Alex Benn

Senior Lecturer in Law

Teaching

I teach criminal and discrimination law.

I teach criminal law to Univ’s first-year and Senior Status students. The course focusses on the general principles of criminal liability, as well as the major crimes and defences. I try, in particular, to put the law in its broader contexts. The law can often be a tool of powerful groups, which reminds us to consider it against the reality of widespread discrimination.

To this end, I also teach the module, ‘Hate Crime and Discrimination’, for the Final Honours School (as part of advanced criminal law). The module considers the concepts of ‘hate’ and ‘discrimination’. It asks whether or not the criminal law can address these ideas or if, in truth, it does more harm than good.

Research

My research looks at topics across criminal and discrimination law. I focus on the issue of classism, which legal scholarship has traditionally ignored. I consider the issue in a variety of doctrinal settings, including criminal, tort, labour, constitutional and administrative law.

I research and write about a variety of other topics. I have considered more general principles of the law, such as abuse of process in criminal proceedings, free speech and the criminal law concerning protests, and gender in the Equality Act 2010. I also take interest in areas beyond traditional legal analysis. I have considered the issue of classism in the context of monarchies, for example, and universities’ reactions to student protests.

Selected Publications

Book Chapters

• With D. Young, ‘The Loss or Destruction of Evidence’ in Young, Young, Corker and Summers on Abuse of Process in Criminal Proceedings (2022, 5th edn), pp 80-118

Journal Articles

• ‘“Besting Monarchy”: The Anti-Classism Argument’ (2023) The Political Quarterly, onlinelibrary.wiley.com
• ‘Classism as Hate Crime: Proposing Class as a Protected Ground in Criminal Law’ (2021) 10 Criminal Law Review 809
• ‘The Big Gap in Discrimination Law: Class and the Equality Act 2010’ (2020) 3(1) Oxford Human Rights Hub Journal 30, ohrh.ox.ac.uk

Journal Case Notes and Comments

•‘Causing a Public Nuisance: R v Smith’ (2025) 1 Criminal Law Review 45
•‘Electronic Messaging: Cobban v DPP’ (2024) 12 Criminal Law Review 858
•‘Henry VIII Power: R (Liberty) v Home Secretary’ (2024) 9 Criminal Law Review 653
•‘Manslaughter (Diminished Responsibility): R v Calocane’ (2024) 9 Criminal Law Review 667
•‘Loss of Control: R v Drake’ (2024) 4 Criminal Law Review 265
• ‘Misconduct in Public Office: R v Ali’ (2024) 4 Criminal Law Review 269
• ‘Malicious Communications: Freedom of Email? Elected Officials, Disability and Expression’ (2024) Journal of Criminal Law, sagepub.com
• ‘Attorney General’s Reference on a Point of Law (No. 1 of 2022)’ (2023) 1 Criminal Law Review 58
• ‘The “Colston Four”, Proportionality and the Concerns that Linger’ (2023) Journal of Criminal Law, sagepub.com
• ‘R (Ngole) v Sheffield University’ (2018) 7(2) Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 351
• ‘R (A and B) v Secretary of State for Health’ (2017) 6(3) OJLR 631
• ‘Re JS (A Child)’ (2017) 6(2) OJLR 413

Academic and Legal Websites

•‘Biological Sex in the UK Supreme Court: Four Problems with For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers’ (2025) OHRH Blog, ohrh.ox.ac.uk
•With D. Lock, ‘Universities Should Stop Calling the Police on Peaceful Student Protestors’ (2024) Political Quarterly Blog, politicalquarterly.org.uk
•‘The International Court of Justice’s Order in South Africa v Israel’ (2024) OHRH Blog, ohrh.ox.ac.uk
•‘Criminalising Constitutional Debate? Anti-Monarchy Protests, Treason and Public Order’ (2023) UK Constitutional Law Association, ukconstitutionallaw.org
• ‘The “Colston Four” and the Walls of Criminal Trials’ (2022) OHRH Blog, ohrh.ox.ac.uk
• ‘Discrimination in Criminal Justice: Four Analytical Steps for Lawyers’ (2021) Legal Lifelines, legallifelines.co.uk
• ‘Classism, Hate Crime and the Law Commission’s Consultation Paper 250: Lessons from Discrimination Law’ (2021) OHRH Blog, ohrh.ox.ac.uk
• With C. Devlin, ‘The Maya Forstater Case and So-Called “Gender Critical” Feminism: What Was Actually Decided and What Does It Reveal about UK Discrimination Law?’ (2020) OHRH Blog, ohrh.ox.ac.uk
• ‘The UK Supreme Court and the Gay Marriage Cake: Is “Indissociability” Half-Baked?’ (2019) OHRH Blog, ohrh.ox.ac.uk

Other Media

• ‘Analysing Class at the Bar’ (2024) Counsel 34, counselmagazine.co.uk
• ‘Is It Time for a Law to Ban Classism?’ (also published as ‘We Prosecute Racists and Sexists. So What about Classists?’) (2023) The Independent, independent.com
• ‘Gender Non-Conformity at the Bar’ (2022) Counsel 15, counselmagazine.co.uk
• With R. Karmy-Jones Q.C., ‘“Virginity Testing”, Hymen Surgery and Misogyny: What Should the Law Do?’ (2021) Counsel 38, counselmagazine.co.uk
• With D. Taylor, ‘We Don’t Think John Finnis Should Teach at Oxford University. Here’s Why’ (2019) The Guardian, theguardian.com