about

I am a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Public Law and Legal Theory at the University of Surrey School of Law, a member of the Surrey Centre for Law and Philosophy, and a Research Associate of the University of Oxford Programme for the Foundations of Law and Constitutional Government.

Previously, I taught Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, European Union Law and Roman Law at the University of Oxford. I was also a Visiting Scholar at the University of Melbourne.

I published in the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, the Law Quarterly Review, Public Law, Notre Dame Law Review Online and in several edited collections. I also blog (e.g., at the UK Constitutional Law Blog and at I·CONnect ). (For details see my Publications page.)

I specialise in public law (constitutional and administrative law) and in legal theory (philosophy of law). My doctoral research focuses on unlawful (or unconstitutional) ways of changing constitutions. In that project, I elucidate and develop HLA Hart’s account of secondary rules – and especially – of the rule of recognition.

As a former computer programmer, I am interested in applications of technology in law (Legal Tech), both from practical and philosophical perspectives. Currently, I am developing a research project on machine learning for predictive analytics in law.

I am also pursuing projects on Brexit (disentangling UK and European Union law, constitutional consequences) and on the role of fundamental rights and principles in statutory interpretation.

How to pronounce my name

Contact

  • The School of Law, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, United Kingdom
  • mikolaj.barczentewicz[to-delete]@law[to-delete].ox.ac.uk

My other online places

Selected Publications

  • ‘The Illuminati Problem and Rules of Recognition’ (2018) 38 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 500–527 SSRN Oxford University Press
  • ‘Judicial Duty Not to Apply EU Law’ (2017) 133 Law Quarterly Review 469 SSRN Westlaw UK