Paolo Sandro's Avatar

Paolo Sandro

@paolosandro.bsky.social

Associate Professor of Public Law and Legal Theory @lawatleeds.bsky.social, author of 'The Making of Constitutional Democracy: From Creation to Application of Law' (Hart 2022), Open Access at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4562656#

6,285 Followers  |  1,422 Following  |  5,209 Posts  |  Joined: 20.09.2023
Posts Following

Posts by Paolo Sandro (@paolosandro.bsky.social)

So much of the Ai-in-education pitch is based on the premise that what we want to do is scale up production of mid content. The mid content is only a means to the end of learning to be less mid.

04.03.2026 17:59 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Ai does not replace that. It poisons it because Ai never knows it fails and students using it to pass their classes never experience the value of failure.

04.03.2026 17:57 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

It is low-stakes failure that nurtures learning and growth. What we produce is that space to struggle and grow.

04.03.2026 17:57 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

You cannot really run a university like a business because our most valuable product is failure.

04.03.2026 17:52 β€” πŸ‘ 71    πŸ” 25    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 3
Preview
Exclusive: Iranian girls killed by β€˜double-tap’ strikes on Minab school Eyewitnesses describe second blast which killed survivors as they sheltered in prayer hall

The girls’ school in Iran, where 165 people were killed by an apparent US-Israeli attack, was hit with two strikes, with the second missile killing sheltering survivors, two first responders and the parent of a slain child have told Middle East Eye.

04.03.2026 22:40 β€” πŸ‘ 192    πŸ” 138    πŸ’¬ 14    πŸ“Œ 30
The strongest voice in the West for the universal application of international law: Why Spain is right to stand up for international law in the US-Israeli war inΒ Iran The following is a guest post by Thomas Obel Hansen, who is is the Beatriz Galindo Distinguished Professor with the Department of International Law, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; he has a research affiliation with the Transitional Justice Institute, Ulster University. Smoke following strikes on Iran earlier this week (Photo: BBC) Why Spain is right to stand up for international law in the US/ Israel war on Iran…

The strongest voice in the West for the universal application of international law: Why Spain is right to stand up for international law in the US-Israeli war inΒ Iran

The following is a guest post by Thomas Obel Hansen, who is is the Beatriz Galindo Distinguished Professor with the Department of…

04.03.2026 22:30 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
β€œCiao Kobe” | The Untold Story of Kobe Bryant’s Childhood in Italy | Sports Illustrated
YouTube video by Sports Illustrated β€œCiao Kobe” | The Untold Story of Kobe Bryant’s Childhood in Italy | Sports Illustrated

This is a wonderful movie about Kobe's childhood in Italy. Super recommended

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC6U...

04.03.2026 22:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

Spanish PM SΓ‘nchez responds to Trump:

"Spain is against this disaster... Govts are here to improve people's lives... It is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are unable to fulfill that mission use the smoke of war to hide their failure, and in the process, fill the pockets of a few."

04.03.2026 11:24 β€” πŸ‘ 7454    πŸ” 2553    πŸ’¬ 183    πŸ“Œ 411

He's obviously right. The Tory position on this is nuts. Why on earth would you want to tie yourself to a President who is clearly not capable of rational decision making and has no idea what he's doing?

It's already not a popular conflict + it's only going to get less popular if it drags on.

04.03.2026 18:49 β€” πŸ‘ 420    πŸ” 88    πŸ’¬ 13    πŸ“Œ 2

Amazing public service. The journalist has an MSc in International Human Rights Law from Oxford. It shows.

04.03.2026 21:55 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

And just now, 52 US Senators shirked their constitutional responsibilities.

04.03.2026 22:02 β€” πŸ‘ 194    πŸ” 72    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 0

See also Why Underachievers Dominate Secret Police Organizations: Evidence from Autocratic Argentina

04.03.2026 20:25 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
The authority that Trump has asserted in taking America to war against Iran is, like many of his other power grabs, an expression of the very tyranny the Framers were seeking to prevent.

β€œKings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object,” a young congressman named Abraham Lincoln wrote in 1848. This was β€œunderstood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us.” This quote, incidentally, is immortalized on the House’s website, if any members of Congress are looking for it.

The authority that Trump has asserted in taking America to war against Iran is, like many of his other power grabs, an expression of the very tyranny the Framers were seeking to prevent. β€œKings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object,” a young congressman named Abraham Lincoln wrote in 1848. This was β€œunderstood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us.” This quote, incidentally, is immortalized on the House’s website, if any members of Congress are looking for it.

The design of the Constitution divided warmaking authority between Congress and the executive to prevent a president to take the country to war by themselves for any petty or self-serving reason. You know, like a king would. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

04.03.2026 22:04 β€” πŸ‘ 807    πŸ” 218    πŸ’¬ 14    πŸ“Œ 4

"I have no idea what this could refer to or where it could have come from." - Spanish Foreign Minister Albares, saying what we all feel every day

www.reuters.com/world/europe...

04.03.2026 20:50 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

β€œAt a minimum, the UK is under an obligation to call on the US and Israel to halt their attacks. Here, the UK has fallen far short.”

04.03.2026 22:03 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Is the UK's intervention in Iran war legal? Starmer said Britain would intercept Iranian missiles and allow US to use its bases in defensive action. Does that make the UK complicit in an illegal war?

Excellent explainer with analysis from @janinadill.bsky.social, @oonahathaway.bsky.social, @adhaque.bsky.social, Ben Saul, and Marko Milanovic:
www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/u...

04.03.2026 21:49 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

Good point. I'll also note that people who moved to Manchester are now facing the downsides of the 'Manchester model' boom: dysfunctional GP surgeries due to sheer number of patients, drastic lack of nurseries, schools, green spaces, playgrounds. The likely cause: a significant lack of planning

04.03.2026 21:41 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Front door of the national university of Ireland building in central Dublin. Red brick building, with  blue/green door at the centre inside a white frame

Front door of the national university of Ireland building in central Dublin. Red brick building, with blue/green door at the centre inside a white frame

Glorious day to discuss the rule of recognition and legal validity in Dublin. Thanks to all who attended!

04.03.2026 21:24 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Maybe just maybe the Ukrainian policy of reducing the number of their troops on the front line was the right one and the Russian one of slaughtering their own population the wrong one.
Thankfully the Ukrainians did not listen to the terrible western analytic community on this.

04.03.2026 10:49 β€” πŸ‘ 622    πŸ” 156    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 3

Are they bollocks. The drop in children attending private schools is only 0.6% when adjusted against total student population and the trend has been downwards for a decade. This is just PR for the independent sector.

04.03.2026 10:45 β€” πŸ‘ 35    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

More than dangerous, especially in the context of a system where there are no entrenched constitutional limits to what a parliamentary majority can do, and the survival of the system as democratic hinges, crucially, on the continuous existence of (self-imposed) constitutional conventions

04.03.2026 10:21 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Matt Goodwin & @GoodwinMJ
We need a full strategy for saving our democracy
End mass postal voting
Clamp down on family voting
Ban cousin marriage
Only British citizens can vote
End Commonwealth voting
If we do not save our democracy, we will not save our country

Matt Goodwin & @GoodwinMJ We need a full strategy for saving our democracy End mass postal voting Clamp down on family voting Ban cousin marriage Only British citizens can vote End Commonwealth voting If we do not save our democracy, we will not save our country

Matt Goodwin β€’ @GoodwinMJ
X.com
Reform has called to ban wholesale postal voting and ensure that only British citizens can vote in British elections. A direct policy response to the problems we witnessed in Gorton & Denton.
If you want to save our democracy, vote Reform.

Matt Goodwin β€’ @GoodwinMJ X.com Reform has called to ban wholesale postal voting and ensure that only British citizens can vote in British elections. A direct policy response to the problems we witnessed in Gorton & Denton. If you want to save our democracy, vote Reform.

Matt Goodwin & @GoodwinMJ -3d
Nigel Farage calls for an end to Commonwealth voting & describes Gorton & Denton as the most shocking by-election he has seen
lagree
In some parts of the seat nearly half of all voters were born abroad

Matt Goodwin & @GoodwinMJ -3d Nigel Farage calls for an end to Commonwealth voting & describes Gorton & Denton as the most shocking by-election he has seen lagree In some parts of the seat nearly half of all voters were born abroad

Every single day, multiple times in a row, Goodwin’s been attacking enfranchisement, a core feature of democracies, while claiming disenfrancement will β€˜save our democracy’ by forbidding brown and Black Britons from voting. I think that’s dangerous

04.03.2026 10:03 β€” πŸ‘ 69    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 7

It is something to scroll through Matt Goodwin's twitter page. Since the election, where he was drubbed at the ballot box by the Greens, he's said there was 'illegal family voting and election fraud', denounced postal voting, pushed for ending Commonwealth voting, etc. Obvious Trump-inspired tactics

04.03.2026 09:59 β€” πŸ‘ 112    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 3

Correct - and so was the intentional loosening of the concept of 'self-defence', mainly by the US and Israel, for two decades at least

04.03.2026 10:18 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The legal arguments and architecture for what's happening in Iran now, and were deployed in relation to Gaza, really did not come out of nowhere.

The pre-emption and targetted assassination arguments might appear spectacular, but they were the workaday archiecture of the war on terror.

04.03.2026 09:00 β€” πŸ‘ 45    πŸ” 22    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
The reality behind the Home Office's latest announcement on asylum work and study visas The Home Office has made another announcement ahead of tomorrow’s statement of changes.

I have written up some context and analysis of the latest Home Office nonsense

open.substack.com/pub/thoughts...

04.03.2026 09:08 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 18    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 7

Viva Espana

04.03.2026 09:10 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

The international boycott of ChatGPT has absolutely exploded.

2.5M people have already joined, and this is just the beginning.

Go to quitgpt.org.
Cancel your subscription, delete your account.
And tell at least one person why.

My op-ed: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

04.03.2026 09:03 β€” πŸ‘ 769    πŸ” 447    πŸ’¬ 39    πŸ“Œ 43

bloody HELL

04.03.2026 09:12 β€” πŸ‘ 254    πŸ” 64    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
β€˜Treat us fairly’: skilled workers face having their dream of settling in UK snatched away As government mulls doubling requirement to 10 years, the uncertainty is putting many who came to Britain to work under strain

An economically, politically and morally bankrupt strategy.

Bad for individuals, bad for families, bad for businesses, bad for public services, bad for integration and cohesion.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

04.03.2026 08:46 β€” πŸ‘ 496    πŸ” 207    πŸ’¬ 19    πŸ“Œ 13