51cg

People

Dr Benjamin Lawrence

Dr Benjamin Lawrence
Dr Benjamin Lawrence
Dr Benjamin Lawrence

Lecturer

51cg
Email Address
benjamin.lawrence@abdn.ac.uk
School/Department
School of Law

Biography

Ben Lawrence joined the 51cg as Lecturer in Public Law and Anti-SLAPP in 2026, having previously taught at Durham Law School and the School of Oriental and African Studies (London), as well as being a Research Fellow at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies, National University of Singapore. Ben received his Ph.D. in Law and Society from the University of Victoria (Canada) in December 2019. He holds an M.A. in International and Comparative Legal Studies (SOAS), and a B.A. in American History and Politics (University of Leicester). A socio-legal scholar who focuses on constitutions, Ben has a particular interest in  constitutional law in authoritarian and post-conflict contexts, with a regional orientation towards Southeast Asia. Most notably, Ben has written extensively on constitutional practice in Cambodia, with a monograph – titled In the Shadow of the Constitution: the Micropolitics of Constitutional Contestation in Cambodia –published with Cambridge University Press in 2025. Meanwhile, along with Brian Tiojanco (University of Tokyo), Jaclyn Neo (NUS) and Kentaro Matsubara (Tokyo), Ben was also a co-editor of the book Pathways to Constitutional Legitimacy in Asia Pacific (Edward Elgar, 2026). Elsewhere, Ben’s publications have appeared in the Journal of Law and Religion, the Journal of Legal Pluralism and Critical Social Analysis, the Asian Journal of Law and Society, and Contemporary Southeast Asia. Outside of academia, Ben has worked with the Geneva-based conflict-mediation organisation, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue; the Constitution-Building program of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance; the Cambodian Development Resource Institute; and the European Union External Action Service.

Internal Memberships

Convenor, Anti-SLAPP Research Hub

Latest Publications

  • In the Shadow of the Constitution: the Micropolitics of Constitutional Contestation in Cambodia: The Micropolitics of Constitutional Contestation in Cambodia

    Lawrence, B.
    Books and Reports: Books
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

  • Pathways to Constitutional Legitimacy in Asia Pacific

    Lawrence, B., Tiojanco, B. D. G., Neo, J., Matsubara, K.
    Books and Reports: Books
    • [ONLINE]

  • From Post-Conflict Coalitions to Regime Consolidation: Constitutional Amendments in Cambodia

    Lawrence, B.
    Asian Comparative Constitutional Law, Volume 2: Constitutional Amendments, pp. 311-333, 23 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE]

  • Reconstituting the Divided Sangha: Buddhist Authority in Post-Conflict Cambodia

    Lawrence, B.
    Buddhism and Comparative Constitutional Law. Cambridge University Press, pp. 220-238, 19 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]
    • [ONLINE]

  • The Symbolic Safeguard: Royal Absence in Cambodia's Constitutional Monarchy

    Lawrence, B.
    Asian Journal of Law and Society, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 382-398
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

View My Publications

Research

Research Areas

Law

  • Supervising
View Research Area

Research Specialisms

  • Public Law
  • Comparative Law
  • Sociology of Law
  • Comparative Politics
  • War and Peace Studies

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is , published under the licence.

Teaching

Programmes

Courses

Publications

Page 1 of 1 Results 1 to 9 of 9

  • In the Shadow of the Constitution: the Micropolitics of Constitutional Contestation in Cambodia: The Micropolitics of Constitutional Contestation in Cambodia

    Lawrence, B.
    Books and Reports: Books
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

  • Pathways to Constitutional Legitimacy in Asia Pacific

    Lawrence, B., Tiojanco, B. D. G., Neo, J., Matsubara, K.
    Books and Reports: Books
    • [ONLINE]

  • From Post-Conflict Coalitions to Regime Consolidation: Constitutional Amendments in Cambodia

    Lawrence, B.
    Asian Comparative Constitutional Law, Volume 2: Constitutional Amendments, pp. 311-333, 23 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE]

  • Reconstituting the Divided Sangha: Buddhist Authority in Post-Conflict Cambodia

    Lawrence, B.
    Buddhism and Comparative Constitutional Law. Cambridge University Press, pp. 220-238, 19 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]
    • [ONLINE]

  • The Symbolic Safeguard: Royal Absence in Cambodia's Constitutional Monarchy

    Lawrence, B.
    Asian Journal of Law and Society, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 382-398
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

  • Saffron Suffrage: Buddhist Monks and Constitutional Politics in Cambodia

    Lawrence, B.
    Journal of Law and Religion, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 261-285
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]
    • [ONLINE]

  • New constitutional rites: indigeneity, legal pluralism and the international finance corporation’s performance standards in Cambodia

    Lawrence, B.
    Legal Pluralism and Critical Social Analysis, vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 48-67
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

  • Authoritarian constitutional borrowing and convergence in Cambodia

    Lawrence, B.
    Contemporary Southeast Asia, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 321-344
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE]
    • [ONLINE]

  • Outlawing Opposition, Imposing Rule of Law: Authoritarian Constitutionalism in Cambodia

    Lawrence, B.
    Asian Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 225-249
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

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