Dr Jonathan Brown
Lecturer
Law
Personal statement
Dr Brown joined the law school as a lecturer in Scots private law in August 2019, having previously held the post of lecturer in law at Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University (2017-2019). Dr Brown considers himself to be a private law generalist and he has a keen interest in Scottish legal history. Drawing on the fact that Scotland exists as a 'mixed' legal jurisdiction, much of his work seeks to indicate the lessons that can be learned by drawing on the Civilian roots of the Scottish legal system. His publications range across a breadth of Scots law topics in both primary and contextual contexts; most recently (amongst other things), he has written on the 'intellectual superstructure' of the law of delict, the significance of properly ordering and categorising pecuniary remedies in Scots law and the (hitherto unexplored and prospective) relation of the Scots law of succession to business partnerships. In addition to his academic publications, Dr. Brown has continued to engage with the Scottish legal profession. In 2022, he worked as a part of an expert committee assembled by the Law Society of Scotland to develop 'proactive policy' in respect of medical decision-making in intensive care situations. This involved contributing to the eventual LSS Report, as well as authoring an appendix to that report. As present, partly related to this work conducted for the LSS, Dr. Brown is working on a project, funded by the Scottish Universities Law Institute, concerning the use of negotiorum gestio (lit. 'management of affairs' - sometimes nonliterally rendered as 'benevolent intervention') in modern legal practice. In terms of teaching, Dr Brown likewise works across the breadth of the Scots Private Law curriculum, covering the law of persons, property and obligations. He is also the module coordinator for the M9416 Issues in Healthcare Law and Ethics class and, having introduced the M9362 Roman Law module to Strathclyde, continues to lecture on this programme.
Publications
- Introduction : Emotions and the Law. Anger, Shame, Disappointment, and Envy
- Ghio Emilie, Brown Jonathan, Dodd Leslie
- Emotions and the Law. Anger, Shame, Disappointment, and Envy (2026) (2026)
- Conclusion : Emotions and the Law: Anger, Shame, Disappointment, and Envy
- Ghio Emilie, Dodd Leslie, Brown Jonathan
- Emotions and the Law: Anger, Shame, Disappointment, and Envy (2026) (2026)
- Emotions and the Law : Anger, Shame, Disappointment, and Envy
- Ghio Emilie, Dodd Leslie, Brown Jonathan
- (2026)
- Scotify! What is it and why did we do it?
- Brown Jonathan
- Juridical Review (2026)
- URS Corporation Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd [2025] UKSC 21 : a less tortuous path to a just outcome?
- Brown Jonathan
- Juridical Review (2026)
- Piercing the corporate veil, or cutting the Gordian knot? McLellan v Anderson [2026] SC DUNF 85
- Brown Jonathan
- Green's Reparation Bulletin (2026)
Professional Activities
- Scottish Universities Law Institute (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 1/8/2026
- Regulating ‘Registered Medical Practitioners’: Scots Law and the Abortion Act 1967
- Speaker
- 17/6/2026
- 'Decriminalisation' of abortion in Scotland: A solution in search of a problem
- Speaker
- 17/6/2026
- Invited Response - Scottish Abortion Law Review
- Contributor
- 5/6/2026
- Juridical Review (Journal)
- Guest editor
- 1/4/2026
- Our Father, Who Art in the Court of Session’
- Speaker
- 6/3/2026
Projects
- Scotify! Views from the North on Recent Extra-jurisdictional Court Rulings
- Brown, Jonathan (Principal Investigator)
- An event to explore how global court precedents impact Scots law Legal experts discuss handling foreign rulings in the Scottish context.
Court judgments from the Common law world are commonly referred to by Scottish legal practitioners. This happens despite the fact that Scotland is not a Common law jurisdiction and Scots law is said to be founded on distinct principles, rather than precedents. Precedents – from around the world – often throw up novel and interesting factual scenarios, however.
This event, consequently, brings together a range of subject-experts to talk about recent precedents from outwith Scotland, with a view to analysing how such cases should be handled, according to the principles of Scots law, should similar factual situations occur in this jurisdiction.
We invite legal practitioners, sheriffs, judges, legal academics, law students and anyone else with an interest in Scots law and justice to attend. - 03-Jan-2025 - 03-Jan-2025
- Seminar in Honour of Professor John Blackie
- Brown, Jonathan (Principal Investigator) Brodie, Douglas (Co-investigator)
- Clark Foundation for Legal Education grant (£3,000) to host a seminar in honour of Professor John Blackie (emeritus Professor in Law at the University of Strathclyde)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 27-Jan-2025
- Aiding the Unable: Negotiorum Gestio in Legal Practice
- Brown, Jonathan (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2025
- Aiding the Unable: Negotiorum Gestio in Legal Practice
- Brown, Jonathan (Principal Investigator)
- SULI-Funded Early Career Fellowship (grant of £2,500) - to investigate the non-judicial use of negotiorum gestio (unauthorised agency) in modern Scottish legal practice.
- 01-Jan-2024 - 01-Jan-2026
- AHRC - Doctoral Training Partnership Scotland | Brown, Jonathan
- Neal, Mary (Principal Investigator) Blackie, John (Co-investigator) Brown, Jonathan (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2014 - 25-Jan-2020