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Staff profile

Overview

Dr Ben Yong

Associate Professor in Public Law and Human Rights

Affiliations
AffiliationTelephone
Associate Professor in Public Law and Human Rights in the Durham Law School+44 (0) 191 33 42834
Associate Professor in Public Law and Human Rights in the Durham CELLS (Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences)

Biography

Ben is a public lawyer. His research focuses on the work of the executive and Parliament, the role of officials, and the maintenance of ideals in the grubbiness of organisation. Most recently, he published the third edition of Parliament and the Law (Hart, 2022 with Alex Horne and Louise Thompson)--the only text dealing with Parliament and its relationship to the law--and Leading Works in Public Law (Routledge 2024 with Patrick O'Brien).

Ben joined Durham Law School as an Associate Professor in Public Law and Human Rights in September 2019. He obtained his PhD from the LSE, and LLM from Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand). He previously worked at the Constitution Unit, UCL and was a Teaching Fellow in Public Law at UCL. Ben also worked at the UK Ministry of Justice in 2010 on the UK Cabinet Manual. Prior to joining Durham, Ben was a lecturer in public law at Queen Mary and then at the University of Hull Law School.

Ben has worked on a number of areas, including coalition government, special advisers, legislative governance and parliamentary administration (how legislatures are run), government lawyers and parliamentary lawyers.

Ben has won a number of external grants. He was awarded a Leverhulme Trust research grant in 2016 to carry out an 18 month project examining the provision and reception of legal advice in the 4 legislatures of the UK; in 2021 he was awarded another 14 month Leverhulme Trust research grant to examine parliamentary administration in the same 4 legislatures. He was also co-investigator with Patrick O'Brien (Oxford Brookes) on a British Academy small grant project examining the work of UK judges after they retire.

Ben's current research projects include the bureaucratic impartiality of officials; legislative governance and parliamentary administration; the nature of Parliament; and the role of the civil service in the constitution. 

In spite of the grisly profile picture, Ben has a pretty moderate disposition.

Research Supervision

Ben would be pleased to hear from potential students interested in researching the law and practice of Parliament; bureaucracy and the law—the civil service, government lawyers or parliamentary administration; and the Executive in the constitution. 

 

Research interests

  • Bureaucracy and bureaucratic norms
  • Non-judicial institutions: executives and legislatures
  • Parliamentary administration
  • Public sector lawyers
  • Sociolegal research

Publications

Authored book

Chapter in book

  • Reimagining Parliamentary Governance
    Yong, B. (2024). Reimagining Parliamentary Governance. In D. Judge & C. Leston-Bandeira (Eds.), Reimagining Parliament. Bristol University Press.
  • The Politics of Legal Expertise at Westminster in Times of Crisis
    Yong, B. (2022). The Politics of Legal Expertise at Westminster in Times of Crisis. In E. Korkea-aho & P. Leino (Eds.), Legal Expertise in EU Policy-Making: Changing Roles for the Legal Profession (pp. 124-146). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108909099.007
  • Paying for Parliament
    Lee, C., & Yong, B. (2022). Paying for Parliament. In A. Horne, L. Thompson, & B. Yong (Eds.), Parliament and the Law (pp. 57-86). Hart Publishing. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509934126.ch-003
  • Ministerial Responsibility
    Yong, B. (2022). Ministerial Responsibility. In Constitution and Governance in the UK. UK in a Changing Europe.
  • The Governance of Parliament
    Yong, B. (2019). The Governance of Parliament. In A. Horne & G. Drewry (Eds.), Parliament and the Law. (pp. 75-102). Hart Publishing. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509908745.ch-004
  • What do we mean by parliamentary scrutiny of Brexit? A view from the House of Commons
    Yong, B., & Thompson, L. (2019). What do we mean by parliamentary scrutiny of Brexit? A view from the House of Commons. In T. Christiansen & D. Fromage (Eds.), Brexit and Democracy: The Role of Parliaments and Citizens (pp. 29-49). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06043-5
  • The administrative organization and governance of Parliament
    Yong, B., & Petit, S. (2018). The administrative organization and governance of Parliament. In C. Leston-Bandeira & L. Thompson (Eds.), Exploring Parliament.. Oxford University Press.
  • Britain's experience of coalition government: continuity and change
    Yong, B. (2016). Britain’s experience of coalition government: continuity and change. In Developments in British Politics (10th ed., pp. 20-38). Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Martin Loughlin, Public Law and Political Theory
    Yong, B. (n.d.). Martin Loughlin, Public Law and Political Theory. In P. O’Brien & B. Yong (Eds.), Leading Works in Public Law [Contracted by publisher]. Routledge.
  • Introduction
    O’Brien, P., & Yong, B. (n.d.). Introduction. In P. O’Brien & B. Yong (Eds.), Leading Works in Public Law [Contracted by publisher]. Routledge.

Edited book

  • Parliament and the Law
    Horne, A., Thompson, L., & Yong, B. (Eds.). (2022). Parliament and the Law. Hart Publishing. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509934126
  • Leading Works in Public Law
    O’Brien, P., & Yong, B. (Eds.). (n.d.). Leading Works in Public Law [Contracted by publisher]. Routledge.

Journal Article

Report