Dr Jonathan Collinson
School of Law
Lecturer in Law
Full contact details
School of Law
AF06
Bartolomé House
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
- Profile
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Jonathan joined the University of Sheffield as a Lecturer in Law in January 2023. He is the Deputy Editor for the Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law.
His research is on various facets of immigration law (particularly deportation law) and frequently uses the lens of the best interests of the child principle to analyse and critique the law. He has written about children in different aspects of the UK’s immigration system including deportation, citizenship and nationality, employment migration, and access to justice. His articles often develop practical policy or legal responses which would make the best interests of the child realisable, actionable, and operational.
He is currently preparing a research monograph on the best interests of the child principle as found in the ICO’s Age Appropriate Design Code. The book develops and expands upon a theory-led means of operationalising the best interests of the child in decision-making, drawing on Robert Alexy’s articulation of a structured approach to proportionality.
He is also currently engaged in an SLSA funded project exploring how the section 55 statutory duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children features in the reporting of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI). This work has also led him to explore the wider ecosystem of administrative justice and accountability forums in the asylum and immigration sphere.
Jonathan is a frequent contributor to academic blogs, and he has made a number of research-led, written contributions to government and other consultations. He has contributed to media discussions of immigration and asylum law on Radio 5 Live, and in The I Paper and The Guardian.
He is an experienced peer reviewer and has authored a number of book reviews. As Book Review Editor of the Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law (2020-24), he sought to push the envelope of academic book reviews, writing reviews for graphic non-fiction, reviewing related books in the same review, and co-producing a review of an academic textbook with undergraduate students.
His teaching is focused on Immigration and Asylum Law, and public laws. He convenes the first year Public Law module, and contributes teaching to Advanced Administrative Law, and Law, Accountability, and Government. Teaching for the latter takes a case study approach to the various institutions for holding the government to account in the areas of immigration and asylum, including the ICIBI, Windrush Commissioner, the Brook House Public Inquiry, and others.
He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and was awarded the 2025 University of Sheffield Teaching Award for Teaching Practice (Arts & Humanities) in recognition of his work in developing and leading teaching on Immigration and Asylum Law. He has published in The Law Teacher an account of his use of music to engage students in connecting law to contemporary debates.
He was a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the Law School, University of Huddersfield from 2018-2023. He conducted his doctoral work at the University of Birmingham, whilst also acting as a graduate teaching associate. Prior to that, Jonathan worked as a caseworker in a well-respected legal aid firm of solicitors in Birmingham, working exclusively in the area of asylum and immigration law. His practice included the representation of some of the most marginalised migrant groups, including asylum applicants and foreign national offenders.
- Qualifications
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- PhD, University of Birmingham, UK
- LLM, University of Birmingham, UK
- Research interests
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- Immigration and nationality law;
- Deportation and foreign national offenders;
- Children and immigration and nationality law;
- Legal applications of the best interests of the child principle, in immigration, nationality, and data protection law;
- Accountability forums in asylum and immigration;
- Administrative justice in asylum and immigration;
- No Recourse to Public Funds.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Ackom v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 537. Journal of Immigration, Asylum & Nationality Law, 39(3), 274-279. View this article in WRRO
- Rights claims of citizen children of foreign national parents in South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the European Court of Human Rights: hierarchies of ‘illegality’ and deservingness. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 37(1). View this article in WRRO
- Integrating music into the study of law to engage students. The Law Teacher, 57(2), 155-170. View this article in WRRO
- The UK’s points based system for employment migration: the missing social dimension. Journal of Immigration Asylum and Nationality Law, 36(3), 227-227. View this article in WRRO
- What does the ‘best interests of the child’ mean for protecting children’s digital rights? A narrative literature review in the context of the ICO’s Age appropriate design code. Communications Law, 27(3), 132-148. View this article in WRRO
- Beyond decisions about a child and decisions affecting a child in deportation cases. The International Journal of Children’s Rights, 30(3), 703-728.
- Deporting EU national offenders from the UK after Brexit: moving from a system that recognises individuals, to one that sees only offenders. New Journal of European Criminal Law, 12(4), 575-593.
- A fateful legacy of childhood: the deportation of non-citizen offenders from the UK. Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, 35(3), 230-251. View this article in WRRO
- Making the best interests of the child a substantive human right at the centre of national level expulsion decisions. Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, 38(3), 169-190.
- Reconstructing the European Court of Human Rights’ Article 8 jurisprudence in deportation cases: the family’s right and the public interest. Human Rights Law Review, 20(2), 333-360.
- Suspended deportation orders: a proposed law reform. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 40(2), 291-319.
- Complexity in the Immigration Rules: Politics or the Outcome of Judicial Review?. Judicial Review, 24(2), 85-92.
- Disciplining the Troublesome Offspring of Section 19 of the Immigration Act 2014: The Supreme Court in KO (Nigeria). Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, 33, 8-27.
- The troublesome offspring of section 19 of the immigration act 2014. Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, 31(3), 244-261. View this article in WRRO
- Immigration tribunal fees as a barrier to access to justice and substantive human rights protection for children. Public Law, 1, 1-10. View this article in WRRO
- The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration in the Administrative Justice and Accountability Ecosystem. Public law.
Book reviews
- Developing a Critical Pedagogy of Migration Studies: Ethics, Politics and Practice in the Classroom, Teresa Piacentini. Journal of Immigration, Asylum, and Nationality Law, 39, 290-290.
- Refugee Law, Colin Yeo. Journal of Immigration, Asylum & Nationality Law, 38, 197-197. View this article in WRRO
- The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – A Commentary, edited by John Tobin. The International Journal of Children’s Rights, 32(1), 219-232.
- Grasping Legal Time: Temporality and European Migration Law. Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, 38(1), 105-108. View this article in WRRO
- Book Reviews: The margins of discretion in transnational administrative acts: expulsion decisions and entry bans following a criminal conviction. Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, 37(1), 110-113. View this article in WRRO
- Book Reviews: Constructions of migrant integration in British public discourse: becoming British. Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law(36), 266-269. View this article in WRRO
- Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration, Bryan Caplan (author) and Zach Weinersmith (illustrator). Journal of Immigration Asylum and Nationality Law, 35(3), 293-293. View this article in WRRO
- Book Review “Children in Migration and International Family Law: The Child’s Best Interests Principle at the Interface of Migration Law and Family Law”. International Journal of Refugee Law.
Reports
- A reflection on the UNCRC Best Interests of the Child principle: in the context of The Age Appropriate Design Code
Digital content
- From learning to lawyering: When can political accountability have legal consequences?. Retrieved from https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/09/11/jonathan-collinson-from-learning-to-lawyering-when-can-political-accountability-have-legal-consequences/ View this article in WRRO
- Understanding the justice ramifications of immediately deporting foreign national offenders. Retrieved from https://www.ein.org.uk/blog/understanding-justice-ramifications-immediately-deporting-foreign-national-offenders View this article in WRRO
- The decision to deport a Nigerian man from Denmark was made without considering the best interests of his children: Communication No. 145/2021, OM v Denmark.
- Pay to prove that you are a child: the UK government consults on fees for age assessment appeals to the Immigration and Asylum Chambers.
- Pay to prove that you are a child: the government consults on fees for age assessment appeals to the Immigration and Asylum Chambers.
- Sunak’s “ten-point plan” for asylum: legal illiteracy and policy statements in search of a problem.
- Administrative Law Challenges in the Information Commissioner’s Office Age Appropriate Design Code.
- “Foreign National Offenders”: Not All Foreigners Who Commit Crimes Deserve to Be Deported.
- Redesigning English Football: Lessons from Constitutional Law Scholarship.
- The Post-Brexit Immigration Rules: Law Commission’s Simplification Recommendations Ignored.
- Simplifying the Immigration Rules: the government response makes the solution sound so simple.
- The Law Commission Report on Simplification of the Immigration Rules: Proposals to reformat the Immigration Rules fail to tackle the hard issues.
- Disqualifying Dual-National Parliamentarians in Australia: A Problem of Legal Status or of Their True “Belonging” to Australia?.
Other
- Editorial. Journal of Immigration Asylum and Nationality Law, 38(4), 308-308. View this article in WRRO
- Ackom v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 537. Journal of Immigration, Asylum & Nationality Law, 39(3), 274-279. View this article in WRRO
- Teaching activities
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Undergraduate Modules
- Immigration and Asylum Law
- Public Law in the UK and EU
- Advanced Administrative Law
- Law, Accountability, and Government
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Deputy Editor, Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law