Professor Mark O'Brien

Overview

Professor Mark O'Brien is the Deputy Dean of The City Law School and Professor of Law and Society at City St George’s, University of London, which he joined in 2020.   Mark previously served as the Head of the School of Law at Oxford Brookes University and Director of Law at the University of the West of England, Bristol. He holds degrees from the Universities of Exeter and Reading, and has also held academic appointments at Reading and Sheffield Hallam Universities. He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA).

  Research & Teaching Mark’s research focuses primarily on the intersection of law, technology, and society, with a particular interest in modern moral panics. His widely published work spans criminal justice, human rights, IT law, internet regulation, and public order law. The thread running through his work is how law struggles—and adapts—to regulate virtual spaces and marginalised, counter-cultural groups, ranging from policing 'new age' travellers, regulating online pornography, technology and privacy, to online regulation in the era of QAnon and Covid-19. In the classroom, Mark teaches public law and IT law to LLB, LLM, and GDL students.

  Academic Leadership & External Roles Mark has held several UK and international socio-legal, legal education, academic learned society, and regulatory roles, including:

• Association of Law Teachers (ALT): Chair (2025–2027), having previously served as Vice-Chair, Treasurer, and Executive Committee Member.
• Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA): Information Technology Law and Cyberspace stream convener, as well as former Treasurer, Seminar Grants Chair, and Executive Committee Member.
• Higher Education Policy, Regulatory & Quality Assurance: Member of the QAA Law Benchmark Statement Panel, contributor to Advance HE’s guidance on free speech in higher education, and member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority Reference Group on the development of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination.
• Editorial Boards: Special Issues Editor for Information and Communications Technology Law and member of the editorial boards for The Law Teacher and the Journal of Information Law, Policy and Practice.

  Selected Publications & Academic Outputs

Recent Journal Articles

• O’Brien, M. (2023). ‘The coming of the storm: moral panics, social media and regulation in the QAnon era.’ Information & Communications Technology Law, 32(1), pp. 1–20.
• Ashford, C. and O’Brien, M. (2022). ‘Counter-Cultural Groups in the Age of Covid: Ravers, Travellers and Legal Regulation.’ The Journal of Criminal Law, 86(6), pp. 410–425.

Recent Policy Papers

• Bass D (with Waltham-Smith N, O'Brien M, Li S, Gilligan R, and

  Yaqoob P) (2025) Advance HE: Embedding Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.creode.advancehe-document-manager/documents/advance-he/Embedding_freedom_of_speech_academic_freedom_EDI_Sept_2025_1756732570.pdf

Qualifications

• LLB, University of Exeter, UK
• LLM, University of Reading, UK

Employment

• Deputy Dean of The City Law School, City, University of London, United Kingdom, 2022 - present
• Associate Dean (Undergraduate and First Degree Programmes), City, University of London, 2020 - 2022, City, University of London, United Kingdom, 2020 - 2022
• Head of the School of Law (and Faculty Head of International Partnerships), Oxford Brookes University, UK, 2014 - 2020
• Senior Lecturer, then Principal Lecturer, then Associate Head (Law Subject Leader), then Director of Law, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK, 2006 - 2014
• Researcher, then Lecturer, then Senior Lecturer in Law, Sheffield Hallam University, UK, 1995 - 2006
• Tutor in Law, University of Reading, UK, 1993 - 1994

Publications by category