Biography
John R Morss is a Senior Lecturer in Deakin Law School. John was born in London and trained in Psychology at Sheffield and Edinburgh Universities in the UK and in Law at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He completed his professional training for admission to practise Law in Dunedin (New Zealand) in 2003 and received reciprocal recognition in the Supreme Court of Victoria in the same year.
John's scholarship is always informed by interdisciplinarity. He has published extensively in his two disciplines of Psychology and Law, having published in total 7 books (3 sole-authored), over 30 refereed journal articles and 10 book chapters, with more forthcoming. In Law, his research focus is on conceptual issues in Public International Law, on which he brings to bear critical perspectives from the social sciences and humanities. His current project, which brings together interests from many years, is the articulation of an approach to global governance and global justice that is at the same time collective and pluralist.
John continues to publish in disciplines related to Psychology and its philosophical dimensions. John's book in 1990, 'The Biologising of Childhood: Developmental Psychology and the Darwinian Myth', has been reissued by Routledge in late 2017.
Before his appointment to Deakin Law School, John was for 13 years a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Otago NZ. He is familiar with pedagogical issues and principles as they relate to the tertiary sector. John was employed on a continuing basis as a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer at the University of Ulster in the UK in 1980 to 1986, and at the University of Otago in New Zealand from 1986 to 1999. He held positions of responsibility in all the long-term posts, most recently Associate Head of School in Research in Deakin Law School from 2004 to 2012, at various times Acting Head of School, including a period of 4.5 months in 2007, and Director LLB from 2015 to 2016.
John has experience from three other universities on a short-term and research-focused basis, namely; Cambridge University, Charles Sturt University and Victoria University. He spent three periods as a visiting researcher at Cambridge University. During the year-long visit in 1993 to the Social and Political Studies Faculty, he taught a lecture series and conducted ‘supervisions’ and tutorials (individual and small group teaching respectively) as well as being the second marker in the first-year examination for Social Psychology.
John was a Visiting Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge and By-Fellow, Churchill College, the University of Cambridge in 2008. He was a Visiting Fellow in the Law Department at European University Institute in Florence in 2010, and Visiting Researcher at Sheffield Centre for International and European Law, Sheffield University Law School in 2012.
He has been an active member of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, formerly the Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation, at Deakin University ADI for a number of years, and has been a member of the Executive Group for the ADI.
Read more on John's profileCareer highlights
- Visiting Researcher, Sheffield Centre for International and European Law, Sheffield University Law School, UK, November to December 2012.
- Visiting Fellowship, Law Department, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, November to December 2010.
- Visiting Fellowship, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, UK, 1 July – 31 December 2008.
- By-Fellowship, Churchill College, University of Cambridge, UK, 1 July – 31 December 2008.
- Visiting Researcher, Institute for International Law, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Germany, October 2009.
- Joshua Williams Memorial Essay Prize, Otago District Law Society, 2002.
- Paul Wallis Memorial Prize for Jurisprudence (Shared), Otago Law School, 2001.
Research interests
- Conceptual issues in Public International Law
Affiliations
- Member, American Society for International Law (Member, Executive Committee, Legal Theory Interest Group).
- Member, European Society for International Law (Member, Coordinating Committee, International Legal Theory and Philosophy Interest Group).
- Fellow, Society of Advanced Legal Studies.
- Member, Law Institute of Victoria.
Teaching interests
- International Law
- Jurisprudence
Units taught
- MLL110 - Legal Principles and Skills
- MLL335 - Legal Practice and Ethics
- MLP301 - Sentencing Law and Practice
- MLL377/MLM785 - International Law
-
MLM720 - Introduction to Commercial Law
- MLL370/MLM770 - Internet Law
- MLL327 Property Law
Knowledge areas
- Public International Law
- Jurisprudence
Professional activities
Publications
Jane Kotzmann, Emily Griffith, John Morss
(2022), pp. 81-105, Inclusive Sustainability: Harmonising Disability Law and Policy, Berlin, Germany, B1
UNCLOS and Maritime Boundary Disputes in Areas of Hydrocarbon Potential: Oil Under Troubled Waters?
V Chandra, J Morss
(2022), Vol. 53, pp. 1-18, Ocean Development and International Law, London, Eng., C1
PEOPLEHOOD OBSCURED? THE NORMATIVE STATUS OF SELF-DETERMINATION AFTER THE CHAGOS ADVISORY OPINION
Emily Forbes, John Morss
(2020), Vol. 46, pp. 145-168, MONASH UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW, C1
Cutting global justice down to size? Rights, vulnerabilities, immunities, communities
John Morss
(2019), Vol. 40, pp. 179-202, Liverpool law review, Cham, Switzerland, C1
Pluralism, peoplehood and political theology in international legal scholarship
J Morss
(2018), Vol. 27, pp. 77-98, Griffith law review, London, Eng., C1
John Morss
(2018), Vol. 58, pp. 235-264, Indian journal of international law, New York, N.Y., C1
Deleuze and psychology: philosophical provocations to psychological practices
M Nichterlein, J Morss
(2017), London, Eng., A1
"Mars for the martians?": on the obsolescence of self-determination
J Morss
(2016), pp. 184-200, Theory of self-determination, Cambridge, Eng., B1
The international legal status of the Vatican/Holy See complex
J Morss
(2015), Vol. 26, pp. 927-946, European journal of international law, Oxford, Eng., C1
Riddle of the sands: time, power, and legitimacy in international law
J Morss
(2014), pp. 53-73, Critical international law : postrealism, postcolonialism, and transnationalism, New Dehli, India, B1
Governance, representation and the 'monstrous regiment': is the collective feminine?
J Morss
(2014), Vol. 19, pp. 163-186, Deakin Law Review, Geelong, Vic, C1
International law as the law of collectives: toward a law of people
J Morss
(2013), Surrey, England, A1
O Roos, B Hayward, J Morss
(2010), Vol. 35, pp. 81-118, University of Western Australia law review, Crawley, W.A., C1
Shadow of a gunman? Legal obligations, wizards and the persistence of evil systems
J Morss
(2010), Vol. 23, pp. 274-281, Ratio juris, Oxford, England, C1
Legal relations of collectives : belated insights from Hohfeld
J Morss
(2009), Vol. 22, pp. 289-305, Leiden journal of international law, Cambridge, England, C1
Facts, threats and reds : common law constitutionalism and the rule of law
J Morss
(2009), Vol. 14, pp. 79-98, Deakin law review, Burwood, Vic., C1
Evil regimes of law : challenges for legal theory and for international law
J Morss
(2009), Vol. 13, pp. 137-154, University of Western Sydney law review, Sydney, N.S.W., C1
PART OF THE PROBLEM OR PART OF THE SOLUTION? LEGAL POSITIVISM AND LEGAL EDUCATION
John Morss
(2008), Vol. 18, pp. 55-71, LEGAL EDUCATION REVIEW, C1
Can custom be incorporated in law? On the place of the empirical in the identification of norms
J Morss
(2008), Vol. 53, pp. 85-99, American journal of jurisprudence, Notre Dame, Ind., C1
Good global governance : custom, the cosmopolitan and international law
J Morss
(2007), Vol. 3, pp. 59-71, International journal of law in context, Cambridge, England, C1
'Desperately mortal': exclusion in Shakespeare's legal plays
J Morss
(2007), Vol. 12, pp. 181-191, Deakin law review, Melbourne, Vic, C1
J Morss
(2006), pp. 85-98, Poststructuralism, philosophy, pedagogy, Berlin, Germany, B1-1
International sentencing law: in search of a justification and coherent framework
M Bagaric, J Morss
(2006), Vol. 6, pp. 191-255, International criminal law review, Leiden, The Netherlands, C1
Transforming humanitarian intervention from an expedient accident to a categorical imperative
M Bagaric, J Morss
(2005), Vol. 30, pp. 421-452, Brooklyn journal of international law, Brooklyn, N.Y., C1
On the paradox of originality in the law: an essay in deconstructive jurisprudence
J Morss
(2005), Vol. 1, pp. 6-9, Original law review, South Yarra, Vic., C1
Pride's purge: a puritanical response to Dr Allan's 'a modest proposal'
J Morss
(2005), Vol. 30, pp. 82-88, Australian journal of legal philosophy, Canberra, A.C.T, C1
Sources of doubt, sources of duty: HLA Hart on international law
J Morss
(2005), Vol. 10, pp. 698-707, Deakin law review, Burwood, Vic., C1
State sovereignty and migration control: the ultimate act of discrimination?
M Bagaric, J Morss
(2005), Vol. 1, pp. 25-50, Journal of migration and refugee issues, Melbourne, Vic., C1
J Morss, M Bagaric
(2005), Vol. 15, pp. 217-242, Transnational law and contemporary problems, Iowa City, Iowa, C1
The status of child offenders under international criminal justice: lessons from Sierra Leone
J Morss
(2004), Vol. 9, pp. 213-225, Deakin law review, Burwood, Vic, C1
Crime stories: posnerian pragmatism, Rawlsian pure procedural justice, and the fictional problem
J Morss
(2004), Vol. 9, pp. 643-654, Deakin law review, Burwood, Vic., C1
But for the barriers: significant extensions to children's capacity
J Morss
(2004), Vol. 11, pp. 319-322, Psychiatry, psychology and law, Melbourne, Vic., C1
Heteronomy as the challenge to nation: a critique of collective and of individual rights
J Morss
(2004), Vol. 8, pp. 167-190, Law Text Culture, University of Wollongong, N.S.W, C1
J Morss
(2004), Vol. 1, pp. 187-197, University of New England law journal, Armidale, N.S.W., C1
Let a hundred flowers blossom: secondary creativity and the over-protection of intellectual property
J Morss
(2004), Vol. 10, pp. 655-669, Otago law review, Dunedin, N.Z., C1-1
"Looking for Allies": Gilles Deleuze as Critical Theorist
J Morss
(2003), pp. 127-139, Futures of Critical Theory : Dreams of Difference, Lanham, Maryland, United States, B1-1
Who's afraid of the big bad fish? Rethinking what the law wishes to have
J Morss
(2003), Vol. 27, pp. 199-216, Melbourne University law review, Melbourne, Vic., C1-1
Saving human rights from its friends : a critique of the imaginary justice of Costas Douzinas
J Morss
(2003), Vol. 27, pp. 889-904, Melbourne University law review, Melbourne, Vic, C1-1
J Morss
(2002), Vol. 10, pp. 39-54, International journal of children's rights, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1-1
Postmodern psychologies, societal practice, and political life
L Holzman, J Morss
(2000), Abingdon, Eng., A7-1
J Morss
(1992), pp. 241-257, Trees of life: essays in philosophy of biology, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, B1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
No Funded Projects at Deakin found
Supervisions
Vivek Chandra
Thesis entitled: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and Maritime Boundary Disputes in Areas of Hydrocarbon Potential
Doctor of Philosophy, Deakin Law School
Sams Uddin Ahmed
Thesis entitled: Improving Compliance of Income Tax in Developing Countries: Bangladesh Perspective
Doctor of Philosophy, Deakin Law School
Saul Squires
Thesis entitled: The Need for Treaty-based E-Consumer Protections in Global B2C E-Commerce
Doctor of Juridicial Science, School of Law
Athula Pathinayake
Thesis entitled: Beyond Incarceration: Moving Towards Evidence¿ based Sentencing Outcomes
Doctor of Philosophy, Deakin Law School
Andrew Marriott
Thesis entitled: Lawyers, Guns and Money : Advocacy and Politics in Post-conflict Development
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Syeda Rafia Zaman
Thesis entitled: Climate Change and Migration: Finding a Solution through Public Interest Litigation
Master of Laws, Deakin Law School