About
Kai Möller is a Professor of Law at the LSE Law School. He has M.Jur., M.Phil. and D.Phil. degrees from Oxford University, a Ph.D. in law from Freiburg University, and is qualified for the German bar. He has held a visiting professorship at the University of São Paulo, and before joining LSE, he was a Junior Research Fellow and a Lecturer in Jurisprudence at Lincoln College, University of Oxford. His work in human and constitutional rights law and theory attempts to specify the moral, legal, constitutional, and institutional implications of a commitment to human dignity, freedom, and equality.
Administrative support: Law.Reception@lse.ac.uk
Research
I am currently working in two areas. My research in the theory of rights focuses on demonstrating the significance of attractive conceptions of dignity, freedom, and equality for contemporary, proportionality-based rights adjudication.
Furthermore, I am working on a book on the genital cutting of girls and boys, provisionally entitled Genital Cutting and the Dignity of the Child. The book will make the case for assessing genital cutting not only or primarily in terms of the harm that such practices inflict on children but also in terms of children’s human rights and human dignity, and it will correspondingly argue that the genital cutting of children is wrong as a matter of principle.
Publications
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Teaching
Engagement and impact
'Irgendwie scheint sich ein Teil von mir zurückgezogen zu haben', Welt.de27 April 2023 (online, paywall)
'Von Maske bis Klima: warum es nötig ist, gegen Sicherheit zu argumentieren', Welt.de15 March 2023 (online, paywall)
'Das juristische Dilemma der "positiven Diskriminierung"', Welt.de6 July 2023 (online, paywall)
‘Maskenpflicht? Das klingt harmlos, ist es aber nicht’ (‘Mandatory Mask Wearing? Sounds Harmless, But It’s Not’),Welt.de 5 August 2022 (online; paywall); full pdf here
‘Es gibt vier Gründe für staatliche Zwangsarbeit – keiner davon rechtfertigt die Dienstpflicht’(‘There are four reasons for compulsory labour – none of them justifies a compulsory social service‘, Welt.de 2 September 2022 (online; paywall); full pdf here
‘Der Punkt, der in der Abtreibungsdebatte übersehen wird’(‘The overlooked argument in the abortion debate‘), Welt.de28 June 2022 (online; paywall); full pdf here
'Ein Verlust für die Freiheit'('A loss for freedom'), Welt.de5 May 2022 (online; paywall); full pdf here.
'Sieben zwingende Argumente gegen eine Impfpflicht'('Seven compelling arguments against mandatory vaccination'), Welt.de 6 April 2022 (online; paywall); full pdf available here
'Die Impfpflicht ist eine Verletzung der Patientenautonomie'('Mandatory vaccination violates the principle of patient autonomy'), print version: Die Welt15 March 2022, pp. 14-15, online version (paywall); full pdf available here
‘Die Ausgrenzung der Ungeimpften muss enden’ (‘The exclusion of unvaccinated people must end’), print version: Die Welt 1 February 2022, pp. 14-15, online version (paywall); full pdf available here
'Die Kritik am Lockdown kommt im Mainstream an' (‘Lockdown scepticism arrives in the mainstream’), print version: Die Welt 10 January 2022, pp. 14-15, online version (paywall); full pdf available here
‘Die Impfpflicht: Eine Verletzung der Menschenwürde’ (‘Mandatory vaccination: a violation of human dignity‘), print version: Die Welt 13 December 2021, pp. 14-15, online version (paywall); full pdf available here
‘Corona Impfpflicht: Wo bleibt hier die Menschenwürde?‘ (‘Mandatory vaccination: what about human dignity?’), Deutschlandfunk Kultur (text and audio)
‘Niko Härting im Gespräch mit Kai Möller’(‘A conversation between Niko Härting and Kai Möller‘), Podcast Corona im Rechtsstaat(Corona and the rule of law), episode 81
'Circumcision: A child's protest' LSE Religion and Global Society Blog 18 July 2019
Religious and cultural practices can be so deeply entrenched and normalised as to seem unremarkable, even mundane, to those who live by them. In the case of circumcision, a little boy’s reluctance to partake in this particular tradition can be seen by his elders as cute and endearing, but ultimately silly and juvenile. Reflecting on a recent case, Kai Möller challenges this comfortable reading. He suggests instead that the child was agonising over an impending violation which the adults around him would not perceive.
'Die prozedurale Seite des Rechts auf Rechtfertigung: eine Erwiderung auf ALON HAREL' Verfassungsblog 14 June 2018
'Let's talk about circumcision'LSE EUROPP6 March 2018
A proposal to ban circumcision for non-medical reasons in Iceland has generated a heated debate over whether banning the practice would amount to an attack on religious freedom. Kai Möller outlines his own opposition to male circumcision, and argues in favour of an open debate over the issue in which both sides are respected and there is an attempt to reach common ground.
'Eine Frage der Würde' ('A matter of dignity'), Süddeutsche Zeitung 5 July 2017, p. 2.
The essay argues that the introduction of same sex marriage in Germany does not require an amendment to the Constitution. Article 6 of the Basic Law, which protects marriage, should be interpreted in line with the fundamental values of the Constitution, namely human dignity, freedom, and equality. This leads to the conclusion that same sex marriage is not only permissible but obligatory under the Basic Law.