Dr Conor Casey LL.B. (Dubl.) LLM (Yale) PhD (Dubl.)

Personal Statement

Conor is a Lecturer in Law at the School of Law and Social Justice. Prior to his appointment, he was a Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Conor completed an LLB at Trinity College, Dublin, an LLM at Yale Law School, and a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin. Conor is a non-practising barrister, having been called to the Irish Bar in 2020.

Conor’s research specialises in administrative law, constitutional law, and legal theory.

His work has been featured in the American Journal of Jurisprudence, Edinburgh Law Review, European Constitutional Law Review, International Journal of Constitutional Law, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Maryland Law Review, Modern Law Review, Law & Literature and Public Law. He is also a regular contributor to the classical legal theory blog Ius & Iustitium.

Conor's work on public law has been of relevance to courts, practitioners, and policymakers in several legal systems.

Conor has written reports for the think-tank Policy Exchange on the work of the Law Officers of the United Kingdom. One of those reports, written with John Larkin KC (the former Attorney General of Northern Ireland) was cited by the Attorney General for England and Wales before the House of Commons Justice Committee and in written submissions by the Attorney General’s Office to the House of Lords Constitution Committee.

In March 2022 Conor was invited by the House of Lords Constitution Committee to provide expert written and oral evidence on their inquiry into potential reform of the Law Officers. Conor's evidence was extensively cited by the House of Lords Constitution Committee in its final report, published in January 2023.

His work on government lawyers was also cited by the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of the Tynwald.

Conor's work on the scope and limits of the executive power in the Irish Constitution been extensively cited by all levels of the Irish Superior Courts - by the Supreme Court, twice by the Court of Appeal, and three times by the High Court. In May 2022, Conor was invited along with other domestic and international legal experts to provide expert advice to the Irish Government’s Housing Commission. He provided advice on whether the Irish Constitution’s property rights provisions hindered robust political branch action to tackle the homeless crisis.

In 2021, Conor co-authored an Irish Human Rights & Equality Commission externally funded report analysing the Irish State’s response to the COVID-19 crisis from a human rights and rule of law perspective. This report has been adopted by the Irish Human Rights & Equality Commission and its main recommendations were adopted by the Oireachtas Justice Committee in its final report on civil liberties and the government’s COVID-19 response.

Conor's work has been cited by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Conor regularly comments on legal matters in public forums. He has written for the Conversation, Irish Times, Journal.ie, and Washington Post.