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Mark Elliott

@profmarkelliott.bsky.social

6.5K followers 360 following 260 posts

Professor of Public Law, University of Cambridge. Fellow, St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Blog: www.publiclawforeveryone.com. Website: www.markelliott.org

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Mark C. Elliott is the Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History at Harvard University, where he is Vice Provost for International Affairs. He is also a seminal figure of the school called the New Qing History. .. more

Political science 51%

Law 27%

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Reposted by Tim Bale

Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 13h

Really enjoyed this piece.

"Lawyers and academics therefore find themselves in the difficult position of ... trying to reason people away from a view or belief they never reasoned themselves into to begin with. We are bringing facts to a vibes fight."

UK Constitutional Law Association @ukcla.bsky.social · 1d

Alan Greene: Bringing facts to a vibes fight: Kayfabe and debates on the UK and the ECHR ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/10/09/a...

Alan Greene: Bringing facts to a vibes fight: Kayfabe and debates on the UK and the ECHR

It is now 25 years since the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) entered into force and far from this endurance cementing its legitimacy, the judicial protection of human rights in the UK finds itself in t…

ukconstitutionallaw.org

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 13h

Excellent letter, David.

Reposted by Mark Elliott, Geoff Pearson

David Mead @seethingmead.bsky.social · 1d

A letter from @crwerren.bsky.social @suzmd.bsky.social @storiesfromjack.bsky.social and me on the plans to allow cumulatively disruptive protests to be regulated by the police

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Anti-protest proposals put free speech at risk | Letters

Letters: Readers respond to the proposal to give police further powers to curb ‘cumulative’ protests, in response to actions by the proscribed group Palestine Action

www.theguardian.com

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 1d

I was pleased to speak to Sky News about the China espionage case, including the difficulties that arise from the PM's attempts to explain why the CPS dropped the charges following the government's failure to provide relevant national security-related evidence. news.sky.com/story/the-bl...

The blame game over China spy trial collapse - who is right and who is wrong?

Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry were accused of spying for China but three weeks before their trial was due to start, it was dropped. The pair have denied the allegations.

news.sky.com

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Reposted by Tim Bale, Mark Elliott, John L. Cotter , and 1 more Tim Bale, Mark Elliott, John L. Cotter, Roger Masterman

UK Constitutional Law Association @ukcla.bsky.social · 1d

Alan Greene: Bringing facts to a vibes fight: Kayfabe and debates on the UK and the ECHR ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/10/09/a...

Alan Greene: Bringing facts to a vibes fight: Kayfabe and debates on the UK and the ECHR

ukconstitutionallaw.org

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 2d

New post | On China, the Official Secrets Act and 'enemies': Is the Prime Minister wrong?
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/10/08/o...

On China, the Official Secrets Act and ‘enemies’: Is the Prime Minister wrong?

The Prime Minister has claimed that his government’s hands are tied in relation to whether China constituted an ‘enemy’ for the purpose of a now-dropped criminal prosecution under…

publiclawforeveryone.com

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 8d

I agree, David.

Reposted by Glen O’Hara

Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 8d

Excellent (but depressing) analysis by @gsoh31.bsky.social on the fragile state of higher education in the UK. This passage particularly struck me. politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/where-n...

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 9d

A report on tonight’s Channel 4 News about the devastating funding cuts at Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge. It is unconscionable to reduce access to palliative care while simultaneously contemplating the legalisation of medically assisted suicide. www.channel4.com/news/budget-...

Budget cuts forcing hospitals to pull hospice contracts

The UK government wants patients' care to be moved from hospitals into the community.

www.channel4.com

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 10d

Just as the state contemplates the possibility of a fully-funded assisted dying service, public funding for the award-winning Arthur Rank House Hospice in Cambridge is being cut by almost £1 million pa, risking the closure of nearly half of its in-patient unit. www.arhc.org.uk/protectourca...

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 14d

It was a great pleasure to speak at today's annual training day for the Administrative Court (at the Oval cricket ground: hence the photo!), looking at how recent case law intersects with key academic debates about substantive judicial review.

Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23d

... or jettison the classical account and accept the authoritarian implication that administrative acts, however unlawful they might actually be, are valid until set aside.

Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23d

Yes, as I say, I think ultimately the choice is about how we manage the various dangers/difficulties that are sometimes in play — and whether we take as our default that unlawful acts are void (recognising that the harshness of that position will sometimes need to be ameliorated) ...

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23d

As to the presume validity of administrative acts, I see no tension between that presumption and the underlying nullity of unlawful administrative acts. If an act is presumed to be valid but later turns out to be (and always to have been) void, the presumption was simply wrong. /3

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23d

Affording individuals the possibility of running that risk does not seem inherently problematic to me, and the alternative seems unattractively authoritarian, in that it compels adherence to administrative acts, including delegated legislation, even if they are unlawful. /2

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23d

Thanks for reading. I fully take your point. As I see it, however, someone who chooses to ignore the SI they think is UV must do so recognising that they run the risk of being wrong, in which case they may later have to suffer the consequences of breaching what turns out to be a valid SI. /1

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23d

The broader point, I think, it that it is always possible to envisage circumstances in which the apparent rigidity of the classical view produces inconvenient (or worse) results. Ultimately, however, I think the dangers of abandoning the classical view justify continued adherence to it. 3/3

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23d

But of course the right of collateral challenge, although tied to the underlying voidness of the impugned administrative act, is not itself unlimited, as the Lords' decision in R v Wicks illustrated and as its judgment in Boddington affirmed. /2

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 23d

Thanks, Jonathan. That's an important point, and a difficult one — because the rule of law pulls in opposing directions: legal certainty/planning favours the interests of the party who has relied on the SI, while legality favours treating the unlawful SI for what it has always been. /1

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Reposted by Diane Coyle, Elliot Gold

Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 24d

A new paper from Philip Murray and me: 'In Defence of Classical Administrative Law'. We argue that the voidness of unlawful administrative acts is central to the rule of law and that recent challenges to that view can and should be resisted.

publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/09/16/i...

In Defence of Classical Administrative Law

In a recently completed paper, Philip Murray and I develop a defence of what we term the classical account of administrative law. The question with which we are centrally concerned is whether (as t…

publiclawforeveryone.com

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · Aug 11

Lucky you! If there's one thing that is more fun than aiming for a vaguely defined set of targets, it's aiming for targets that keep moving...

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · Aug 11

(Perhaps I have just been around this block too many times, but each time RAE/REF comes round, it seems more burdensome and more pointless. An incredibly bad use of everyone's time.)

Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · Aug 11

A REF spokesperson has explained that they will 'work closely with universities to finalise preparations for the REF, carefully balancing proportionate burden with evolving the approach to ensure it sets up the sector for continued success'. Surely that reassures you?!

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · Aug 5

I tend to find that if an initiative or proposal contains either the words 'agile', 'reimagining' or 'reshaping', it is likely — to the extent that it means anything at all — to be a disaster dreamed up by external consultants with little to no understanding of HE.

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · Jul 30

Thanks, Stefan. I find their use of 'margin of appreciation' bizarre. The Supreme Court ought to know better!

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Reposted by Mark Elliott, Lilian Edwards

Ed Kirton-Darling @ekd.bsky.social · Jul 30

There is a risk that this will get missed over the summer, so just to flag up this important call for evidence on human rights and the regulation of AI from the Joint Committee on Human Rights (and deadline for response is 5 September) - committees.parliament.uk/work/9220/hu...

New inquiry: Human Rights and the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence - Committees - UK Parliament

The Joint Committee on Human Rights has launched a new inquiry to examine how human rights can be protected in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

committees.parliament.uk

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Reposted by Mark Elliott, Rory O’Connell

George Peretz KC @georgeperetzkc.bsky.social · Jul 30

In which I am not impressed by Suella Braverman’s plans for leaving the ECHR. open.substack.com/pub/georgepe...

The first time as tragedy, the second as farce

Suella Braverman's plans for leaving the ECHR display the same arrogant and reckless disregard for the consequences - particularly in Ireland - as did the plans of Brexiters for leaving the EU.

open.substack.com

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · Jul 29

Lovely. That’s the view I grew up with.

Reposted by Mark Elliott

Philip Murray @philipmurray.bsky.social · Jul 29

Good stuff from @profmarkelliott.bsky.social. Mark's right, I think, that the Supreme Court's recent practice of issuing bland, single judgments "has arguably had the effect of oversimplifying, or at least obscuring important and contentious issues". publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/07/29/t...

The Supreme Court’s judgment in Shvidler: Lord Leggatt’s Liversidge v Anderson moment

Today’s Supreme Court’s judgment in Shvidler v Foreign Secretary addresses key issues about the role of courts generally and appellate courts in particular when it comes to applying the propo…

publiclawforeveryone.com

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · Jul 29

New blogpost

The Supreme Court’s judgment in Shvidler v Foreign Secretary: Lord Leggatt’s Liversidge v Anderson moment

publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/07/29/t...

The Supreme Court’s judgment in Shvidler: Lord Leggatt’s Liversidge v Anderson moment

Today’s Supreme Court’s judgment in Shvidler v Foreign Secretary addresses key issues about the role of courts generally and appellate courts in particular when it comes to applying the propo…

publiclawforeveryone.com

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