Dr Conor Casey
Senior Fellow, Judicial Power Project
Dr Conor Casey is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey School of Law. He is an expert in administrative law, constitutional law, and human rights law.
Related Publications
Against cheap rhetoric
Download Publication Online Reader This paper dismantles the claim made repeatedly by senior parliamentarians and others from across the political divide that the United Kingdom cannot withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) because this would put it in the same ‘camp’ as Russia and Belarus – two authoritarian countries guilty of gross violations of human rights over many years. Policy Exchange demonstrates that it is absurd to compare Belarus and […]
Providing for the future of Northern Ireland’s past
Download Publication Online Reader On 3 September, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, provided Parliament and the public with the fullest outline of the Labour government’s proposals to address the legacy of the Troubles since the Government took office last year. This research note draws attention to several troubling aspects of the Secretary of State’s statements, which seem likely soon to find their […]
The ECHR and the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement
Download Publication Online Reader Parliamentarians and other commentators routinely assert that UK withdrawal from the ECHR would somehow breach – or undermine – the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. This report shows that the Belfast Agreement does not require either the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland to remain a party to the ECHR. Each state has the same right under Article 58 of the ECHR to withdraw from the […]
Revisiting the British Origins of the European Convention on Human Rights
Download Publication Online Reader This new paper from Policy Exchange challenges the view that the European Convention on Human Rights is a “British legacy” – and that to leave the Convention would be to a “betrayal” of Sir Winston Churchill. Through an exhaustive examination of the historical record, the report – written by legal academics Dr Conor Casey and Dr Yuan Yi Zhu – refutes that claim and demonstrates that […]
Conflicts of Interest and the Law Officers’ Convention
Download Publication Online Reader A new paper with backing from three top lawyers concludes that the Attorney General – Rt Hon Lord (Richard) Hermer KC – should not be able to rely on legal confidentiality rules to escape questions about whether he had a conflict of interest over Gerry Adams’s compensation decisions. The paper makes clear that the question of whether a Law Officer has encountered a conflict […]
From the Rule of Law to the Rule of Lawyers?
Download Publication Online Reader A new report published by Policy Exchange today, ‘From the Rule of Law to the Rule of Lawyers? The Problem with the Attorney General’s New Legal Risk Guidelines’ critiques the new guidance to Government lawyers recently published by the Attorney General. The report argues the guidelines will likely give government lawyers, and especially the Attorney General himself, more power and influence over policymaking, at the […]
The Impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 in Twenty-Five Cases
Download Publication Online Reader This new paper for Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project shows how the Human Rights Act has had a major, negative impact on how the UK is governed – and on the way in which many important questions about public policy have been resolved. The paper contributes to the study of the impact of the Human Rights Act by picking out, from each year of the Act’s […]
Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Migration) Bill
Download Publication Online Reader A new research note published by Policy Exchange today recommends that the House of Commons support the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Migration) Bill when it receives its second reading tomorrow (Tuesday 12 December). The Bill is described as an “intelligent and broadly effective response to the Supreme Court’s recent Rwanda judgment”. The Bill does not reject that judgment, or disrespect the Supreme Court […]
Government Lawyers, the Civil Service Code, and the Rule of Law
Download Publication Online Reader A new research note published by Policy Exchange today argues that there is no constitutional or legal basis for any Government lawyer, even the Attorney General, to refuse to approve the introduction of legislation to Parliament seeking to change domestic law – even if the legislation risks creating tension with the UK’s international law obligations. Related Publications
Between Law and Politics
Download Publication Online Reader This report considers the constitutional role of the Law Officers and defends the institutional status quo. The current configuration of the Attorney General (and Solicitor General), as a law officer with legal and political dimensions, works well. Moving to an alternative (apolitical, technocratic) model of Attorney General would risk excessive legalisation of policy and would reduce political accountability. Related Publications