Dr Michael Foran

Lecturer in Public Law (Law)

Biography

Dr Michael Foran joined the law school in 2022, having previously taught at the University of Strathclyde from 2020-22. He completed his PhD in Constitutional Theory at the University of Cambridge and holds degrees from the London School of Economics (MSc in Law and Anthropology) and Trinity College Dublin (LLB).

He specialises in constitutional law with a particular focus on the rule of law, legal equality, and the common law constitutional tradition.

In 2022 he was a visiting researcher at the Common Good Project, University of Oxford.

Research interests

Public Law: The Rule of Law, Equality Before the Law, Common Law Theory, Common Good Constitutionalism, Judicial Review

Jurisprudence: Legal and Political Theory, Natural Law Theory, Fundamental Rights, Natural Justice

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019

Number of items: 56.

2024

Foran, M. (2024) Discrimination and manifestation of belief: Higgs v Farmer's School [2023] EAT 89. Industrial Law Journal, 53(2), pp. 285-304. (doi: 10.1093/indlaw/dwae009)

Foran, M. , Macdonald, C., Aberdein, G. and Maciver, A. (2024) Wood-burners, Labour leads, and Hate Crimes Q&A... with Michael Foran. [Audio]

Foran, M. (2024) What does the Scottish Hate Crime and Public Order Act really say? [Website]

Foran, M. (2024) The 'conversion therapy' ban still makes for bad law. [Website]

Foran, M. (2024) Defining sex in law. Law Quarterly Review, (Accepted for Publication)

Foran, M. (2024) Common law and the common good. In: The Promise of Legality: Critical Reflections Upon the Work of T.R.S. Allan. Hart Publishing. (In Press)

Foran, M. (2024) Can Scottish parents be jailed for denying their child's gender identity? [Website]

Foran, M. (2024) The Right to be Gender Critical. [Website]

2023

Foran, M. (2023) [Interview with Julie Bindle] Why Sturgeons trans bill threatens women. [Audio]

Foran, M. (2023) Equality Before the Law: Equal Dignity, Wrongful Discrimination, and the Rule of Law. Series: Hart studies in constitutional theory. Hart Publishing. ISBN 9781509964949 (In Press)

Foran, M. (2023) Section 35 and The Separation of Powers: On the role of unwritten constitutional principles in interpreting the Scotland Act. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) Scotland's gender ruling is a victory for feminists. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) Trans kids and schools. [Audio]

Foran, M. and Moshikaro, K. (2023) The virtues and vices of scholarly activism. Constitutional Court Review, 13(1), pp. 17-32. (doi: 10.2989/CCR.2023.0003)

Foran, M. (2023) Scottish feminists lose appeal on definition of ‘woman’. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) Justice, Peace, and the Rule of Law. [Website]

Cunningham, N. and Foran, M. (2023) When the truth offends. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) Legality without liberalism: The rule of law and the environmental emergency. Edinburgh Law Review, 27(3), pp. 345-363. (doi: 10.3366/elr.2023.0851)

Foran, M. (2023) A Note on Legal Definitions: When should law define “woman”? [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) A bill must be a scalpel: the new “Conversion Therapy Bill” must be precise and accurate. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) On protecting characteristics: the facts about gender, schools and law. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) Why Mermaids lost: there is no right to avoid criticism. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) Citizenship as civic relationship: U.M. v Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade [2022] IESC 25. Irish Supreme Court Review, 5,

Foran, M. (2023) The law as it is. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) Equality Act and Sex: Important Scots Cases on the Horizon. [Website]

Foran, M. P. and Casey, C. (2023) Constitutionalism and the Common Good: on the role of unwritten principles. In: St-Hilaire, Maxime, Alford, Ryan and Kinsinger, Kristopher (eds.) Supreme Court Law Review, 2nd Series. LexisNexis, pp. 169-196. ISBN 9780433523772 (doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4134632)

Foran, M. (2023) Comedy club cancellation of Joanna Cherry event is likely unlawful discrimination. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) Rights, common good, and the separation of powers. Modern Law Review, 86(3), pp. 599-628. (doi: 10.1111/1468-2230.12769)

Foran, M. (2023) A great forgetting: common law, natural law, and The Human Rights Act. In: Johnson, Richard and Zhu, Yuan Yi (eds.) Sceptical Perspectives on the Changing Constitution of the United Kingdom. Hart Publishing: London, pp. 77-105. ISBN 9781509963706

Foran, M. (2023) Section 35 showdown reveals Scottish government’s ‘peculiar’ arguments. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) Ministers must grasp the nettle on equality law. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) Getting the Equality Act Right. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) Why Scotland's gender reform bill affects the whole UK. [Website]

Foran, M. (2023) The Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill: The Case for a Section 35 Order. [Research Reports or Papers]

Foran, M. (2023) Equal dignity and the common good. Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, 46(3), pp. 1009-1028.

2022

Foran, M. (2022) Why the UK Government could still block Scotland's gender reform. [Website]

Foran, M. (2022) Self-ID law may lead to clash with the Equality Act. Times,

Foran, M. (2022) Sex, Gender, and the Scotland Act. [Website]

Foran, M. (2022) Prime Ministers, Party Members, and the Efficient Secret. [Website]

Foran, M. (2022) The constitutional foundations of reasonableness review: artificial reason and wrongful discrimination. Edinburgh Law Review, 26(3), pp. 295-320. (doi: 10.3366/elr.2022.0781)

Foran, M. (2022) Interpretation after the Human Rights Act? The Principle of Legality and The Rule of Law. [Website]

Foran, M. (2022) Reorienting Constitutional Theory. [Website]

Foran, M. (2022) For Whom the Bell Tolls: Prime-ministerial Resignation and the Political Constitution. [Website]

Foran, M. P. (2022) Grounding unlawful discrimination. Legal Theory, 28(1), pp. 3-34. (doi: 10.1017/S1352325221000264)

Foran, M. (2022) John Laws, The Constitutional Balance. Edinburgh Law Review, 26(1), pp. 144-147. (doi: 10.3366/elr.2022.0754)[Book Review]

Foran, M. (2022) The cornerstone of our law: equality, consistency and judicial review. Cambridge Law Journal, 81(2), pp. 249-272. (doi: 10.1017/s000819732200023x)

2021

Foran, M. (2021) Parliamentary sovereignty and the politics of law-making. [Website]

Foran, M. (2021) Rights and the common good. [Website]

Foran, M. (2021) Shamima Begum, the separation of powers, and the common good. [Website]

Foran, M. (2021) The emergency paradox: constitutional interpretation in times of crisis. Edinburgh Law Review, 25(1), pp. 118-124. (doi: 10.3366/elr.2021.0679)

2020

Foran, M. (2020) Constitutional Legitimacy, Artificial Reason, and the Common Law. [Website]

Foran, M. (2020) Against Consistency as a Ground of Review. [Website]

Foran, M. (2020) Equality before the law: a substantive constitutional principle. Public Law, 2, pp. 287-306.

2019

Foran, M. (2019) Discrimination as an individual wrong. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 39(4), pp. 901-929. (doi: 10.1093/ojls/gqz026)

Foran, M. (2019) Foundations of Indirect Discrimination Law. Edited by Hugh Collins and Tarunabh Khaitan. [Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2018. x + 292 pp. Hardback £65.00. ISBN 978-15-09912-54-4.]. Cambridge Law Journal, 78(1), pp. 231-234. (doi: 10.1017/S0008197318000934)[Book Review]

Foran, M. (2019) The rule of good law: form, substance, and fundamental rights. Cambridge Law Journal, 78(3), pp. 570-595. (doi: 10.1017/S0008197319000618)

This list was generated on Thu Jun 12 06:35:12 2025 BST.