Erin Ferguson

This sounds fantastic - does ‘any career stage’ include PGRs? I’m supervising two PhD students researching economic aspects of the UK constitution.

Congratulations! 🎉

At home with refugees - The Bristol Cable A veteran journalist reflects on the hidden traumas he has witnessed over a quarter of a century of hosting refugees in his Bristol home

…the uk needs a lot more high quality principled journalism like this offering from mike jempson in the bristol cable…

thebristolcable.org/2025/10/at-h...

Yesterday's piece from @jamellebouie.net is the only high-profile piece I've seen that specifically discusses the watchlist, its effect on academics, and its effect on public attitudes toward academia as a whole. (gift link)

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/o...

This was Conor Gearty only a week or so ago at @prospectmagazine.co.uk on ECHR withdrawal and the Palestine Action ban.

Very interesting account of using FOI in migration research. Highlights how FOI isn’t simply a neutral tool to access information, but instead sheds light in the “politics of visibility.”

Aberdeen beach. Windmills in the North Sea

Aberdeen looking fine on my lunchtime run.

Free Speech at Stake — Is it time for stronger protection against SLAPPs in Scotland? Why do we need a law preventing the use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and how do other countries approach this legislation?

#SLAPPs: Why do we need a law preventing the use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation?

Read this @lawscot.bsky.social post from our colleagues @uniofaberdeen.bsky.social's Anti-SLAPP Research Hub to find out.

www.lawscot.org.uk/members/jour... @erinferguson.bsky.social

Thanks for sharing!

The mistake was proscribing Palestine Action. Having done that, they’ve backed themselves into a corner which can only result in their looking oppressive and authoritarian.

Good #ICJ ruling. In simple English, it translates to "states have a legal obligation to mitigate & adapt. Rich, historical emitters have greater obligations. States have an obligation to cooperate climate action. Equity matters w.r.t. achieving Paris Agreement goal."
www.icj-cij.org/sites/defaul...

I'm lucky to have an AHRC scholarship on a proposal I developed. It was highly competitive and went through about 7 or 8 drafts before submission. And led to many collaborations with colleagues in different unis. I've loved my PhD experience partly thanks to the scholarship. This is terrible.

Excellent analysis of how contracting out shifts responsibility from the state to individuals, limiting state accountability and increasing burdens on (often vulnerable) individuals.

Call for papers for a major two-day conference on Legal Methodologies exploring the nature of the discipline, with really important keynote speakers. Any abstracts, if you are interested in participating, to be emailed to law.research@ncl.ac.uk by 7 July.

Busy picket lines across the university today. @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social striking to save jobs and #StopTheCuts

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood on human rights reform in the UK and in Europe The UK’s Justice Secretary has promised domestic legislation and called for wider ECHR reform because, she says, the application of human rights is now ‘out of step with common sense’. In doing so,…

New post: Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood on human rights reform in the UK and in Europe publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/06/18/j...

University of Aberdeen's plans to cut modern language degrees were 'rushed' - review The University of Aberdeen says it accepts there were

'A review into how the situation has been handled, commissioned by the university, found decision-making was unstructured and dominated by finances. The university said it accepted there had been "missteps".' Not the only university to harry in haste and repent at leisure.

'Help, pioneers needed' — Inside legal aid and immigration crisis in the north-east of Scotland Tomás Pizarro-Escuti from the Grampian Regional Equality Council calls on migration law firms and solicitors to bring crucial services and support to Aberdeen’s international community.

An excellent analysis from @tomp-e.bsky.social, drawing on his insights as a GREC caseworker to explain the impacts of the shortage of immigration lawyers on access to justice in the North East.

www.lawscot.org.uk/members/jour...

Absolutely. Colleague and I have just pushed to be allowed to (re)introduce a research essay into the curriculum. I had to stress my pedagogical justifications ‘cause between workload and AI, there’s a lot of pressure to go back to the old days.

Christopher Hood (1947-2025) - LSE Government Blog We were extremely saddened to learn about death of our former colleague Christopher Hood in early January.

A celebration of Christopher Hood’s legacy: blogs.lse.ac.uk/government/2...

Quote: “The Administrative Procedure Act and administrative law are not well positioned to deal with a systemic assault by the President on the rule of law.”

Can the American administrative state survive another presidency driven by executive absolutism?

BLAKE EMERSON (@blakeprof.bsky.social) on what U.S. law is (not) prepared for:

verfassungsblog.de/undoing-the-...

Looks fantastic- congratulations!

A Note on the UK Supreme Court's Interpretation of s7 of the Equality Act I had initially not intended to write about For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers—the recent decision in which the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom concluded that references to gendered terms lik...

I've written a brief note on the Supreme Court's interpretation of s7 of the Equality Act in For Women Scotland. I'd welcome any comments.

open.substack.com/pub/robmulli...

Congratulations!🎉

Congratulations! 🎉

Two Britons to challenge UK’s ‘weak’ response to climate crisis in Strasbourg court Doug Paulley and Kevin Jordan say their lives being ruined, and lack of effective strategy infringes their human rights

Two men are challenging the UK government's "weak" response to #ClimateChange at the European Court of #HumanRights👇

🔗 www.theguardian.com/environment/... via @theguardian.com

One has multiple disabilities, the other has already lost his seaside home.

#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms

Academic workloads are often used to justify automation. But our research into staff experience in large group teaching found that what kept people going was precisely the connection with students. Reducing the 'load' of this, while keeping more disconnected work, makes the problem worse.

Nationalisation is no spectre haunting British manufacturing [FREE TO READ] Public ownership could be the saviour of the UK’s remaining steel industry

The government is scrabbling towards nationalising Britain’s last basic steelworks at Scunthorpe. I’ve written for the Financial Times on what Scunthorpe tells us about the failures of private industry and why history tells us public ownership should be back on the table. on.ft.com/4ltcKgC

HHS confirms NU’s funding freeze due to antisemitism After reports first surfaced Tuesday that the Trump administration had frozen $790 million in federal funding from Northwestern, even the University’s top officials said they’d been left in the dark o...

LET THIS BE A LESSON TO ALL OF YOU.

As I've been saying (most recently to the northwestern student behavior) you fight authoritarianism by collectively imposing costs on every dictator move. File all the lawsuits, give ZERO INCHES dailynorthwestern.com/2025/04/10/c...