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Dr Stephen Smith
(he/him)
Reader in Law
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
I joined the Cardiff School of Law and Politics as a Senior Lecturer in Medical Law and Ethics in September of 2016. I was promoted to Reader in 2021. Prior to arriving in Cardiff, I was a Lecturer at the Birmingham Law School where I taught Jurisprudence, Bioethics and Criminal Law and Medicine. I have a PhD from Manchester which he received in 2003. I also have a J.D. degree from Washington University School of Law (St. Louis, Missouri) (1998) and a B.A. in Psychology from Mercyhurst College (Erie, Pennsylvania) (1995).
My primary research interests are in bioethics and healthcare law. I am particularly interested in the interaction between bioethics and law, particularly in judicial decision-making. I also have an interest in how bioethics is implemented into policy and how popular culture interacts with bioethics and healthcare law. Much of my work has involved end-of-life decisions. I am the lead editor of Ethical Judgments: Re-Writing Medical Law which was published by Hart-Bloomsbury in 2017. I am also the author of a book by Cambridge University Press (2012) entitled End-of-Life Decisions in Medical Care: Principles and Policies for Regulating the Dying Process. I am currently working on a book about conscience and healthcare decisions.
I have supervised numerous undergraduate and Master's projects at Birmingham as well as supervising two PhD students in law to completion (Dr Mandeep Dyal, 2014 and Dr Clark Hobson, 2015). I am willing to supervise PhD projects within my areas of specialisation which include bioethics, medical/healthcare law and jurisprudence.
Publication
2023
- Smith, S. 2023. Principled effects: The importance of Beauchamp and Childress' Principles of Biomedical Ethics. In: Fovargue, S. and Purshouse, C. eds. Leading Works in Health Law and Ethics. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, pp. 25-38.
2020
- Smith, S. W. 2020. The responsibilities of conscience in healthcare decisions: moving towards a collaborative framework. Cambridge Law Journal 79(1), pp. 120-147. (10.1017/S000819732000001X)
2018
- Smith, S. 2018. Individualised claims of conscience, clinical judgement and best interests. Health Care Analysis 26(1), pp. 81-93. (10.1007/s10728-016-0330-6)
2017
- Smith, S. et al. eds. 2017. Ethical judgments: re-writing medical law. UK: Hart Publishing.
- Smith, S. 2017. Nicklinson and the ethics of the legal system. In: Smith, S. et al. eds. Ethical Judgments: Re-Writing Medical Law. Oxford, UK: Hart Publishing, pp. 221-226.
- Smith, S. 2017. Ethical judgment 1, AIredale NHS Trust v. Bland. In: Smith, S. et al. eds. Ethical Judgments: Re-Writing Medical Law. Oxford, UK: Hart Publishing, pp. 65-70.
2016
- Smith, S. W. 2016. Dogs and monsters: moral status claims in the fiction of Dean Koontz. Journal of Medical Humanities 37(1), pp. 35-51. (10.1007/s10912-015-9329-5)
2015
- Smith, S. 2015. A bridge too far: individualised claims of conscience. Medical Law Review 23(2), pp. 283-302. (10.1093/medlaw/fwv011)
2013
- Smith, S. 2013. Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v James, [2013] EWCA Civ 65 [Case Comment]. Medical Law Review 21(4), pp. 622-631. (10.1093/medlaw/fwt028)
- Smith, S. 2013. Right answers and Realism: Ronald Dworkin's theory of integrity as a successor to Realism. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 64(4), pp. 507-523.
2012
- Smith, S. 2012. Dignity as a socially constructed value. In: Alghrani, A., Ost, S. and Bennett,, R. eds. Bioethics, Medicine and the Criminal Law: The Criminal Law and Bioethical Conflict: Walking the Tightrope., Vol. 1. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 175-188.
- Smith, S. 2012. End-of-life decisions in medical care: principles and policies for regulating the dying process. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
2010
- Smith, S. 2010. How we value life: George Bailey and the life not worthy of being lived. In: Yorke, J. ed. The Right to Life and the Value of Life: Orientations in Law, Politics and Ethics. Abingdon, UK: Routledge Publishers, pp. 101-118.
- Smith, S. 2010. Assisted suicide and the law: what every nurse should know. British Journal of Nursing 19(13), pp. 858-859. (10.12968/bjon.2010.19.13.48866)
2009
- Smith, S. and Deazley, R. eds. 2009. The medical, legal and cultural regulation of the body: transformation and transgression. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
- Smith, S. 2009. New guidelines on assisted suicide: will nurses be prosecuted?. British Journal of Nursing 18(22), pp. 1396-1397. (10.12968/bjon.2009.18.22.45569)
2008
- Smith, S. 2008. Precautionary reasoning in determining moral worth. In: Michael, F. ed. Law and Bioethics: Current Legal Issues., Vol. 11. Current Legal Issues Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 197-212.
2007
- Smith, S. 2007. Dignity: the difference between abortion and neonaticide for the severely disabled. In: Erin, C. A. and Ost, S. eds. The Criminal Justice System and Health Care. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 175-188.
- Smith, S. 2007. Empirical research in the debate on physician-assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia. Clinical Ethics 2(3), pp. 129-132. (10.1258/147775007781870128)
- Smith, S. 2007. Some realism about end of life: the current prohibition and the euthanasia underground. American Journal of Law and Medicine 33(1), pp. 55-95.
2005
- Smith, S. 2005. Fallacies of the logical slippery slope in the debate on physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Medical Law Review 13(2), pp. 224-243. (10.1093/medlaw/fwi013)
- Smith, S. 2005. Evidence for the practical slippery slope in the debate on physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Medical Law Review 13(1), pp. 17-44. (10.1093/medlaw/fwi002)
- Smith, S. 2005. The killing of severely disabled newborns: the spectre behind the legalisation of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Medicine and Law 24(4), pp. 791-802.
Articles
- Smith, S. W. 2020. The responsibilities of conscience in healthcare decisions: moving towards a collaborative framework. Cambridge Law Journal 79(1), pp. 120-147. (10.1017/S000819732000001X)
- Smith, S. 2018. Individualised claims of conscience, clinical judgement and best interests. Health Care Analysis 26(1), pp. 81-93. (10.1007/s10728-016-0330-6)
- Smith, S. W. 2016. Dogs and monsters: moral status claims in the fiction of Dean Koontz. Journal of Medical Humanities 37(1), pp. 35-51. (10.1007/s10912-015-9329-5)
- Smith, S. 2015. A bridge too far: individualised claims of conscience. Medical Law Review 23(2), pp. 283-302. (10.1093/medlaw/fwv011)
- Smith, S. 2013. Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v James, [2013] EWCA Civ 65 [Case Comment]. Medical Law Review 21(4), pp. 622-631. (10.1093/medlaw/fwt028)
- Smith, S. 2013. Right answers and Realism: Ronald Dworkin's theory of integrity as a successor to Realism. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 64(4), pp. 507-523.
- Smith, S. 2010. Assisted suicide and the law: what every nurse should know. British Journal of Nursing 19(13), pp. 858-859. (10.12968/bjon.2010.19.13.48866)
- Smith, S. 2009. New guidelines on assisted suicide: will nurses be prosecuted?. British Journal of Nursing 18(22), pp. 1396-1397. (10.12968/bjon.2009.18.22.45569)
- Smith, S. 2007. Empirical research in the debate on physician-assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia. Clinical Ethics 2(3), pp. 129-132. (10.1258/147775007781870128)
- Smith, S. 2007. Some realism about end of life: the current prohibition and the euthanasia underground. American Journal of Law and Medicine 33(1), pp. 55-95.
- Smith, S. 2005. Fallacies of the logical slippery slope in the debate on physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Medical Law Review 13(2), pp. 224-243. (10.1093/medlaw/fwi013)
- Smith, S. 2005. Evidence for the practical slippery slope in the debate on physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Medical Law Review 13(1), pp. 17-44. (10.1093/medlaw/fwi002)
- Smith, S. 2005. The killing of severely disabled newborns: the spectre behind the legalisation of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Medicine and Law 24(4), pp. 791-802.
Book sections
- Smith, S. 2023. Principled effects: The importance of Beauchamp and Childress' Principles of Biomedical Ethics. In: Fovargue, S. and Purshouse, C. eds. Leading Works in Health Law and Ethics. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, pp. 25-38.
- Smith, S. 2017. Nicklinson and the ethics of the legal system. In: Smith, S. et al. eds. Ethical Judgments: Re-Writing Medical Law. Oxford, UK: Hart Publishing, pp. 221-226.
- Smith, S. 2017. Ethical judgment 1, AIredale NHS Trust v. Bland. In: Smith, S. et al. eds. Ethical Judgments: Re-Writing Medical Law. Oxford, UK: Hart Publishing, pp. 65-70.
- Smith, S. 2012. Dignity as a socially constructed value. In: Alghrani, A., Ost, S. and Bennett,, R. eds. Bioethics, Medicine and the Criminal Law: The Criminal Law and Bioethical Conflict: Walking the Tightrope., Vol. 1. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 175-188.
- Smith, S. 2010. How we value life: George Bailey and the life not worthy of being lived. In: Yorke, J. ed. The Right to Life and the Value of Life: Orientations in Law, Politics and Ethics. Abingdon, UK: Routledge Publishers, pp. 101-118.
- Smith, S. 2008. Precautionary reasoning in determining moral worth. In: Michael, F. ed. Law and Bioethics: Current Legal Issues., Vol. 11. Current Legal Issues Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 197-212.
- Smith, S. 2007. Dignity: the difference between abortion and neonaticide for the severely disabled. In: Erin, C. A. and Ost, S. eds. The Criminal Justice System and Health Care. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 175-188.
Books
- Smith, S. et al. eds. 2017. Ethical judgments: re-writing medical law. UK: Hart Publishing.
- Smith, S. 2012. End-of-life decisions in medical care: principles and policies for regulating the dying process. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
- Smith, S. and Deazley, R. eds. 2009. The medical, legal and cultural regulation of the body: transformation and transgression. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Research
My primary areas of expertise are healthcare law and ethics. Specifically, my work focuses on the interaction between healthcare law and bioethics. This has included a monograph on end-of-life decision making published by Cambridge University Press in 2012. Additionally, I was the lead editor of the Ethical Judgments Project which led to the edited collection Ethical Judgments: Re-Writing Medical Law published by Hart-Bloomsbury in 2017.
My current research focuses on issues of conscience and its role in healthcare decision-making. I have published a series of articles on this topic in the Medical Law Review, Health Care Analysis, and the Cambridge Law Journal. I am currently working on a monograph on this topic for Cambridge University Press.
Teaching
I am currently the module leader and teach on the Undergraduate Healthcare, Ethics, and Law (HEAL) module.
I am also the programme director of the Legal Aspects of Medical Practice (LAMP) LLM programme. I am the module leader and teach on two of the programme's modules (Introduction to Medical Law and Ethics and Ethical Judgments in Healthcare Law). I also teach on the remaining two modules of the programme (Legal and Professional Regulation of Medical Practice and Capacity and Consent to Treatment)
Biography
Education and Qualifications
- 2003: PhD (Law), University oif Manchester, UK
- 1998: J.D., Washington University School of Law, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- 1995: B.A. (Psychology), Mercyhurst College, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA
Career Overview
- 2021 - present: Reader in Medical Law and Ethics, Cardiff School of Law and Politics
- 2016 - 2021: Senior Lecturer in Medical Law and Ethics, Cardiff School of Law and Politics
- 2003 - 2016: Lecturer in Law, Birmingham Law School, Birmingham, UK
Supervisions
I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:
- Medical/healthcare law and ethics
- the intersection and interaction of healthcare law and bioethics
- judicial decision-making and bioethics
- jurisprudence
Current supervision
Dani O'Connor
Contact Details
Research themes
Specialisms
- Bioethics
- Law and humanities
- Legal theory, jurisprudence and legal interpretation
- Medical and health law
- Medical ethics
