Biography
Robert Blackburn KC LLD is a leading authority on UK and comparative constitutional law. He has been Professor of Constitutional Law at King's since 1997 and was appointed Honorary King's Counsel in 2016.
He is a graduate of London School of Economics and Leeds University, and holds degrees in the disciplines of Law, Political Science, and History. He is a Solicitor and before entering academic life practiced with a City law firm in the areas of property, medical and public law.
He regularly acts as an adviser to government bodies in the UK and abroad. He was Special Counsel to the House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Commons in 2010-15, and consultant on Crown affairs for the Cabinet Office and Treasury Solicitor in 2014-15. He was UK Legal Consultant to the Council of Europe Directorate of Human Rights 1983-2008.
Professor Blackburn has extensive experience of senior managerial work across the university. In the School of Law he has served as Acting Dean, Deputy Dean, Chairman of the Board of Examiners, and Director of Postgraduate Studies. He currently manages King’s partnership in London University's International (External Degree) Programme in Law.
Professor Blackburn's public impact research on in the field of constitutional law was selected as one of the Impact Case Studies for the School of Law's Research Excellence Framework submission in 2014, contributing to the School being ranked first out of all University law departments in the country for the quality of its research.
Teaching
Professor Blackburn currently lectures on Advanced Constitutional Law and the core public law module in the Politics, Philosophy & Law LLB degree. He has taught specialist LLM courses on Theory and Practice of Parliament, Administrative Law, and English Constitutional History.
Research interests
Political and constitutional affairs.
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Blackburn, R., Jan 2023, In: PUBLIC LAW. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Blackburn, R., 5 Oct 2023, Questions of Accountability: Prerogatives, Power, and Politics. Flinders, M. & Monaghan, C. (eds.). Bloomsbury Publishing Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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Blackburn, R., 2 Jun 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) Jahrbuch des öffentlichen Rechts der Gegenwart. Lepsius, O., Nußberger, A., Schönberger, C., Waldhoff, C. & Walter, C. (eds.). 1 ed. Mohr Siebeck, Vol. 70. p. 181-201 21 p. (Jahrbuch des öffentlichen Rechts). Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1628/joer-2022-0009
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Blackburn, R., 1 Jan 1990, Legal History and Comparative Law: Essays in Honour of Albert Kilralfy. Taylor and Francis Ltd., p. 9-22 14 p. Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315035512-1
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Blackburn, R., 1 Jul 2019, (E-pub ahead of print) In: PUBLIC LAW. p. 447-450 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Blackburn, R. W., 2019, (Accepted/In press) Halsbury's Laws of England. 5th revised ed. LexisNexis, Vol. 29. Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Blackburn, R. W., 2018, Halsbury's Laws of England. 5th ed. London: LexisNexis, Vol. 78. p. 527-720 Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Blackburn, R. W., 27 Jul 2020, The Routledge Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Change. Contiades, X. & Fotiadou, A. (eds.). 1 ed. London: Routledge, 19 p. Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351020985-22
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Blackburn, R., 2018, Parliament as the Cornerstone of Democracy: Studies on the UK and Italian Parliaments in commemoration of Magna Carta's 800th Anniversary. Blackburn, R., Carminati, A. & Spadacini, L. (eds.). Kings College London in association with University of Brescia and Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Commemoration Committee, p. 45 72 p. Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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Blackburn, R., Dec 2017, In: Journal of International and Comparative Law. 4, 2, p. 279-308 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review