David Scott is a Postdoctoral Researcher in International Law & Governance, working within the Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security and the Scottish Council on Global Affairs.

David completed his PhD on the turn to time in contemporary international legal thought at the Manchester International Law Centre, University of Manchester, and holds an LLB (Hons.) from the University of Glasgow and a Master’s in International Comparative Law (Public International Law specialization) from the University of Helsinki. He has previously held research positions at the University of Zurich, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, and the iCourts Institute at the University of Copenhagen, and has published on European human rights law and the history of contemporary critiques of human rights.

From 2020 to 2022, David worked as a Policy Officer for Citizens Advice Scotland, covering social security policy and its impact on Citizens Advice Bureau clients. He is keen to maintain links between his academic research and the third sector, with his postdoctoral research looking at the potential of the Scottish Human Rights Bill for changing the social security system.

David is also closely involved with moot court competitions, having competed in, coached, and judged the Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and the University of Glasgow’s European Human Rights Project. He has previously taught courses on legal argumentation at the University of Helsinki and the Jessup Ukraine Summer School at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and his 2021 article ‘The Politics of the Moot Court’ (co-authored with Ukri Soirila) makes the case for expanding the use of moot court competitions to teach critical approaches to international law.

David has two sides to his research. On one side, he maintains an interest in the theory and critique of international law, in particular its turn to history over the past two decades. This theoretical approach has been encouraged across his studies, stretching all the way back to his first LLB courses in international law at the University of Glasgow.

On the other, he is interested in the practical uses and limitations of international law and human rights for activists and civil society to effect change. This is a product of both his time working in the third sector and his general frustration with theoretical critiques. These two sides of his research do not always mix well.   

David is also interested in rethinking approaches to university teaching and is a strong advocate for experiential projects such as moot courts and legal research clinics. David is keen to establish projects which connect students to the outside world of legal practice, particularly where this work can support social justice organisations and the charity sector.  

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