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Professional biography

My research covers aspects of history, theory and law. I am interested in the role law plays in authoritarian regimes, past and present, including to communicate ideology, regulate compliance, and foster consent.

My main reseaerch area is the nexus between law, history and theory in relation to Nazi Germany, including the history of the legal system in the Third Reich, its theoretical nature, and its implications for the concept and practice of law today; as well as the representation of Nazi law in academic legal and historical discourse. I am also interested in research in public law (particularly the state of exception and UK and comparative constitutional law).

My current research projects involve developing an overarching theory of the Nazi legal system, exploring the normative role of Nazi law in constructing consent and conceptualising Nazi law in terms of the state of exception. ²Ñ²âÌýrecent publications include '' in Fulbrook, Mary; Willems, Bastiaan; Bird, Stephanie and Rauch, Stefanie eds. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 145–158, and '' in Cercel, Cosmin; Fusco, Gian Giacomo and Lavis, Simon eds. . Law and politics: continental perspectives. Routledge, pp. 92–116, of which I am also co-editor.

²Ñ²âÌý, titled 'The Conundrum of Nazi Law: An historiographical Challenge to the Anglo-American Jurisprudential Representation of the Nazi Past'  explores how legal scholars, and those from related disciplines, write about the Nazi past and the impact this has on the way in which this period is perceived and understood as having legal and historical significance. 

Simon's teaching interests include public law, criminal law, law and society, legal research and international law. He is currently Module Chair of undergraduate law module W211 Public law. 

He is an associate lecturer (tutor) on law modules W211 Public law and W340 Law, society and culture, and has previously tutored on W203 Public law and criminal law, W350 Exploring legal boundaries and LLM module W821 Exploring the boundaries of international law. He previously taught public law and contract law at the University of Nottingham.

Simon is the academic consultant for series 2 of the OU/BBC co-production , and authored some of the  associated with this series.

He has written various blog posts for different audiences, including:

-Ìý on the British Association for Holocaust Studies blog.

- Four vlogs on with , discussing the implications of the UK Supreme Court decision in  [2019] UKSC 41

-Ìý on the OU's Year of Mygration project.

-Ìý on the OU's Open Justice blog.

Simon has ongoing research collaborations with UK and international scholars, including in particular a series of streams co-convened with Dr Cosmin Cercel and others at the Critical Legal Conference over a number of years.

Simon is a member of .