James Murray

He has a particular expertise on the law around academic freedom and free expression on campus, on which he has advised institutions, academics, think tanks, politicians and the Government, often on complex employment and free expression issues, including both disputes and compliance matters.

He has published multiple articles on academic freedom, in addition to submissions of evidence to the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of expression, the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights, and the House of Commons Public Bill Committee in relation to the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 (both individually and in collaboration with English PEN, one of the world’s oldest human rights organisations).

James is a Research Fellow (Law and Policy) at the University of Buckingham, and has published several academic papers on the law concerning academic freedom and free expression on campus, a topic on which he regularly speaks and has been quoted in the national press.

He is also an Academic Visitor at the University of Oxford (Humanities Division and Kellogg College), as part of which he hosts discussions and conducts research on academic freedom and free speech on campus.

Academic publications

• "Examining the interaction between harassment under the Equality Act 2010 and the law protecting academic freedom and free expression on campus", European Human Rights Law Review 2022.
• "The Thinkery and the Academy: Examining the Legal Parameters and Interactions of Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression under English Law" Current Legal Problems 2023.
• "The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023: An employment focussed overview" Industrial Law Journal 2023.
• "Higgs v Farmor's School; analysis and consideration of how its general principles apply with respect to academic free expression" European Human Rights Law Review 2024.
• "An overview of core duties on universities in England and Wales pertaining to the securing of free speech" and SSRN Public International Journal: Human Rights: eJournal 2024.
• "Academic Freedom and Protected Philosophical Belief: Strengthening the Legal Analysis" Industrial Law Journal 2024.
• “The Grainger test challenged? Thomas v Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust” Industrial Law Journal 2024.
• "Towards a more Convention-al approach: Article 10 and unfair dismissal in England" Industrial Law Journal 2025.
• "Comparing the core duty to secure free speech in higher education under the 1986 and 2023 Acts" Entertainment Law Review 2025.
• "Legal challenges for English universities in the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism and associated examples" forthcoming in the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism 2025.
• “Managing Manifestations: protected beliefs in the workplace and the Court of Appeal judgment in Higgs v Farmor’s School” – under peer review.”

Media Coverage

• Watch James’ lecture at UCL Law School
• Read him in the Times Higher Education on the HE Act: The free speech bill has finally become law; and The UK’s Freedom of Speech bill needs an exemption for heckling
• Read him on academic free expression in The Critic:; and, the Employment Lawyers Association Briefing

Experience and Qualifications

• Qualified in 2015

Professional memberships

• Employment Lawyers’ Association (ELA)