Jo MurkensJo Eric Khushal Murkens

 

Email: J.E.Murkens@lse.ac.uk
Administrative support: Bradley Barlow
Room: New Academic Building 7.31
Tel. 020-7955-6675 

Dr Jo Murkens studied English and European Law at Queen Mary College, London, and at the University of Copenhagen. He was subsequently a researcher at the Constitution Unit, UCL, where he led the research on the legal, political and economic conditions and consequences of Scottish independence. Jo wrote his PhD thesis at the European University Institute , Florence, on Contested Constitutional Concepts: State, Constitution and Sovereignty in Germany and the United Kingdom, and the European Challenge. The thesis was awarded with a Special Distinction by the European Group of Public Law. Jo has taught at University College, King’s College, and Queen Mary College (all in London), and was called to the Bar in 2006.

see also Jo Murkens's LSE Experts Page
 

Research interests


  • Constitutional and Administrative Law

  • Constitutional theory and history

  • Comparative constitutional law

  • European Union Law

  • European legal culture and history

 

External activities


  • Book Review Editor for Public Law.

  • Subject convener for Public Law, University of London, International Programme

 

Teaching


Books  

From Empire to Union: Conceptions of German Constitutional Law since 1871, OUP (2013)

This book examines the modern development of German constitutional thought by tracing the key public law concepts of state, constitution, sovereignty, and democracy from their modern emergence in the 19th century through to the present day. It analyses the constitutional relationship between Germany and the EU from a sociological and historical perspective, looking at how German constitutional law has conflicted and compromised with EU law, and the difficulties this has raised.

Public Law – Text, Cases and Materials, (with A. Le Sueur and M. Sunkin), 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, 2013

The authors, leading academics in the field, provide students with a thought-provoking and detailed analysis of the core issues relevant to students studying public law setting them in their political context. Each chapter provides a clear textual account of the topics covered. The text is supported by an excellent range of extracts from a wide range of sources, such as academic writing and reports of parliamentary committees, as well as extracts from leading judgments.

Scottish Independence: A Practical Guide (with P. Jones and M. Keating), Edinburgh University Press, 2002

Scottish Independence

This book provides the first comprehensive and dispassionate stock-take of the effect of devolution during the first term of the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales. Part 1 covers the territories of the UK—Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions. Part 2 looks at its impact on the centre Westminster, Whitehall and public opinion. Part 3 looks at developments in two key areas of public policy. The book as a whole assesses not just how parts of the UK have been affected by devolution, but also its effect on the UK as a whole.

 

Selected articles
and chapters in books
 

'The European Union Act 2011: A Failed Statute' LSE Law, Society and Economy Working Paper Series (WPS 3/2013)

If there was one area in which the two coalition parties needed to produce a workable agreement as a matter of priority after the May 2010 election, it was the European Union. The European Union Act (EUA) 2011 builds on a political guarantee in the coalition agreement that there will be no transfers of sovereign powers until the next election (in 2015). That undertaking was intended to pacify the Europhobic wing of the Conservative party that had demanded but failed to get a national referendum on the hated Lisbon Treaty. As a result, the EUA contains all sorts of compromises: it delivers a referendum requirement, but not on the Lisbon Treaty; it affirms that the source of the validity of EU law is a domestic statute, but without mentioning the sovereignty of Parliament; it introduces constitutional safeguards, but without entrenching them against repeal by a future Parliament. Unfortunately, the EUA does not reflect the politics of compromise in a consensus democracy: it reflects dissent between the governing parties and within the Conservative party and, in most respects, is a compromised and failed statute.

‘The European Union Act 2011: A Failed Statute’ (2012) 3(4) Tijdschrift voor Constitutioneel Recht 396-408.

(with Roger Masterman), ‘Zwischen Vorrangstellung und Ergebenheit: Der Verfassungsstatus des Supreme Court im Vereinigten Königreich’, (2012) 21(67) Juristenzeitung 1029-1040.

'"We want our identity back" - the revival of national sovereignty in the German Federal Constitutional Court's decision on the Lisbon Treaty.' Public Law, 2010 July pp.530-550

'Constitutionalism' in Encyclopedia of Political Theory (ed. Mark Bevir), (SAGE Publications, 2010)

'Countering Anti-constitutional Argument: The Reasons for the European Court of Justice’s Decision in Kadi and Al Barakaat' (2009) 11 Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies 15-52

This contribution examines the recent decision by the European Court of Justice in Kadi and Al Barakaat International Foundation. It is a response to criticism that the ECJ’s judgement, in providing for the review of EC measures implementing UN Security Council resolutions, undermines the authority of public international law. Instead of committing itself to international law and institutions at all cost, the ECJ concerns itself with the constitutional repercussions from national constitutional courts (in the case of failure to protect fundamental rights). Important as the relationship between EC law and international law is, there is a clear sense that the ECJ is responsible to, and will ultimately be held to account by, the courts and constitutions of the Member States of the European Union.

'Identity Trumps Integration: The Lisbon Treaty in the German Federal Constitutional Court' (2009) 4 Der Staat 517-534.

'The Quest for Constitutionalism in Public Law Discourse,' (2009) 29 (3) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 1-29.

At first sight constitutionalism appears to be a key concept in public law discourse in the United Kingdom. It appears in all the major academic discussions from the rule of law and judicial review to the ‘new constitutional settlement’ and in relation to constitutional culture. And yet attempts to define the scope, meaning and role of constitutionalism remain vague. This article discusses the different fields in which constitutionalism is discussed and the different meanings that are attributed to the concept. It shows that constitutionalism is routinely conflated by public law scholars with other constitutional values and principles, like the rule of law or separation of powers. This article argues that constitutionalism should either be conceived as distinct from those concepts or, failing that, can safely be eliminated from public law discourse. The article concludes by asking whether a nuanced and normative discussion of constitutionalism could have any meaningful application in the United Kingdom constitution.

 

Reports / discussion papers


Two Referendums Required for Scottish Independence (Constitution Unit Press Release, 2008)

Law Home Page