Biography

Joe is Professor of Public Law at the University of York. His principal research interest is in advancing understanding of the role of law and fair process in public services, particularly through social science methods. In 2023, Joe was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize in Law in recognition of his contribution to the study of administrative law and justice, and socio-legal studies.

Joe’s research has been influential in policy and practice. He has led multiple research partnerships with central government departments, charities, and industry, and his work has been cited in major policy reviews, in both Houses of Parliament, and at all levels in the courts and tribunals, including the High Court, Court of Appeal, and UK Supreme Court.

Prior to joining the University of York in 2019, Joe held lectureships at King’s College London (2018-2019) and the University of Sheffield (2016-2018). He has also held visiting positions at Osgoode Hall Law School (2018), Melbourne Law School (2019), the Constitution Unit at the UCL Department of Political Science (2022), and the Institute of Advanced Study at Durham University (2024). He completed his LL.B (2013) and PhD (2017) at the University of Manchester and was called to the Bar of England and Wales by Middle Temple (2022).

Joe was also previously an ESRC Parliamentary Academic Fellow in the House of Commons and served as Research Director of the Public Law Project, a national legal charity, from 2017 to 2021. Before that, he spent a period as a Trainee at the EFTA Court, working in President Baudenbacher’s Chambers. He is currently serving as Chair of the Academic Panel of the Administrative Justice Council, and is also a member of the Academic Panel at Blackstone Chambers.

Research

Joe is currently working on various issues relating to the role of law and fair process in public services. His current two main research projects seek to:

  • Understand the full potential of fair process in frontline public services to contribute to better social, economic, health, and environmental outcomes. Joe is pursuing this work as Director of the the Administrative Fairness Lab, which he founded with Simon Halliday (Strathclyde) and Jed Meers (York) and involves over 30 interdisciplinary researchers; and

  • Expand understanding of the justice system through quantitative data and the application of economic methods—work he is collaborating on with Imran Rasul (UCL/IFS) and Abi Adams (Oxford).

Joe is also affiliated with a number of research groups at York, including the ESRC Centre for Vulnerability and Policing Futures,  the Cost of Living Research Group, and the Institute for Mental Health Research. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Recent selected publications

An updated and comprehensive list of Joe’s publications is maintained on the University of York’s PURE database. Selected recent publications are listed below. As far as is possible, they have been made open access.

BOOKS:

  • Facts in Public Law Adjudication (Hart Bloomsbury, 2023), ed. with A. Carter (available here)

  • Researching Public Law in Common Law Systems (Edward Elgar, 2023), ed. with P. Daly (available here)

  • Experiments in Automating Immigration Systems (BUP, 2022), with J. Maxwell (available here) 

  • The Oxford Handbook of Administrative Justice (OUP, 2022), ed. with R. Thomas, M. Hertogh, & R. Kirkham (available here)

  • Immigration Judicial Reviews (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), with R. Thomas (available here)

  • Justice in the Digital State (BUP, 2019) (available here)

SELECTED RECENT JOURNAL ARTICLES:

  • ‘Governmental Influence over Rights Consciousness’ (2024) Journal of Law and Society, with S. Halliday, A. Jones, and J. Meers (forthcoming)

  • ‘Does digital status unlawfully penalise EU citizens accessing the UK's private rented sector?’ (2024) Modern Law Review, with J. Meers, A. Welsh, and C. O’Brien (forthcoming)

  • ‘Direct and Vicarious Administrative Burden’ (2024) Journal of Refugee Studies, with S. Halliday, J. Meers, and E. Kasoulide (forthcoming) (available here)

  • ‘Whose Procedural Fairness?’ (2023) Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, with E. Kasoulide, S. Halliday, and J. Meers (available here)

  • ‘Judicial Review during the Pandemic’ (2023) 27(3) Edinburgh Law Review 252, with T. Hickman KC (available here)

  • ‘Crisis Relief? Public Resources and Judicial Review Remedies’ [2023] Public Law 495, with D. Cowan

  • ‘Creative non-compliance’ (2023) 44(1) Deviant Behaviour 93, with S. Halliday & J. Meers (available here)

  • ‘Why the UK Complied with COVID-19 Lockdown Law’ (2022) 33(3) King’s Law Journal 386, with S. Halliday, N. Finch, J. Meers & M. Wilberforce (available here)

  • ‘Undermining loyalty to legality?’ (2022) 85(6) Modern Law Review 1419, with S. Halliday, N. Finch & J. Meers (available here)

  • ‘Discrimination in digital immigration status’ (2021) 42(2) Legal Studies 315, with J. Maxwell & A. Welsh (available here)

  • ‘Justice in Automated Administration’ (2020) 40(4) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 708 (available here)

  • ‘Judicial Review Evidence in the Era of the Digital State’ [2020] Public Law 740, with K. Sheridan & A. Harkens (available here)

  • ‘Do we need a theory of legitimate expectations?’ (2020) 40(2) Legal Studies 28 (available here)

  • ‘A Different Tale of Judicial Power’ [2019] Public Law 537, with R. Thomas (available here)

  • ‘Crowdfunding Public Interest Judicial Reviews’ [2019] Public Law 166 (available here)

SELECTED RECENT CHAPTERS IN BOOKS:

  • ‘Reports of the Death of Cart are Greatly Exaggerated’ in L. Graham and J. Russell (Eds), The Supreme Court at 15: Reflections on Public Law Cases (Routledge, 2024), with R. Thomas (forthcoming)

  • ‘Missing evidence?’ in J. Tomlinson & A. Carter (eds), Facts in Public Law Adjudication (Hart Bloomsbury, 2023), with C. Somers-Joce (available here)

  • ‘Administrative Law in the Digital World’ in C. Harlow (ed.), A Research Agenda for Administrative Law (Edward Elgar, 2023), with P. Daly & J. Raso (available here)

  • ‘Why we need to rethink procedural fairness for the digital age and how we should do it’ in B. Brożek, O. Kanevskaia, and P. Pałka (eds), Research Handbook on Law and Technology (Edward Elgar 2023), with J. Meers and S. Halliday

  • ‘Studying the Administrative State’ in J. Tomlinson & P. Daly (eds) Researching Public Law in Common Law Systems (Edward Elgar, 2022), with P. Daly (available here)

  • ‘COVID-19 and Lockdown Compliance: A Gender Analysis’ in A. Yong & S. Germain (eds), Beyond the Virus (BUP, 2022), with N. Finch, J. Meers, S. Halliday & M. Wilberforce (available here)

  • ‘New Labour’s Administrative Justice Legacy’ in A. Tucker & M. Gordon (eds.), The New Labour Constitution (Hart Bloomsbury, 2022), with R. Kirkham (available here)

  • ‘Rights and Solidarity during COVID-19’ in D. Cowan & A. Mumford (eds.), Pandemic Legalities (Bristol University Press, 2021), with S. Halliday & J. Meers (available here)

  • ‘Beyond the end of ouster clause history?’ in L. Stirton, T.T. Arvind, R. Kirkham, & D. Mac Síthigh (eds), Executive Decision-making and the Courts (Hart Bloomsbury, 2021) (available here)

  • ‘Reforming Judicial Review Costs Rules in an Age of Austerity’ in. A. Higgins (ed.), The Civil Procedure Rules Twenty Years On (Oxford University Press, 2020), with A. Pickup (available here)

SELECTED RECENT SHORT ARTICLES AND CASE NOTES:

  • ‘Who builds digital government?’ [2023] Public Law 196, with V. Adelmant (available here)

  • ‘Judicial review of public data gaps’ [2023] Judicial Review, with J. Meers & C. Somers-Joce (available here)

  • ‘How Public is Public Law?’ [2022] Judicial Review 95, with D. Hoadley, E. Nemsic & C. Somers-Joce (available here)

  • ‘For the record’ [2022] Public Law 368, with C. Somers-Joce (available here)

  • ‘Certainty at all costs?’ [2022] Judicial Review 255, with R. Thomas (available here)

  • ‘Empowering Tribunals to Enforce the Human Rights Act 1998’ (2020) 83(3) Modern Law Review 652, with A. Sinclair (available here)

  • ‘In Defence of the Court?’ (2020) 14(9) Geography Compass e12499, with N. Gill & J. Hynes (available here)

  • ‘Judicial Review during the COVID-19 Pandemic’ [2020] Public Law 9, with J. Hynes, E. Marshall, & J. Maxwell (available here)

Teaching and supervision

Joe is largely focused on research at present. He is currently supervising several research students and postdocs. He is happy to speak to prospective postgraduate research students and to support postdoctoral applications in his areas of research.

Joe is regularly invited to deliver guest lectures and has taught in this capacity at several institutions, including New York University, Melbourne University, and the London School of Economics. He is also regularly involved with educational events at Middle Temple.