Dr Mazen Masri

Overview

Dr Mazen Masri joined the City Law School as a lecturer in September 2013. He has previously taught at the University of Toronto and York University in Toronto, Canada.

Mazen's areas of teaching and research are constitutional law and public international law with special interest in comparative constitutionalism, constitutional theory, human rights law and equality. Mazen's scholarly work explores the interaction between law and broader social, political and economic questions. His current research explores the role of settler-colonialism in shaping law. In addition to law, Mazen has an interest in the theory and practice of academic freedom.

His work has appeared legal and interdisciplinary journals such as Social and Legal Studies, Asian Journal of International Law and International Journal of Law in Context as well as scholarly ezines and blogs. His book, The Dynamics of Exclusionary Constitutionalism: Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State, was published in 2017 as part of Hart Studies in Comparative Public Law Series.The book was shortlisted for the Peter Birks Book Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship which is awarded by the Society of Legal Scholars.

Mazen obtained his LLB degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and his LLM degree from the University of Toronto. He received his PhD from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto. His doctoral studies were partially funded through a fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Mazen is a qualified lawyer and a member of the Israeli Bar Association. He has worked as a lawyer and consultant, and has served as legal advisor to the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

In addition to research and teaching, Mazen maintains professional links with a number of civil society organisations. He is a member of the academic committee of the Israel studies programme at Mada al-Carmel: The Arab Centre for Applied Social Research based in Haifa, and a member of the Steering Committee of Sijal Institute for Arabic Language and Culture in Amman. Mazen is also a member of the Legal Action Committee of the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), a non-profit organisation that uses innovative legal methods to challenge injustice and promote and protect human rights globally.

Mazen's main research interests include constitutional law, comparative constitutionalism, constitutional theory, public international law and human rights law. In addition, he has an interest in academic freedom. His scholarly work explores the interaction between law and broader social, political and economic questions.

PhD supervision

Dr Masri welcomes approaches for supervision from prospective PhD students in the areas of public law, public international law and international human rights, especially in relation to the Middle East.

Featured publications

1. Masri, M. (2017). The Dynamics of Exclusionary Constitutionalism: Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State. Oxford: Hart Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5099-0253-8.
2. Masri, M. (2017). Colonial imprints: settler-colonialism as a fundamental feature of Israeli constitutional law. International Journal of Law in Context, 13(3), pp. 388–407. doi:10.1017/s1744552316000409.

Publications by category