Dr Damian Mather
Principal Lecturer
My profile
Biography
My academic interests lie in the law of the European Union and Brexit, in particular in European migration law & policy and the politico-legal dimensions of EU citizenship, and in counter-terror policy and human rights.
In March 2003, I won a scholarship from the Centre of European Law and Legal Studies at the University of Leeds to read for a PhD in European Law and Governance. I was awarded my doctorate in November 2008.
I have been lecturer at Manchester Law School since January 2006. In 2010, I introduced taught LLM courses into the School. I also led on the approval of the LLM/LPC and LLM/BPTC programmes and of the LLM in Legal Practice top-up course in collaboration with Hong Kong University SPACE from 2013 onwards. More recently, I have been Postgraduate Research Degrees Lead and have co-led the Bar Training Course.
I am currently a principal lecturer and am the Faculty of Business and Law’s Student Mobility Lead. In addition to this, I have sat on Manchester Law School’s Senior Leadership Team since 2016 as the School’s International Lead, supporting the its wider education and research aims. Overseas recruitment, staff-student mobility, developing global research links and forming TNE collaborative partnerships fall within my responsibility.
My UG teaching focus is EU Law in the UK whilst at PG level I contribute to the LLM European Migration Law; International Human Rights Law; and Law, Terrorism and Human Rights units.
I have 3 completions at PGR level and would be happy to look at doctoral proposals in the field of European law, including EU migration law & citizenship, and human rights law, including the interplay between counter-terrorism and human rights.
Academic and professional qualifications
- LLB (Hons) in Law with French (Manchester Metropolitan University, 1996-2000)
- LLM in European Law and Policy (Pass with Distinction) (University of Manchester, 2000-2001)
- PhD in European Law and Governance (University of Leeds, 2003-2008)
- Certificat d’Etudes Politiques Européennes (Institut d’Etudes Politiques, University of Strasbourg III, 1998-1999)
Other academic services (administration and management)
- Faculty of Business and Law Student Mobility Lead
- Manchester Law School International Lead
- Member of the Senior Management Team of Manchester Law School
Languages
- French
- Spanish
External examiner roles
- Previously external examiner at University of Westminster (GDL), Edge Hill University (LLB) and De Montfort University (LLB), University of Essex/Kaplan Online Learning (LLM)
- Currently external examiner at University of Sussex (International Foundation Year), Northumbria University (LLM), Nottingham Trent University (LLM)
- External Validation Panel Member for Edge Hill University (MA, MRes), University of Essex/Kaplan Online Learning (LLM), BPP University (LLM), Leeds Trinity University (LLM/SQE)
Teaching
Subject areas
- Law of the European Union and Human Rights
Undergraduate courses
- LLB EU Law in the UK
- LLB Human Rights
Postgraduate courses
- LLM European Migration and Asylum Law
- LLM Law, Terrorism and Human Rights
- LLM European Competition Law
- LLM International Human Rights Law
Supervision
Postgraduate supervision
Supervision of PhD research in the areas of the law of the European Union, especially free movement, citizenship and migration & asylum law, and human rights, especially counter-terror law.
I have 3 postgraduate research completions.
Research outputs
- “How Higher Education Institutions Can Engage in Internationalisation” presented to Christ University’s Conference on Leadership and Innovation in Legal Education, Bangalore, India (6th January 2022)
- “Does Brexit Sound the Death Knell for EU Law in the UK?” (2019) 162Solicitors’ Journal 70-71
- “Brexit and Trade: Where are We Now” presented to the International Conference on Trade and Investment Laws in Partnership with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, New Delhi, India (6th March 2019)
- “Reports of the Death of EU Law are Greatly Exaggerated” (2016) 160 Solicitor’s Journal 27
- “The United Kingdom” in Lodge, J. (ed.), “The 2009 Elections to the European Parliament” (Palgrave 2010)
- “The Court of Justice and the Union Citizen” (2005) 11 (6) European Law Journal, 722
- “A Politico-Legal Approach to a Multi-Tiered, Twenty-First Century Europe” (2005) 1 (1) Journal of Contemporary European Research 30
- “European Parliamentary Electoral Law and the 2004 Elections: Towards Uniformity or Commonality?” in Lodge, J. (ed.), “The 2004 Elections to the European Parliament” (Palgrave 2005)
Invited discussions
- “Brexit and Trade: Where are We Now” presented to the International Conference on Trade and Investment Laws in Partnership with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, New Delhi, India (6th March 2019)
- Presentation entitled “Brexit: Where have We Come? Where are We Going” given to Beyond Brexit seminar at Langley Solicitors, York (April 2019)
- Lecture entitled “CEDAW: An Instrument for the Protection of Women’s Rights?” given to KC Law College on International Women’s Day, Mumbai, India (March 2019)
- Panel member for Open Forum “The Future of Higher Education: Beyond Brexit” Event at Manchester Conference Centre (January 2017)
- Contributor to the Manchester Law Society Messenger’s “Talking Heads” debate on the implications of Brexit for the legal profession (August 2016)
- Joint organiser with MMU Centre for Enterprise of “EU Referendum: In or Out?” Debate at Manchester Metropolitan University (May 2016)
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Chapters in books
Mather, J.D. (2010) 'The United Kingdom.' The 2009 Elections to the European Parliament. Palgrave,
Mather, J.D. (2005) 'European Parliamentary Electoral Law and the 2004 Elections: Towards Uniformity or Commonality?.' The 2004 Elections to the European Parliament. Palgrave MacMillan,
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Journal articles
Mather, J.D. (2005) 'The Court of Justice and the Union Citizen.' European Law Journal, 11(6) pp. 722-743.
Mather, J.D. (2005) 'A Politico-Legal Approach to a Multi-Tiered, Twenty-First Century Europe.' Journal of Contemporary European Research, 30(1)
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Conference papers
Mather, J.D. (2003) 'Ten Years on: Union Citizenship and its Upbringing.' In 2nd Meeting of the UACES Study Group on the Evolving European Migration Law and Policy. University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, 1/4/2003 - 1/4/2003.
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Other
Mather, J.D. (2019) Does Brexit Sound the Death Knell for EU Law in the UK?.
Mather, J.D. (2016) Reports of the Death of EU Law are Greatly Exaggerated.
Press and media
Regular contributor on European legal and political issues to programmes on BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Radio Cumbria, BBC Radio Stoke and LBC Radio.
Guest contributor on BBC’s The One Show and BBC Breakfast News on issues such as Brexit and counter-terror policy.