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Mr Benedict Douglas

Contact Mr Benedict Douglas (email at benedict.douglas@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

Benedict Douglas began his PhD research at Durham University in the autumn of 2008. Prior to this he gained a First Class LLB from the University of Hull in 2006 and spent the subsequent year working in a public house and considering his area of future research in various libraries. In September 2008 Benedict obtained an LLM in Human Rights Law from University College London.

With the supervision of Professor Deryck Beyleveld and Dr Shaun Pattinson, and funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Benedict is investigating the interpretive approaches of the British judiciary to the Convention rights incorporated by the Human Rights Act 1998. In response to the open textured nature of the language of the European Convention on Human Rights, he intends to identify their current interpretive approaches to the key questions of the scope and application of the Convention rights.

He will then consider the nature of the Human Rights Act, whether it is ordinary legislation or a document of special constitutional and philosophical significance. The conclusion that is reached on this point will then be used to develop a theory of the appropriate approach that our judiciary should take to the interpretation of the Convention rights. On the basis that the Human Rights Act is found to be more than an ordinary statute, he will conduct an assessment of the potential for the use by our judiciary of a philosophical foundation of rights to interpret the Convention rights.

The validity of any interpretive approach recommended will be assessed against the merits and demerits of the current approach. Its coherence with parliamentary sovereignty, the separation of powers and democratic principles will also be determined to ensure that it is constitutionally acceptable.

Reseach Groups

Human Rights Centre

Teaching Areas

Tort Law

Research Interests

• Administrative Law
• Domestic and Comparative Constitutional Law
• Human Rights Law
• Jurisprudence