The Odyssey is mean, unhelpful or misguided need to meet Reviewer 2 😏
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I'm at the stage of my thesis edits when I have to remind myself that a sentence shouldn't run the length of a paragraph* *That's just for the thesis though; the monograph will be one long sentence running over 300 pages and there's nothing anyone can do about it
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Happy Pride, Belfast 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Gen Z did it 😊 And the memes did not disappoint. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3... Dharmendra Pradhan: India education minister resigns after Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests - BBC News
bbc.co.uk
Dharmendra Pradhan: India education minister resigns after Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests
Thousands of young people, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), have been out on the streets demanding Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
For UK devolution, the value of historical enquiry is, regrettably, yet to be fully understood. Westminster once enacted constitutional settlements for a quarter of the planet. Those tell us a lot about the present devolution settlements instead of pretending those settlements sprang from the sea.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
I spent a few years in India's education system, until 2005. It was brutal then, and has only got exponentially worse. Years of cutthroat competition & extreme financial and emotional cost. Your entire human worth reduced to your grade. India's youth have been catastrophically failed.
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Máiréad Enright @maireadenright.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
A crucial report into gendered institutional abuse in Northern Ireland will be published today. Well worth reading for myriad reasons, not least because the independent panel was tasked with developing the kind of human-rights-centred approach survivors in the Republic have been denied.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Ah the nostalgic taste of an Indian summer 🌞
A can of jal jeera: a slightly fizzy drink flavoured with cumin and other spices.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
I love horror (the more nightmarish the better and no, I won't be seeking therapy), but I would definitely watch these two in any genre.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Not for the last time, I regret saying yes to things. But, you could do worse than listen to these fascinating people. And me 🙃
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
I liked the relentless optimism around the power of local news in Disclosure Day, but only because I remember a time before AI slop. The film may have landed more realistically a decade ago.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
I recently went to Dishoom for the first time, intrigued at seeing vada pav on a restaurant menu. Would recommend (though the lahsun chutney needs to be spicier), but the experience of eating it straight from the street vendor as you dodge motorbike bros and watch unbothered cows, is unbeatable 😌
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
South India: dosa, idli, vada and of course, only Indian filter coffee.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Courts in the UK constitutional set-up are not known for quashing primary legislation on ordinary JR grounds. So what happened in the BIOT case? I argue here that the judgment was neither mystifying nor mundane, but an important reminder to look beyond the UK for insights about its own constitution.
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Lewis Graham @lewisgrahamlaw.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
For ICON-S Dublin attendees this year, there will be a roundtable on my book, Judicial Individuality on the UKSC, at 2:30pm on Day 1 of the event (29 June). Join me, @aoifemod.bsky.social, @colinmurray.bsky.social and @anuragdeb.bsky.social for a discussion on judicial behaviour on the UKSC
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
My first paper for the Assembly is about changing customs fees in NI. If you shop online from overseas sellers, this may interest you. So open a browser window, get some coffee and enjoy the dry and technical resplendence of customs on this sunny afternoon 😎 www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets...
Northern Ireland Assembly Research and Information Service Research Paper, "The end of EU customs duty relief for small value goods in Northern Ireland"
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Lewis Graham @lewisgrahamlaw.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
I am not involved in this but my colleagues at Manchester have organised a great conference on the Future of Constitutional Reform taking place at UOM on 20-21 May Details and programme here: ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/03/20/c...
ukconstitutionallaw.org
Conference: The Future of Constitutional Reform in the United Kingdom
The public law team at the University of Manchester Law Department, in collaboration with the UK Constitutional Law Association (UKCLA), is holding a two-day conference on the topic of “The Future …
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Peter Edge @edge-law.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
For the *huge* proportion of Bluesky interested in doctoral study in small democracies, policy in the Crown Dependencies, and/or Atlantic Archipelago insurrection, some project ideas ...
edgelawblog.com
Three ideas for a PhD project.
One of the striking things about a UK PhD in an area like law or history is how we look to a candidate to have the fundamental idea for what they want to spend four years becoming a world expert in…
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
British legal discourse around its constitutional structure and practice (& problems that arise in those) has learned practically nothing from its own constitutional experiments around its empire for a quarter of a millennium.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
The NI comparison underlines how Higgs was a *bewilderingly* contra legem/against the grain interpretation of the Equality Act.
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Lewis Graham @lewisgrahamlaw.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Most(?) academics celebrated the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Higgs v Farmor School last year. We didn’t. See why here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... @anuragdeb.bsky.social @samuelwillis.bsky.social
papers.ssrn.com
Reflecting on Human Rights in Higgs
In this article, we reflect upon three distinct human rights dimensions present in the Court of Appeal's judgment in Higgs v Farmor's School [2025] EWCA Civ 109
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
There was also a logistical reason why a broad power of secondary legislation was favoured under s2(2) ECA 1972. Dynamic alignment may leave little room for legislative manoeuvring. Parliament may thus have to pass Bills where amendments are difficult/impossible. A bad use of its limited time.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
RIP Asha Bhosle, legend of music. Long before she was made famous in the west thanks to Cornershop, her honeyed voice lit up Bollywood classics, including this masterclass in sensual poetry: youtu.be/pwsjRraWgdA?...
youtu.be
HD In Aankhon Ki Masti Umrao Jaan Rekha 1981
YouTube video by Anill Babbilwar
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Gavan Reilly @gavreilly.com · 31/03/2026
Catherine Connolly announces Councll of State nominees: Fionnuala Ní Aoláin (QUB lawyer) Linda Ervine (Unionist Gaeilge advocate) Colin Harvey (QUB human rights) Kathleen Lynch (UCD sociology) Donncha O’Connell (Uni Galway law) Conor O’Mahony (UCC law) Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh (former pres Uni Galway)
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Like a creature from the deep, a thesis emerges (to haunt me)
Thesis index
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Matthew Specter @matthewspecter.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
I was asked to provide a few words today by NPR: www.npr.org/2026/03/14/n...
npr.org
Acclaimed 20th century philosopher Jürgen Habermas dies at 96
Associated with the Frankfurt School, Habermas was a world-renowned thinker on modernity and democracy who helped shape German post-war and post-reunification political discourse.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
An important reminder (that there are insights to be gleaned from the UK's different jurisdictions as the UKSC is due to hear the Campbell appeal later this year) from one of the leading authorities on UK Law Officers 👇
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Apparently we've reached the nostalgia phase of meme usage, so this is an ideal time for the legal academy to use more memes in scholarship. We've only really explored copyright issues. We haven't even begun to imagine the fun Public Law (the field + the journal) would have with memes.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
(Nervously) excited to say that I'll be leaving legal practice after almost 12 years to join the NI Assembly as a research officer in European Affairs. Out with briefing counsel and in with briefing committees + legislators.
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Today's view from the office
Waves on the shore at Ostia, Italy.
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