Dr Chris Monaghan

chris monaghan

Principal Lecturer in Law

School of Law

Contact Details

email: c.monaghan@worc.ac.uk

Chris Monaghan is a Principal Lecturer in Law at the University of Worcester. He has taught at the University of Worcester since the School of Law opened in 2016. Chris is course leader for LLB course teaches on the LLB and LLM courses. He previously led the development of the LLM in Legal Practice Course.

Chris has a keen interest in constitutional law, the role of parliament (with an emphasis on accountability), broader notions of executive accountability, and the global use of impeachment. His current main research projects explore the Chagos litigation and impeachment as an accountability mechanism. Chris established and is the director of Constitutions, Rights and Justice Research Group at the University of Worcester. He is the editor of the Routledge Studies in Law, Rights and Justice book series and he is the co-editor of Routledge Frontiers in Accountability Studies book series.

In conjunction with Professor Matthew Flinders, Chris organised the Questions of Accountability: Prerogatives, Power and Politics conference that took place in November 2021 and which had over 300 delegates register. He is also the Communications Officer for the PSA Parliaments Specialist Group.

He has published in journals such as the Criminal Law Review, Judicial Review, European Human Rights Law Review, Public Law, and Legal Studies. Chris holds a PhD in law from Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London. His thesis set out the case for a new impeachment process for the United Kingdom, arguing that it would have a valuable role to play in the future development of the United Kingdom’s system of politics and government.

Chris is happy to supervise PhD students and welcomes expressions of interest.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Law (King’s College London)   
  • LLM (Anglia Ruskin University)
  • Legal Practice Course (College of Law)
  • Graduate Diploma in Law (University of Hertfordshire)
  • BA (Hons) History (University of Liverpool)

Teaching & Research

Teaching

Chris has been teaching law at UK universities since 2009 and has taught students on the 

Chris has been teaching law at UK universities since 2009 and has taught students on the LLB, Graduate Diploma in Law and LLM courses.

Chris is the module leader for Public Law, Human Rights, and Commercial Law on the LLB. He is also the module leader for the Dissertation and Legal Research Methods modules on the LLM. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (since 2012) and was nominated for the University of Worcester’s Student Union’s Students’ Choice Award – Outstanding Lecturer Award in 2017 and 2020 and was shortlisted for the Student Union’s Students’ Choice Award – Exceptional Personal Academic Tutor in 2020.

He enjoys teaching Public Law has previously presented on the teaching of Public Law at the Association of Law Teachers’ Annual Conference in 2015. He has published textbooks on Public Law (2022), Constitutional Administrative Law (2015), Business Law (2015) and Contract Law (2013).

Research

Chris has a keen interest in constitutional law, the role of parliament (with an emphasis on accountability), broader notions of executive accountability, and the global use of impeachment. He is very happy to supervise PhD students in any of these areas.

Chris’ two main on-going research projects are:

Accountability and impeachment 

Chris is interested in the accountability of the executive within the United Kingdom’s Westminster system of government and the use of impeachment as an accountability mechanism. He has been writing on various aspects of executive accountability for the past decade.

  • Impeachment

He holds a PhD from King’s College London and his thesis provided a balanced and independent examination of the case for a new impeachment process for the United Kingdom, arguing that it would have a valuable role to play in the future development of the United Kingdom’s system of politics and government. He argued that a modernised impeachment process would buttress the existing political accountability mechanism, serve as a way for the House of Commons to undertake the role as guardian of the constitution, and enhance the accountability of the executive. As part of his research Chris interviewed leading public figures including Lord David Owen, Lord Phillips, Sir Ross Cranston and Chris Bryant MP. His doctoral research was published as Accountability, Impeachment and the Constitution: The Case for a Modernised Process in the United Kingdom (Routledge 2022).

Chris has recently presented on his research at the Society of Legal Scholars’ Annual Conference (University of Exeter), the Global Summit (University of Texas), the PSA Parliaments’ Annual Conference, the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom’s Annual Conference, the Study of Parliament Group’s Annual Weekend, and at the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History. He also took part in a keynote panel discussion on impeachment with Professor Richard Albert (University of Texas, Joshua Matz (Georgetown University), Karen Popp (former Associate White House Counsel) and Professor Frank Bowman (University of Missouri).

Chris is currently co-editing two books that explore the role played by impeachment. The first book British Origins and American Practice of Impeachment is co-edited with Professor Matthew Flinders and will be published by Routledge in 2023. The second book Impeachment in a Global Context: Law, Politics and Comparative Practice is co-edited with Professor Matthew Flinders and Professor Aziz Huq and will be published by Routledge in 2023.

  • Accountability

Chris co-organised an international conference Questions of Accountability that took place in November 2021. The conference was a collaboration between the University of Worcester and the University of Sheffield and was supported by the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom. Keynote speakers included Lord Blunkett, Baroness Manningham-Buller, Professor Bruce Ackerman, Baroness Hale, Lord Neuberger, Professor Alison Young, Professor Tom Ginsburg, Professor John Keane, Professor Conor Gearty and Baroness Helena Kennedy QC. Over 300 delegates registered to attend the conference and The Law Society Gazette reported on the proceedings. Recordings of the sessions can be found here. The conference proceedings are being published as Questions of Accountability: Prerogatives, Power and Politics (Hart Publishing 2023).

Finally, Chris has a particular interest in the use of the prerogative powers by the executive and has written on the judicial control of the prerogative. He has previously proposed a bill to reform the use of the prerogative power to enact colonial legislation (‘An imperfect legacy: the significance of the Bancoult litigation on the development of domestic constitutional jurisprudence’, 2018). This statutory reform would strengthen Parliament’s accountability of the executive and remedy the clear defects in using the prerogative to enact colonial legislation.

Bancoult/Chagos Litigation

Chris has been researching and writing on the Bancoult/Chagos litigation since 2011. I have organised a major conference in 2015, co-edited Fifty Years of the British Indian Ocean Territory: Legal Perspectives (Springer 2018), contributed chapters to books (Dissenting Judgments in the Law Wildy 2012, T Burri and J Trinidad (eds), The International Court of Justice and Decolonization: New Directions from the Chagos Advisory Opinion CUP 2021, G. Baldacchino (ed), Mice that Roar: Small States ‘getting the better’ of Large(r) States Routledge 2023) and convened a 2019 Panel Discussion with leading experts Professor Sue Farran, Dr Jamie Trinidad and Mr David Snoxell (the former UK High Commissioner to Mauritius.

I have recently undertaken research on an oral history of the Bancoult (Chagos) litigation, which was supported by the Humanities Research Investment Fund scheme and this will be published in Judicial Review, I am currently co-convening a major conference on Chagos (with Professor Laura Jeffery) at the University of Worcester in 2023. The keynote speaker is Philippe Sands KC, academics, and senior diplomats. The conference proceedings will be published by Routledge in 2024.

Previous research projects:

Fraud and Criminalisation: with particular reference to School Application Forms

Between 2009-2018 Chris researched and wrote on the use of the Fraud Act 2006 (and now also the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981) by local authorities in England to bring prosecutions against parents who provide ‘false’ information on their child’s school application form. In January 2017, Chris co-organised a workshop, The Fraud Act 2006: Ten Years On that explored the impact of the Act. The workshop proceedings have been published as an edited collection: Financial Crime and Corporate Misconduct: A Critical Evaluation of Fraud Legislation (Routledge, 2018).  Chris has published on this topic in the Criminal Law Review, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminal Law and Justice Weekly.

Professional Bodies

  • Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

 

  • Member of the Political Studies Association
  • Member of the UK Constitutional Law Association
  • Member of International Society of Public Law
  • Member of Study of Parliament Group
  • Member of the Legal Education Research Network
  • Member of the Society of Legal Scholars
  • Member of the Selden Society

Publications

Upcoming Publications

  • Monaghan, C and Jeffery, L (eds) Challenges and Prospects for the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean (Routledge 2024)
  • Monaghan, C. ‘Impeachment in the UK’ in Barbosa Gouve C at al (eds), Democracy, Constitutionalism and Crises (Casa do Direito 2023)
  • Monaghan, C. ‘Returning to Bancoult’ (2023) 27(4) Judicial Review
  • Monaghan, C. ‘The fight to achieve full decolonisation: Mauritius versus the United Kingdom’ in G. Baldacchino (ed), Mice that Roar: Small States ‘getting the better’ of Large(r) States (Routledge 2023)
  • Monaghan C, Flinders M and Huq A (eds), Impeachment in a Global Context: Law, Politics and Comparative Practice (To be published: Routledge 2023/24)
  • Monaghan, C. ‘A New Impeachment Act for the United Kingdom: The Procedure, Application and Analysis’ in Monaghan C, Flinders M and Huq A (eds), Impeachment in a Global Context: Law, Politics and Comparative Practice (To be published: Routledge 2023)
  • Monaghan C and Flinders M (eds), British Origins and American Practice of Impeachment (To be published: Routledge 2023)
  • Monaghan, C. ‘The Nineteenth Century and Beyond: The Existence of the Threat of Impeachment’ in Monaghan, C and Flinders (eds), M. British Origins and American Practice of Impeachment (To be published: Routledge 2023/24)
  • Monaghan, C. ‘Impeachment during the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries’ in Monaghan, C and Flinders (eds), M. British Origins and American Practice of Impeachment (To be published: Routledge 2023/24)
  • Monaghan, C and Flinders, M (eds), Questions of Accountability: Prerogatives, Power and Politics (with a foreword by Lord Neuberger) (Hart Publishing, to be published 2023
  • Monaghan, C and Welsh, J. ‘Questions of Control: Accountability in the Shadow of Prorogation’ in Monaghan, C and Flinders, M (eds), Questions of Accountability: Prerogatives, Power and Politics (with a foreword by Lord Neuberger) (Hart Publishing, to be published 2023)

Recent Publications

Previous Publications

Conference Papers 

  • Reflecting on a constitutional controversy: new perspectives on the House of Lords’ decision in R (on the application of Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No.2) [2008] UKHL 61’ presented at the ICON Society Annual Conference, University of Wroclaw, July 2022.
  • ‘Power and the Constitution’, ICON Great Britain and Ireland Chapter Conference, Trinity College Dublin, April 2022 (with Josie Welsh)
  • ‘Checking Executive Power: The Possible Role for Impeachment and the Constitution’ presented at the Political Studies Association Annual Conference, University of York, April 2022
  • ‘What ever happened to impeachment in the United Kingdom? Accountability, history and the decline of parliamentary impeachment’ PSA Parliaments Annual Conference, University of Birmingham, November 2021
  • ‘Questions of Control: Accountability in the Shadow of Prorogation’ Questions of Accountability Conference, University of Worcester, November 2021 (with Josie Welsh).
  • Looking again at Miller No.2’ presented the 25th Anniversary of the Coventry Law Journal Conference, Coventry University, October 2021
  • ‘What are the comparative lessons for how a reformed version of impeachment might operate in the United Kingdom?’ presented at the Global Constitutional Forum, University of Texas, January 2021
  • ‘A proposal for reviving impeachment within the United Kingdom's constitution: an accountability mechanism or a historical relic?’ presented at the Society of Legal Scholars Conference, University of Exeter, September 2020.
  • ‘University of Worcester’s Women’s Legal History Project’ (with Professor Sarah Greer, Daniel Maiden, Mollie Sheehy and Georgie Cooper), presented at the Association of Law Teachers Conference, Keele University , March 2018
  • ‘Beyond the appropriate boundaries of criminalisation. An empirical review of the use of the Fraud Act 2006 and other criminal offences within the school application system’, presented at The Fraud Act 2006 – Ten Years On workshop, University of Worcester, January 2017
  • ‘Peacham’s Case and the Case of Commendams: Sir Edward Coke CJ’s defence of judicial independence and ultimate dismissal’, presented at the British Legal History Conference, University of Reading, July 2015
  • ‘Revisiting Lord Mance’s dissent in R (Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No.2) in the 800th year of Magna Carta’, presented at the Chagos Litigation: A Socio-Legal Dialogue Conference, June 2015
  • ‘Public Law beyond the classroom: exploring opportunities for engagement and interaction – how can we prepare for the next fifty years of legal education?’, presented at the Association of Law Teachers Conference, Cardiff, March 2015
  • ‘Public Law in Context – practical approaches to teaching and engaging students in the classroom’, presented at the Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, University of Greenwich, January 2015
  • ‘Twitter and Higher Education – How to engage with fellow academics and students?’ (with Zoe Swan) , presented at the Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, University of Greenwich, January 2015
  • ‘The socio-legal legacy of the Chagos litigation’, presented at the Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference, Robert Gordon University, April 2014
  • ‘Salvaging impeachment - is there any merit in reviving impeachment for the United Kingdom's Constitution?’, presented at the Society of Legal Scholars Conference, University of Bristol,  September 2012
  • ‘Coalition Government, The Spending Cuts and Executive Accountability under the UK Constitution’, presented at the Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference, De Montfort University, April 2012
  • ‘The seven year long Impeachment Trial of Warren Hasting, Governor-General of Bengal and complicit facilitator-in-chief’, presented at the Society of Legal Scholars Conference, University of Southampton, September 2010
  • ‘Once More unto the Breach, Dear Friends, Once More; the Continuing Saga of Anti-Doping and Strict Liability’ (with John O’Leary), presented at the Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference, University of the West of England, April 2010

Public Lectures, Panel Discussions and Research Seminars      

  • ‘Impeachment, the Stuarts, and the road to the English Civil War: what can the seventeenth century tell us about how impeachment might operate today’ The Battle of Worcester Society, The Commandery, Worcester, August 2012
  • ‘Colonial Mindsets and the Legacy of Empire: The United Kingdom, Mauritius and the Chagos Islands’ The Hive, Worcester, June 2022
  • ‘Wargaming a hypothetical impeachment under the proposed Impeachment Act’, Research Seminar, King’s College London, February 2022
  • ‘Ukraine Discussion Panel’ University of Worcester, March 2022 (with Nicoleta Cinpoes and Dr Paddy McNally)
  • ‘How might a modern impeachment process work in the United Kingdom? Exploring the blueprint for a revised procedure’ Study of Parliament Group Annual Conference, University of Oxford, January 2022 (Poster presentation).
  • ‘Presidential Accountability – the problems and use of impeachment’, Questions of Accountability Conference, University of Worcester, November 2021 (panel discussion) (with Frank Bowman, Karen Popp, Richard Albert and Joshua Matz).
  • ‘Impeachment reimagined: Drawing upon history to empower the UK House of Commons’, Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, University of Toronto, October 2021.
  • ‘Using oral history to add new perspectives to the Bancoult litigation’, Summer Research Workshop, University of Worcester, July 2021.
  • ‘Re-imagining Impeachment within the United Kingdom’s Constitutional System’ School of Humanities Research Seminar, University of Worcester, September 2020.
  • ‘Women’s Legal History – A Centenary of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919’ (with Professor Rosemary Auchmuty, Professor Sarah Greer, Georgie Cooper and Samuel Evans), University of Worcester, February 2020
  • ‘The Chagos Litigation: Panel Discussion’ (Convener) University of Worcester, November 2019
  • ‘Impeachment within a medieval context’ School of Humanities Research Seminar, University of Worcester, October 2019
  • ‘The United Kingdom’s constitution in flux – can the courts resolve this ‘constitutional crisis’?’ Democracy Day (with HH Toby Hooper QC, Bill Davies, Samuel Evans and Josie Kemeys) University of Worcester, September 2019
  • ‘The Bancoult litigation at the UK Supreme Court’ School of Law Research Seminar, University of Worcester, November 2017
  • ‘Access to Justice as a fundamental legal principle and Tribunal Fees: panel discussion on the UK Supreme Court’s decision in the UNISON case (R (on the application of UNISON) v Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51)’ (with HH Toby Hooper QC and Stephen Hurley), University of Worcester, October 2017
  • ‘The Chagos Archipelago: International Law, Human Rights and the Legacy of Colonialism’ delivered a guest lecture for the Open University’s LLM programme, 30 June 2017
  • ‘Enemies of the People?’ Hay International Festival (30 May 2017) (with HH Toby Hooper QC, Professor Penny Darbyshire, David Shaw and Bill Davies)
  • ‘An analysis of the decision in R (on the application of Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2016] EWHC 2768 (Admin) (The Article 50 Case)’ (with HH Toby Hooper QC), University of Worcester, December 2016
  • ‘The 400th Anniversary of the Dismissal of Sir Edward Coke – a Reappraisal’, School of Law Research Seminar, University of Worcester, November 2016
  • ‘The implications of BREXIT’ Panel Discussion, University of Worcester, November 2016
  • ‘The Future of the United Kingdom – Constitutional Revolution, Devolution and Scope for Confusion?’, Staff Research Seminar, University of Greenwich, November 2014
  • ‘Using Twitter as part of your professional practice’ (with Zoe Swan), University of Greenwich, September 2014
  • ‘Dissenting Judgments – the importance of dissent in English Law’ (with Professor Ian Loveland, Professor Catharine MacMillan, Neal Geach), Fresh Perspectives on the Law, BPP University, June 2013
  • ‘The Chagos Islands – the Ultimate Stretching on the Prerogative’, Fresh Perspectives on the Law, BPP University, October 2012
  • November 2012 (Doughty Street Chambers & Urban Lawyers) – panel discussion on Commercial Law and practice
  • ‘The proposed new Common European Sales Law – a first step towards a compulsory European Contract Law or a positive step in protecting consumers and small businesses?’, BPP University, March 2012  

Media Appearances

  • Interviewed on Free Radio Worcestershire and Herefordshire about the triggering of Article 50
  • Interviewed on Free Radio Worcestershire and Herefordshire about the decision in R (Miller) v Prime Minister 

Responsibilities

Internal Roles

  • Course Leader for the LLB Programme.
  • School of Law’s Research Lead.
  • Module leader for Public Law, Human Rights Law, Commercial Law on the LLB.
  • Module leader for the Dissertation and Legal Research Methods on the LLM.
  • Deputy Chair of the College of Arts, Humanities and Education Research Ethics Panel
  • Member of the university’s Research, Integrity & Governance Committee.
  • Co-convenor (with Dr Lucy Arnold and Professor Neil Fleming) of the School of Humanities Research Seminar Series.
  • Director of Constitutions, Rights and Justice Research Group at the University of Worcester

Previous responsibilities

  • Co-led (with Professor Sarah Greer) the Women’s Legal History Project from 2017-2020 which trained and supported students in carrying out research and publishing it in the form of high-profile blog posts (with the First Hundred Years Project). I have also worked on a Students as Academic Partners project in 2017/2018 which saw collaboration between law and paramedic student and was praised as the ‘first truly interdisciplinary project”.
  • Led the development of the LLM in Legal Practice.
  • LLM Course Leader.
  • First Year Tutor on the LLB.
  • Member of the Research Committee for the Institute of Arts and Humanities at the University of Worcester.

External Roles

Current responsibilities

  • External examiner at the University of Wolverhampton.
  • External examiner at the University of Stirling.
  • Editor of the Routledge Studies in Law, Rights and Justice book series.
  • Co-editor of the book series Routledge Frontiers in Accountability Studies, the other co-editors being Professor Matthew Flinders, Dr Ellen Rock and Professor Thomas Schillemans.
  • Communications Officer for the PSA Parliaments Specialist Group, which won the award for the best specialist group in 2022.

Previous responsibilities

  • External examiner at Birmingham City University.
  • Critical reviewer for the Open University.
  • External consultant work for King’s College London as part of the creation of a new postgraduate master’s programme.
  • External for the validation of degree programmes for Birmingham City University.
  • External for the validation of degree programmes for University of Greenwich.
  • External consultant for the British Library’s National Life Stories: Legal Lives Project and awarded £3,000.
  • Reviewer for Hart Publishing, Oxford University Press, University of Kansas Press, International Relations, Journal of Legislative Studies, Kansas University Press, Edinburgh University Press, and Routledge.