Professor Adam Perry
BA, LLB, BCL, MPhil, DPhil
Tutorial Fellow
I grew up in Canada, where I studied economics and law. I came to Oxford in 2006 for the Bachelor of Civil Law and stayed to complete the MPhil and DPhil degrees. After holding academic positions at the European University Institute, the University of Aberdeen, and Queen Mary University of London, I returned to Oxford to take up my current position in 2015. I write and teach in administrative law, constitutional law, and the philosophy of law. I am Articles Editor for the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies.
I teach the first-year BA course in Constitutional Law and the second-year BA course in Administrative Law.
I loved learning about constitutional and administrative law as a student, and I love teaching them as a tutorial fellow today. Both courses are fundamentally about government power – where it comes from, who has it, and how it can be controlled. What could be more interesting!
I research and write in administrative law, constitutional law, and jurisprudence. My articles have appeared in leading law journals including the Cambridge Law Journal, Law Quarterly Review, Modern Law Review, and Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, as well as in philosophy journals including Analysis, Legal Theory, Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy, and Philosophy & Public Affairs. My monograph on constitutional conventions in the United Kingdom will be published in October 2025.
Peer-reviewed articles
‘Wednesbury Unreasonableness’, Cambridge Law Journal, 2023, vol 82, 483-508
‘According to Law’, Analysis, 2023, vol 83, 717-722
‘Precedent and Fairness’, Legal Theory, 2023, vol 29, 185-201
‘Plainly Wrong’, Modern Law Review, 2023, vol 86, no 1, pp 122-143
‘Pardons’, Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy, 2021, vol 8, pp. 215-244
‘Law’s Boundaries’, Legal Theory, 2020, vol 26, pp. 103-123
‘Enforcing Constitutional Conventions’, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2020, vol. 17, pp. 1146-1165 (with F. Ahmed and R. Albert)
‘Judging Constitutional Conventions’, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 2019, vol. 17, pp. 787-806 (with F. Ahmed and R. Albert)
‘Strained Interpretations’, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 2019, vol. 39, pp. 316-343
‘Mercy’, Philosophy & Public Affairs, 2018, vol. 46, pp. 60-89
‘Top-Down Constitutional Conventions’, Modern Law Review, 2018, vol. 81, pp. 765-789 (with A. Tucker)
‘Standing and Civic Virtue’, Law Quarterly Review, 2018, vol. 134, pp. 239-256 (with F. Ahmed)
‘Mercy and Caprice Under the Indian Constitution’, Indian Law Review, 2017, vol. 1, pp. 1-13
‘The Flexibility Rule in Administrative Law’, Cambridge Law Journal, 2017, vol. 76, pp. 375-398
‘Constitutional Statutes’, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 2017, vol. 37, pp. 461-481 (with F. Ahmed)
‘Mercy and the Roles of Judges’ in J. Jacobs and J. Jackson (eds), Routledge Handbook of Criminal Justice Ethics (Routledge 2016) 255-266
‘The Crown’s Administrative Powers’, Law Quarterly Review, 2015, vol. 131, pp. 652-672
‘The Internal Aspect of Social Rules’, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 2015, vol. 35, pp. 283-300
‘The Quasi-Entrenchment of Constitutional Statutes’, Cambridge Law Journal, 2014, vol. 73, pp. 514-535 (with F. Ahmed)
‘The Coherence of the Doctrine of Legitimate Expectations’, Cambridge Law Journal, 2014, vol. 73, pp. 61-85 (with F. Ahmed)
‘Constitutional Conventions and the Prince of Wales’, Modern Law Review, 2013, vol. 76(6), pp. 1119-1128
‘Expertise, Deference, and Giving Reasons’, Public Law, 2012, vol. 2, pp. 221-230 (with F. Ahmed)
‘Unlucky Section 13: Sexual Activity Between Children and the Sexual Offences Act 2003’, King’s Law Journal, 2009, vol. 21, pp. 327-339
Chapters, Notes, Reviews
‘R (Evans) v Attorney General‘ in L. Graham (ed), The Supreme Court at 15: Reflections on Public Law Cases (Routledge 2025)
‘Interpretive Theory in Public Law’ in P. Daly and J. Tomlinson (eds), Researching Public Law in Common Law Systems (Edward Elgar 2023) (with F. Ahmed)
‘Consistency in Administrative Law’ in H. Kristjansson, S. Lewis, and T. Endicott (eds), Philosophical Foundations of Precedent (OUP 2023)
‘Review: Parliamentary Democracy in Crisis’, University of British Columbia Law Review, 2010, vol. 43, pp. 269-279