Publications
Mr Alexander Williams, MA (Cantab) MJur (Dunelm)
(email at a.r.williams@durham.ac.uk)
Previous Experience and Current Role
Alex holds degrees from the universities of Cambridge (BA, Law, 2003-2006; MA, 2010) and Durham (MJur, 2007-2008). He started teaching at Durham in October 2007 as a part-time tutor during his MJur research degree before becoming a Graduate Teaching Assistant the following year. He became a permanent Lecturer in Law in autumn 2010. He is also Co-Director of the Durham Human Rights Centre as well as Co-Convenor, with Dr Kirsty Hughes (Cambridge) and Colin Murray (Newcastle), of the Civil Liberties section of the Society of Legal Scholars.
Alex teaches and researches primarily in the field of public law and human rights, with a particular research emphasis on the public-private divide and the horizontal effect of constitutional rights. His 50,000 word MJur thesis, written under the supervision of Professors Gavin Phillipson and Ian Leigh and examined by Aileen Kavanagh (Oxford) and Roger Masterman (Durham), constituted a comprehensive and original evaluation of the courts’ approach to the interpretation of the term ‘public authority’ under s 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998. He has published journal articles and spoken at academic conferences on the topic. He is also completing a PhD, Making Sense of the Public-Private Divide, again under Gavin Phillipson and Ian Leigh, that aims to re-conceptualise the law relating to the public-private divide in the judicial review, HRA and Strasbourg contexts. During the 2012-2013 academic year Alex is tutoring and lecturing on the LLB ‘Individual and the State’, ‘Advanced Issues in Public Law’ and ‘Legal Skills’ courses.
Research Groups
Human Rights Centre
Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law
Teaching Interests
The Individual and the State (module convenor)
Advanced Issues in Public Law
Legal Skills
Law and Medicine (2008-2009)
UK Constitutional Law (2007-2008)
Research Groups
Durham Law School
- Human Rights Centre
- Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law
Research Projects
Durham Law School
- Grants
Publications
Books: authored
- Fenwick, Helen, Phillipson, Gavin & Williams, Alexander (Published). Text, Cases and Materials on Public Law and Human Rights (4th edn, forthcoming, 2014/15). Routledge.
Books: sections
- Williams, Alexander (with Phillipson, Gavin). (2010). 'Devolution'. In Text, Cases and Materials on Public Law and Human Rights. Helen Fenwick & Gavin Phillipson London: Routledge. 232-294.
Conference papers
- Williams, Alexander (2012), 'Making sense of the public-private divide: a radical return to orthodoxy', Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference (Civil Liberties section). University of Bristol.
- Williams, Alexander. (2012), 'The nature of public authority under the Human Rights Act', Panel discussion at launch of D. Hoffman (ed), The Impact of the UK Human Rights Act on Private Law (CUP, 2011). Manchester, UK.
- Williams, Alexander. (2011), 'Making Sense of the Public-Private Divide in English Judicial Review', National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi, India.
- Williams, Alexander. (2010), 'Horizontal Effect and the Constitutional Constraint', Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference (Civil Liberties section). Southampton University.
- Williams, Alexander. (2009), 'Strasbourg Jurisprudence and Hybrid Public Authorities under the HRA 1998: Introducing Chameleonic Horizontal Effect', Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference (Civil Liberties section). Keele University.
Essays in edited volumes
- Williams, Alexander. (2011). Public authorities: what is a hybrid public authority under the HRA?. In The Impact of the UK Human Rights Act on Private Law. Hoffman, David Cambridge Cambridge University Press. 48-65.
Journal papers: academic
- Williams, Alexander. (2011). 'A Fresh Perspective on Hybrid Public Authorities under the Human Rights Act: Private Contractors, Rights-Stripping and "Chameleonic" Horizontal Effect'. Public Law (1): 139-163.
- Williams, Alexander & Phillipson, Gavin (2011). Horizontal Effect and the Constitutional Constraint. Modern Law Review 74(6): 878-910.
- Williams, Alexander. (2008). 'YL v Birmingham City Council: Contracting out and “functions of a public nature”. European Human Rights Law Review 4: 524-531.