I am a lecturer in law at the University of Leicester.  I received my PhD in law from Lancaster University and have previously worked at Utrecht University. 

My research is in general jurisprudence, intergenerational justice, and human dignity. 

My current research connects intergenerational justice and general jurisprudence asking how law accommodates future generations. 

My work on human dignity is concerned with how legality can be said to be necessary for the realisation of human dignity.  My monograph Human Dignity and Law: Legal and Philosophical Investigations is published by Routledge.

My current focus is on jurisprudence and future generations.  My concern is how legality can form part of intergenerational justice, especially how law can contribute to understanding the 'demandingness' of intergenerational justice.  Conversely, I am interested in how intergenerational justice provokes question about law's own survival, both as system and concept.  

I have written extensively on the topic of human dignity and law including a monograph and several articles in leading journals. My particular concern is with the ‘foundational’ claims associated with human dignity.

Complete Publications

Books

- Gülriz Uygur and Stephen Riley (eds) Law and Philosophy in Crisis Times (Philosophical Society of Turkey, 2023).

- Human Dignity and Law: Legal and Philosophical Investigations, London: Routledge (2017).

- Legal Philosophy, London: Pearson (2013).

Edited Special Issues

- ‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ 75th Anniversary: Making (UDHR) Human Rights Real in the UK’. Special Issue edited with Ed Bates for European Human Rights Law Review 2024 (1).

- ‘The Different Lives of a Pandemic’.  Special Issue edited with Katharina Bauer and Antonio Pele for Law, Culture and the Humanities (2021).

- ‘Human Dignity: Alternative Genealogies’. Special Issue edited with Antonio Pele for Studies in Law, Politics and, Politics (2021).

Journal Articles

- 'Law, Practical Reason, and Future Generations'. Jus Cogens (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42439-024-00090-7

- Antonio Pele, Stephen Riley & Katharina Bauer (2023) Medicine, Dissent and the “Chloroquinization” of Truth: Brazil and Pandemic, International Critical Thought, 13:4, 586-603, DOI: 10.1080/21598282.2023.2280836 

- ‘Justice or Dignity? Reconciling Foundational Concepts in Practical Philosophy’ Studies in Law, Politics and Society (2022).

- (With Antonio Pele) ‘For a Right to Health Beyond Biopolitics: The Politics of Pandemic and the 'Politics of Life'’ Law, Culture and the Humanities February 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/1743872120978201 (2021).

- ‘What Is Orientation in Dignitarian Thinking? Self, Other, Time and Space’ Law, Culture and the Humanities. December 2020. doi:10.1177/1743872120982287 (2020).

- ‘Why is Law Necessary for Human Dignity?’ Jurisprudence 11.2 (2020): 248-258.

- ‘Human Dignity as a Sui Generis Principle’ Ratio Juris 32.4 (2019): 439-454.

- ‘Architectures of Intergenerational Justice: Human Dignity, International Law, and Duties to Future Generations’ 15(2) Journal of Human Rights (2016) 272-290.

- ‘Human Dignity and the Rule of Law’ 11(2) Utrecht Law Review (2015) 91-105.

- ‘The Coherence of Human Rights’ Foundations’ 4 The Age of Human Rights (2015) 138-157.

- ‘The Function of Dignity’ 5(2) Amsterdam Law Forum (2013) 90-106.

- ‘Hegel and the Normative Foundations of Criminal Justice’ 6(1) In-Spire Journal of Law, Politics and Societies (2011) 1-15.

- ‘Human Dignity: Comparative and Conceptual Debates’ 6(2) International Journal of Law in Context (2010) 117-138.

- ‘Dignity as the Absence of the Bestial: A Genealogy’ 14(2) Journal for Cultural Research (2010) 143-159.

- ‘Observing the Breach: Dignity and the Limits of Political Theology’ 19(2) Law and Critique (2008) 115-138.

- (With Peter Charlish) ‘Should Oscar Run?’ 18(4) Fordham Intellectual Property, Media, and Entertainment Law Review (2008) 101-129.

- ‘Contemporary Dialogues with Fascist Law and Jurisprudence: Review Essay’ 2(4) International Journal of Law in Context (2007) 409-418.

Encyclopedia Entry

- (With Gerhard Bos) ‘Human Dignity’ in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: <http://www.iep.utm.edu/hum-dign/>.

Book Chapters

- 'Losing our Concept of Law' in Gülriz Uygur and Stephen Riley (eds) Law and Philosophy in Crisis Times (Philosophical Society of Turkey, 2023).

- ‘Subsidiarity and Human Dignity’ in Bedford, Dupre and Kapotas (eds) Human Dignity and Democracy in Europe (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022).

- ‘The Philosophy of International Law’, in Deplano and Tsagourias (eds) Research Methods in International Law: A Handbook (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020).

- ‘Human Rights: Desiderata of a Theory of Change’, in Maciej Chmieliński, Michał Rupniewski (eds) The Philosophy of Legal Change (Routledge 2019).

- (With Li Chenyang) ‘The Concept of Politics’, in China and West: Dialogues on Human Dignity, (ed. Duwell), Routledge [forthcoming].

- ‘International Human Rights and Duties to Future Generations: The Role of an International Constitution’, in Human Rights and Sustainability: Moral Responsibilities for the Future, (ed. Duwell and Bos), (Routledge, 2016).

- ‘The Public-Private Divide: Which Side is Criminal Justice On?’, in Values in Criminology (Polity Press, 2013).

- ‘Not Being Victims Ever Again: Victimhood and Ideology’, in The Warrior’s Dishonour: Brutality and Morality in Modern Warfare, (ed. Kassimeris) (Bodmin: Ashgate Publishing, 2006).

- ‘Harm and Transgression in International Criminal Justice’, in Minding Evil: Explorations of Human Iniquity, (ed. Sönser-Breen) (The Hague: Rodopi Press, 2005).

Human Dignity and Law: Legal and Philosophical Investigations, London: Routledge (2017).

Subsidiarity and Human Dignity in Bedford, Duprà and Kapotas (eds) Human Dignity and Democracy in Europe (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022).

The Philosophy of International Law, in Deplano and Tsagourias (eds) Research Methods in International Law: A Handbook (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021).

What Is Orientation in Dignitarian Thinking? Self, Other, Time and Space Law, Culture and the Humanities. December (2020): 1-25.

Why is Law Necessary for Human Dignity? Jurisprudence 11.2 (2020): 248-258

Human Dignity as a Sui Generis Principle Ratio Juris 32.4 (2019): 439-454.

Human Rights: Desiderata of a Theory of Change in Maciej Chmieliński, Michał Rupniewski (eds) The Philosophy of Legal Change (Routledge 2019).

International Human Rights and Duties to Future Generations: The Role of An International Constitution in Bos and Düwell (eds) Human Rights and Sustainability: Moral Responsibilities for the Future (Routledge 2016).

Architectures of Intergenerational Justice: Human Dignity, International Law, and Duties to Future Generations 15(2) Journal of Human Rights (2016) 272-290.

Human Dignity: Comparative and Conceptual Debates 6(2) International Journal of Law in Context (2010) 117-138.

I have previously supervised doctoral dissertations on the rights of nature, cultural rights, and financial crime.

I would welcome proposals on

• human dignity and law
• future generations and law
• the philosophy of human rights
• the philosophy of international law.

Justice and the Future (LLM). This innovative postgraduate module concerns how law legal institutions and political interventions benefit or fail to benefit future generations. We consider which legal strategies are best for accomplishing legal change in the interests of future generations. And we examine political strategies: what kinds of political processes and political participation are most likely to realise the interests of future generations.

Jurisprudence (LLB). This module surveys the main themes in contemporary jurisprudence. It approaches these themes through analysis of ‘Key Concepts’ which help unlock complex debates.

Law Justice and Society (LLB). This is both an introduction to the criminal justice system and a critical introduction to law in practice. While learning about the principles that shape our criminal justice system we also consider the system in context: the impact of race and gender and the chronic under-resourcing of the system.

Law and Political Theory (LLB). As part of this module I offer an introduction to the philosophy and the legal implications of human dignity.

Future generations and law, especially the legal significance of ‘climate emergency’ and the challenges faced by international law and international institutions.

Human dignity and law, especially the use of human dignity as a standard in sentencing and punishment and the adaptation of human rights law to new or unexpected problems.