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Mark Elliott

@profmarkelliott.bsky.social
6.8K followers 365 following 340 posts

Professor of Public Law, University of Cambridge. Fellow, St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Blog: www.publiclawforeveryone.com. Website: www.markelliott.org

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Thank you to the International Association of Law Libraries (IALL) for inviting me to address their 44th Annual Course on 'Shifting Politics and Legal Realities'. In my lecture, I considered whether the UK constitution's idiosyncrasies might make it peculiarly vulnerable to the forces of populism.
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
My blog, www.publiclawforeveryone.com, now features "Not by AI" badging. For more information on the Not by AI initiative, see: notbyai.fyi/not-by-ai-90....
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
The gutting of the principle of legality – part of a much wider trend of constitutional regression in the senior courts' case law – continues apace. www.judiciary.uk/judgments/sa...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
"In Defence of Classical Administrative Law", by @philipmurraylaw and me, has now been published in the Cambridge Law Journal on FirstView. It is available via the following link (open access): doi.org/10.1017/S000...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
I'm grateful to the Sunday Times for publishing my letter on the constitutional role of the House of Lords, correcting the misleading impression created by an open letter signed by several former Cabinet Secretaries. www.thetimes.com/comment/lett...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
One of the highlights of one of the Covid lockdowns was the arrival of hard copies of the new edition of my textbook; the feline member of the household, who loves boxes rather than books, was also delighted.
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
In the post, I reflect on the Security Minister's statement to the House of Commons on the collapse of the China espionage case. I conclude that if a single official really is responsible, Ministers cannot evade responsibility for an inadequate decision-making system. 2/2
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
It will be interesting to see what Ministers are prepared to say about the China spying case from the despatch box. I am surprising that this morning's line to take still seems to turn on China not having been "designated" a threat/enemy by the last government. /1
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Excellent (but depressing) analysis by @gsoh31.bsky.social on the fragile state of higher education in the UK. This passage particularly struck me. politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/where-n...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
It was a great pleasure to speak at today's annual training day for the Administrative Court (at the Oval cricket ground: hence the photo!), looking at how recent case law intersects with key academic debates about substantive judicial review.
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
It also appears that the report's authors envisage that changes to domestic law under the influence of the ECHR-HRA regime, such as the adoption of the proportionality principle in certain contexts, might be reversed. /6
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
The common law is, however, fetishised by the authors, who overlook that it was precisely the weakness of the traditional apporach, that relied on the residual liberty of the individual, that prompted the enactment of the HRA. /5
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
A fascinating piece about the right to trial by jury, including a particularly interesting discussion of the different senses in which a right might be 'constitutional'. The argument that Leveson adopted an unduly narrow view of this seems compelling to me. ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/07/18/a...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
V good paper by @echrhawk.bsky.social - 'The Human Rights Act under Siege: The Vulnerability of Fundamental Rights Protection under the UK Constitution' - reflecting on implications of legislation passed in 'dying days' of last govt. A sobering conclusion. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Belatedly catching up with this very good piece by Leah Trueblood on the Court of Appeal's recent Tortoise Media case. I have a lot of sympathy with her argument that the court read the Datafin judgment unjustifiably narrowly. ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/06/11/l...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
A fascinating @ukcla.bsky.social post by David Sugarman on the decisions of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords on the extradition of Pinochet. I've always thought it highly regrettable that the law was strained so badly to spare embarassment ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/03/31/d...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
I went on to say that it is all very well for the Government to make positive noises about the rule of law, but that the real tests will arise when it comes to taking action and spending money. /3
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Last month, the new Attorney General gave a lecture in which he paraded the Government's commitment to the rule of law. That prompted me to observe that the Government would need to put its money where its mouth is by funding a justice system that is falling over. /2
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Nearly 2.6 million signatories now to the petition calling for an immediate general election. Of course, there won't be one — but it should still give pause for thought for those of us who are concerned about the health of democracy in the UK. publiclawforeveryone.com/2024/11/25/o...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
I explain this point in more detail here. 4/4 publiclawforeveryone.com/2024/11/18/a...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
This is a surprising intervention, in which a former Lord Chancellor asserts that Ministers who are speaking out against the assisted dying bill are 'breaking the rules'. /1 www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
I address these points in more detail in a recent blogpost, in which I argue that it is necessary to disaggregate views about the merits of assisted dying from concerns about the inadequate process whereby this legislation is being enacted. 6/6 publiclawforeveryone.com/2024/11/18/a...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Not only does suspension of collective responsibility not prevent ministers from speaking out, the Government's own Guide to Making Legislation requires it to set out its view by way of an impact assessment, which it has so far not done. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62fe36... /5
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Expectations of ministerial neutrality arise thanks to the Cabinet Secretary's bizarre directive that ministers cannot speak out because collective responsibility has been suspended — turning on its head the normal consequence (ie allowing ministers to speak their minds) of such suspension. /4
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Second, Leadbeater is 'frustrated' and 'upset' that Cabinet Ministers — such as the Health and Justice Secretaries, to whose portfolios the Bill is directly relevant — have publicly raised concerns about the Bill. There is, however, no good reason why they should not have done so. /3
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
First, Leadbeater mentions the extensive work she has undertaken speaking to different stakeholders. That is laudable. But it cannot replicate the sort of pre-legislative process that could have taken place if legislation was not being enacted in haste as a private members' bill. /2
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
The @instituteforgov.bsky.social post draws an instructive comparison with the way in which legislation was enacted in the 1980s on assisted conception, which involved careful, expert-led preparation that enabled a wide and lasting consensus to be built on a sensitive issue. /3
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
This passage captures what is, for me, the key point: that the *pre-legislative* process in relation to Private Members' Bills differs markedly from the processes that can be — and, in some comparable cases, have been — adopted in relation to Government Bills. /2
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Really interesting blogpost highlighting much greater use post-2010 of remedial orders rather than primary legislation to remedy ECHR-incompatible legislation, and highlighting some of the concerns to which that change of practice gives rise.
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 04/11/2024
The latest report from the Constitution Society's UK Constitution Monitoring Group consoc.org.uk/publications...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 27/09/2024
It has been a privilege to lead @cambridgelaw.bsky.social for the last five years. My very best wishes to my successor, Professor Louise Gullifer, and other members of the incoming Faculty leadership team.
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 14/08/2024
We're delighted to announce that Professor Jan Klabbers has been elected to the Whewell Professorship of International Law with effect from 1 October 2025. www.law.cam.ac.uk/press/news/2...
Screenshot of Faculty of Law announcement of Professor Jan Klabbers' appointment to the Whewell Professorship of International Law.
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 12/12/2023
I've written a piece for the Telegraph on the potential constitutional implications of the Rwanda Bill: telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/12...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 12/12/2023
My letter in this morning's Times: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/scru...
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 07/12/2023
In any event, I note that the Attorney-General shares the view — articulated forcefully by Lord Bingham — that the rule of law requires States to adhere to their international obligations. She too should reflect on her position. gov.uk/government/n... (6/6)
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 07/12/2023
(2/2) And this is what the Bill says (in cl 4(4)) about the circumstances in which a court can prevent or delay removal to Rwanda — hardly 'broad':
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 07/12/2023
(1/2) Just catching up with Suella Braverman speaking on Radio 4. Desperate stuff. Claims that cl 4 allows a 'whole raft of individual claims' against removal to Rwanda & that cl 4 is 'broad'. Here's what it actually says:
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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 06/12/2023
Some initial thoughts on the Rwanda Bill: publiclawforeveryone.com/2023/12/06/t...
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