Dr Chris Monaghan

Teaching & Research

Teaching

Chris is the module leader for Public Law, Human Rights, Commercial Law and the Law Project on the LLB programme. He is the module leader for the Dissertation and Legal Research Methods modules on the LLM (Professional Practice).

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

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

He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (since 2012) and was nominated for the University of Worcester’s Students' Union Students’ Choice Award – Outstanding Lecturer Award in 2017 and 2020, and was shortlisted for the Students' Union Students’ Choice Award – Exceptional Personal Academic Tutor in 2020.

Research

Chris’ research interests are in the field of Constitutional Law, the Chagos litigation, accountability and 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 accountability and the use of impeachment as an accountability mechanism. 

He is currently co-organising an international exhibition on accountability (with Professor Matthew Flinders) ‘Questions of Accountability: Politics, Prerogative and Power’ that will be taking place between 1-5  November 2021.

Keynote speakers include Lord Blunkett (the former Home Secretary), Baroness Manningham-Buller (former Director General of MI5), Professor Bruce Ackerman (University of Yale), Baroness Hale (former President of the Supreme Court) as well as individuals involved in prosecuting both impeachment trials of President Donald Trump and advising President Bill Clinton as Associate White House Counsel. The exhibition is free to attend and details on how to register and the call for papers can be found on the website. You can book a place by emailing QofA2021@worc.ac.uk. The exhibition’s website can be found on the International Exhibition page within Humanities Research.

Chris holds a PhD from King’s College London. 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. As part of the thesis, he set out a detailed model for the structure, working, and effect of impeachment. He was supervised by Professor Robert Blackburn QC, Professor Catharine MacMillan and Professor Vernon Bogdanor. As part of his research Chris interviewed leading public figures including Lord Owen, Lord Phillips, Sir Ross Cranston and Chris Bryant MP.

Chris recently presented on his research at Society of Legal Scholar’s annual conference (University of Exeter), the Global Summit (University of Texas) and at the University of Worcester.

Bancoult/Chagos Litigation

Chris has been researching and writing on the Bancoult/Chagos litigation since 2011.

Chris has recently contributed a chapter on the United Kingdom’s assertion of sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to T Burri and J Trinidad (eds), The International Court of Justice and Decolonization: New Directions from the Chagos Advisory Opinion (Cambridge University Press, 2021).  Chris has also published an article in Judicial Review (2021) on the Court of Appeal’s decision in R (on the application of Hoareau). He is currently undertaking an oral history of the Bancoult (No.2) litigation and is interviewing those involved with the litigation, which is being funded by the School of Humanities Research Investment Fund.

He convened a panel discussion on the Chagos Litigation in November 2019, which featured Dr Sue Farran, Dr Jamie Trinidad and Mr David Snoxell (the former UK High Commissioner to Mauritius).

Chris has co-edited (with Dr Stephen Allen) a collection of essays, Fifty Years of the British Indian Ocean Territory: Legal Perspectives (Springer, 2018), which includes contributions from leading scholars, a former senior diplomat and legal practitioners. Chris contributed an essay to this collection that explored the constitutional implications of the litigation before the domestic courts and included a proposed bill to reform the use of the prerogative power to enact colonial legislation.

Chris has published on various aspects of the Chagossians’ legal challenges in Judicial Review and European Human Rights Law Review and contributed a chapter to Dissenting Judgments in the Law (Wildy, Simmonds and Hill, 2012). In 2015, Chris convened a conference, The Chagos Litigation: A Socio-Legal Dialogue, at the University of Greenwich, which brought together legal academics from across the globe, former civil servants and members of the diplomatic service. Professor Philippe Sands QC delivered the keynote address. 

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 Higher Education Academy
• Member of the Association of Law Teachers
• Member of the Legal Education Research Network
• Member of the Society of Legal Scholars
• Member of the Royal Historical Society
• Member of the Selden Society

Publications

• Monaghan, C. Public Law (Routledge, to be published in November 2021)
• Monaghan, C. ‘Challenging the United Kingdom’s decision not to support the resettlement of the Chagos Islands: R (on the application of Hoareau and Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2020] EWCA Civ 1010’ (2021) (1) Judicial Review (page numbering tbc)
• Monaghan, C. ‘Reflections on the United Kingdom’s assertion of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago in the wake of the Chagos Advisory Opinion’ in T Burri and J Trinidad (eds), The International Court of Justice and Decolonization: New Directions from the Chagos Advisory Opinion (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
• Monaghan, C. ‘The Trial of Warren Hastings: Classical Oratory and Reception in Eighteenth‐Century England. By Chiara Rolli.  London: Bloomsbury Academic.  2019.’ (2020) 43(4) Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies 544
• Monaghan, C. ‘The prorogation litigation: "which was as if the Commissioners had walked into Parliament with a blank piece of paper"’ [2019] 24(2) Coventry Law Journal 7-24
• Monaghan, C.  ‘An empirical review of the use of the Fraud Act 2006 and other criminal offences within the school application system’ in Monaghan C and Monaghan N (eds.) Financial Crime and Corporate Misconduct: A Critical Evaluation of Fraud Legislation (Routledge: 2018) 
• Monaghan, C.   ‘A critical commentary on the Fraud Act 2006’ in Monaghan C and Monaghan N (eds.) Financial Crime and Corporate Misconduct: A Critical Evaluation of Fraud Legislation (Routledge: 2018)
• Monaghan, C. ‘An imperfect legacy: the significance of the Bancoult litigation on the development of domestic constitutional jurisprudence’ in Allen, S and Monaghan, C (eds.) The British Indian Ocean Territory 50 Years On (Springer: 2018)
• Monaghan C. ‘Michael Gordon, Parliamentary Sovereignty in the UK Constitution: Process, Politics and Democracy’ (2018) 16(2) Political Studies Review 83
• Monaghan C. ‘Andrew Blick, The Codes of the Constitution’  (2018) 16(2) Political Studies Review 84
• Monaghan C. ‘David Chan Smith. Sir Edward Coke and the Reformation of the Laws: Religion, Politics and Jurisprudence, 1578-1616’ (2016) 36(1) Legal Studies 163
• Monaghan C, ‘School Application Forms and the Criminal Law’ [2015] 4 Criminal Law Review 270-277
• Monaghan C, ‘Hounga v. Allen at the Supreme Court: The defence of illegality in race discrimination cases and the competing public interest in preventing the exploitation of illegal immigrants’ [2015] 15 (3) International Journal of Discrimination and the Law 178-188
• Monaghan C, Blueprints Constitutional and Administrative Law (Pearson: 2015)
• Monaghan C, Beginning Business Law (Routledge: 2015)
• Monaghan, C. ‘Joseph, R. The War Prerogative: History, Reform, and Constitutional Design’ [2015] (13) (2) Political Studies Review 296-297
• Monaghan C, ‘The Marine Protected Area and WikiLeaks: R (Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs (No. 3) [2014] EWCA Civ 708’ [2014] (19) 3 Judicial Review 151-159
• Monaghan C, ‘Royal remains, the Burial Act 1857 and is there a common law duty to consult’  [2014] 19(1) Coventry Law Journal 51-55
• Monaghan C, ‘The aggrieved blogger and the local authority chief executive: can the use of the term slush fund be anything but defamatory’ [2014] 19(1) Coventry Law Journal 62-66
• Monaghan, C. ‘Bamforth, N & Leyland, P. Accountability in the Contemporary Constitution’ [2014] Common Law World Review 272-277
• Monaghan, C ‘Horne A, Drewry G & Oliver D (eds.) Parliament and the Law’ [2014] 34(2) Legal Studies 361-369
• Monaghan C, ‘Judicial Discretion, Parliament and Executive Accountability in the Twenty-first Century [2013] 18(4) Judicial Review 388-402
• Monaghan C, ‘The Chagossians go to Strasbourg’ [2013] (3) European Human Rights Law Review 314-325
• Monaghan C and Monaghan, N. Beginning Contract Law (Routledge: 2013)
• Monaghan C, ‘The Beecroft Report, the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, the employee share scheme and beyond: are recent proposals a controversial panacea or an erosion of employees' rights?’ [2013] The Company Lawyer 305-312
• Monaghan C, ‘Where to bury Richard III? Judicial review and the ‘ownership’ of a king’s remains’ [2013] 18(2) Coventry Law Journal 33-42
• Monaghan, C. ‘Lord Mance’s dissent in R (Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs (No2) [2008] UKHL 61’ in Monaghan, C. & Geach, N (eds.) Dissenting Judgments in the Law: with a foreword by Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead (Wildy, Simmonds and Hill: 2012) 239-262
• Monaghan, C. ‘Lord Hobhouse’s dissent in R v Hinks [2000] UKHL 53’ in Monaghan, C. & Geach, N (eds.) Dissenting Judgments in the Law: with a foreword by Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead (Wildy, Simmonds and Hill: 2012) 289-316
• Monaghan, C. ‘Lord Bingham’s dissent in Golden Straight Corpn v Nippon Yusen Kubishika Kaisha (The Golden Victory) [2007] UKHL 12’ in Monaghan, C. & Geach, N (eds.) Dissenting Judgments in the Law: with a foreword by Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead (Wildy, Simmonds and Hill: 2012) 105-124
• Monaghan C, ‘Illegal contracts and discrimination’ [2012] 12 (6) International Journal of Discrimination and the Law 109-116
• Monaghan C, ‘Justifying direct age discrimination: when will a mandatory retirement age not amount to direct age discrimination? Seldon v Clarkson Wright and Jakes [2012] UKSC 16’ [2012] (6) Journal of Business Law 479 - 485
• Monaghan C, ‘Voluntary Harmonisation of European Sales Law? The Common European Sales Law and the effect it will have on cross-border transactions’ [2012] (33) The Company Lawyer 111-114
• Monaghan C, ‘The recovery of losses for a lawful withdrawal of a vessel under a time charterparty: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A v E.N.E. Kos 1 Limited[2012] UKSC 17’ [2012] BPP University Research Paper 1-12
• Monaghan C, ‘Letters of credit and disputes about jurisdiction and choice of law: Petrologic Capital SA v Banque de Genève & another [2012] EWHC 454 (Comm)’ [2012] BPP University Research Paper 1-8
• Monaghan C, ‘In Defence of Intrinsic Human Rights: Edmund Burke’s controversial prosecution of Warren Hastings, Governor-General of Bengal’ [2011] (2) Law, Crime and History 58-107
• Monaghan C, 'Status of the seller in the age of eBay' [2011] (20) Information & Communications Technology Law 103-114
• Monaghan, C. ‘Hayton and Mitchell: Commentary and Cases on the Law of Trusts and Equitable Remedies’ [2011] 25(4) Trust Law International231-233
• Monaghan C, ‘Fraud and the Juror’ [2011] Dictum 32
• Monaghan C, 'To prosecute or not prosecute: A reconsideration of the over zealous prosecution of parents under the Fraud Act 2006', [2010] (74) Journal of Criminal Law, 259 - 278
• Monaghan C, ‘When does imitation become passing off?’ [2010] (31) The Company Lawyer 188
• Monaghan C, ‘Fraudsters? Putting parents in the dock’ [2010] Criminal Law and Justice Weekly
• Monaghan C and Haralambous N, ‘Twelve empty seats: Reflections on judge only trials after jury tampering’ [2010] (1) Criminal Bar Quarterly 10
• Monaghan C, ‘Fraudulent Education’ [2009] (173) Criminal Law and Justice Weekly 812
• Monaghan C, ‘Wide of the mark’ [2009] (153) Solicitors Journal 12
• Monaghan C, ‘Consumer rights and wrongs’ [2009] (159) New Law Journal 1377

Conference Papers 

• ‘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      

• ‘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  

Responsibilities

Internal Roles

Chris is the Course Leader for the LLM (Professional Practice) and Deputy Course Leader for the LLB Programme, the First Year Tutor and the School of Law’s Research Lead. He is currently leading the development of the new LLM in Legal Practice course.

He is the module leader for Public Law, Human Rights Law, Commercial Law and the Law Project (Dissertation) on the LLB. He is the module leader for the Dissertation and Legal Research Methods on the LLM.

Chris is Deputy Chair of the College of Arts, Humanities and Education Research Ethics Panel and a member of the university’s Research, Integrity & Governance Committee He is also the convenor of the School of Law’s Research Seminar Series and the Public Lecture Series.

Previous responsibilities

Chris co-led the Women’s Legal History project (2016-2020) with Professor Sarah Greer which enables law students to proactively engage with the significance of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919.

He has been a member of the Research Committee for the School of Humanities.

External Roles

Chris is an external examiner at the University of Wolverhampton. He has been an external examiner at Birmingham City University and a critical reviewer for the Open University. He has undertaken external consultancy work for King’s College London as part of the creation of a new master’s programme. Chris has also validated degrees for Birmingham City University and the University of Greenwich.

He is the co-editor of the series Routledge Frontiers in Accountability Studies the other co-editors being Professor Matthew Flinders, Dr Ellen Rock and Professor Thomas Schillemans.

Chris was an external consultant for the British Library’s National Life Stories: Legal Lives project and produced an in-dept scoping study. Further details of the project can be found here.

Chris has been a reviewer for Hart Publishing, Oxford University Press and Routledge.