View Profile
Dr Shaun D Pattinson, LLB, MA, PhD, FRSA
(email at s.d.pattinson@durham.ac.uk)
Biography
Shaun Pattinson has been promoted to Professor of Medical Law and Ethics with effect from 1 October 2013. He joined the Law School as Reader in Law in 2006 and was previously Lecturer (2000-2005) and Senior Lecturer (2005-2006) at the University of Sheffield. Shaun has been the founding Director of Durham CELLS (Centre for Ethics, Law and the Life Sciences) since December 2011. He has been a visiting scholar at the universities of Helsinki (2004) and Maastricht (2012), and currently holds the position of visiting Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University.
Shaun has a law degree from the University of Hull, and a Master's degree (in Biotechnological Law and Ethics) and Ph.D from the University of Sheffield.
Research
Shaun's research interests are primarily in the area of medical law and ethics. His principal publications are Influencing Traits Before Birth (2002) and Medical Law and Ethics (3rd ed, 2011). The second edition of Medical Law and Ethics was awarded the 2010 Minty Medico-Legal Society Prize for best medico-legal book.
Shaun has participated in many research projects and external committees. Currently these include being a Member of the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ELPAT) Working Group on "Legal Barriers for Organ Transplantation in Europe" (since 2008); and an Ethical Expert on the TREAT-NMD Advisory Committee for Therapeutics (TACT) (since 2012).
Shaun has given papers at many UK universities and in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US. He edited Medical Law International from July 2005 to July 2011.
Research students
Dr Pattinson is happy to advise those interested in studying for an MJur or PhD in any area of medical law and ethics. Please read the information here and contact to arrange for advice on your draft proposal.
Successful research students
- Rebecca Blackburn: 'Ending One's Own Life: Unjustifiable Injustice'
- Chantell Burrows: 'Deconstructing Motherhood: A critique of the regulation of surrogacy'
- Benedict Douglas: 'The Necessity and Possibility of the Use of the Principle of Generic Consistency by the UK Courts to Answer Fundamental Questions of Convention Rights Interpretation' (PhD)
- Daniel Fenwick: 'Recognition of the Violation of Women's Human Rights Under the European Convention of Human Rights in the Context of Restrictive Abortion Regimes'
Teaching Areas
Law and Medicine
Research Groups
Durham Law School
Research Projects
Durham Law School
Research Interests
- Medical Law
- Moral Theory (especially applied ethics)
Selected Publications
Books: authored
- Pattinson, Shaun D. (2011). Medical Law and Ethics. London: Sweet & Maxwell.
- Pattinson, Shaun D. (2002). Influencing Traits Before Birth. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Essays in edited volumes
- Pattinson, Shaun D. & Beyleveld, Deryck (2010). Confidentiality and Data Protection. In Principles of Medical Law. Grubb, Andrew, Laing, Judith, McHale, Jean & Professor Sir Ian Kennedy (consultant editor) Oxford: Oxford University Press. 651–723.
Journal papers: academic
- Pattinson, Shaun D. (2012). Emergency Research and the Interests of Participants. Medical Law International 12(2): 121-141.
- Pattinson, Shaun D. (2012). The Value of Bodily Material: Acquiring and Allocating Human Gametes. Medical Law Review 20(4): 576-603.
- Pattinson, Shaun D. (2011). Directed donation and ownership of human organs. Legal Studies 31(3): 392-410.
- Pattinson, Shaun D. & Beyleveld, Deryck. (2010). Defending Moral Precaution as a Solution to the Problem of Other Minds: A Reply to Holm and Coggon. Ratio Juris 23(2): 258-273.
- Pattinson, Shaun D. (2009). Consent and informational responsibility. Journal of Medical Ethics 35(3): 176-179.
Media Contacts
Available for media contact about:
- Ethics: Medical ethics
- English Law: Medical law