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Professor Mark James

Professor of Sports Law

My profile

Biography

Key responsibilities
Director of Research, Manchester Law School

Background

Professor Mark James re-joined Manchester Law School in January 2016. He began his academic career at Anglia Polytechnic University on a research scholarship, examining the scope of the consent given by participants in contact sports to injury-causing challenges. His first appointment at Manchester Metropolitan University was in 1997 to lecture in criminal law and sports law and to develop its innovative MA (Sport and the Law). In 2006, Mark moved to the University of Salford to help establish the newly created Salford Law School. During his time there, he was appointed Reader in Law, Associate Head (Research), Director of the Salford Centre of Legal Research and served two years as Head of School. From 2013 to 2015, he was Director of REF Strategy at Northumbria Law School, from where he returned to Manchester Met to take up the position of Director of Research in the Law School. Mark is one of the country’s leading experts on sports law and Olympic law.

Specialism Sports Law and Olympic Law

Get in touch

0161 247 2445
6.29 Sandra Burslem Building

Teaching

I teach sports law across a number of units and have also delivered classes in tort and criminal law.

I am currently supervising PhDs on the evolution and legality of football banning orders, the governance of badminton, and the protection of literary characters across different media by the amalgamation of copyright.

Research outputs

  • Books (authored/edited/special issues)

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2023) Olympic Laws: culture, values, tensions. London: Routledge.

    James, M.D. (2017) Sports Law. Palgrave Macmillan.

    James, M.D. (2013) Sports Law. Palgrave Macmillan.

  • Chapters in books

    James, M., Pearson, G. 'Regulating Anti-Social Behaviour and Disorder among Football Spectators.' Anti-Social Behaviour in Britain. Palgrave Macmillan,

    'The Olympic Laws and the Contradictions of Promoting and Preserving the Olympic Ideal.' In James, M., Osborn, G. (ed.) Handbook of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Routledge,

    Greenfield, S., James, M., Osborn, G. 'The Olympics, the Law and the Contradictions of Olympism.' The Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies. Palgrave Macmillan,

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2024) 'The influence of European legal culture on the evolution of Lex Olympica and Olympic Law.' The European Roots of the Lex Sportiva: how Europe rules global sport. Oxford: Hart Publishing, pp. 93-118.

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2024) 'Income and earnings at the Olympic Games.' Olympic Laws: culture, values, tensions. London: Routledge, pp. 41-64.

    James, M. (2023) 'Restricting athletes' voices: the evolution of Rule 50 and its application at Tokyo 2020 and beyond.' In Rook, W., Jain, S., Heerdt, D. (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Mega-Sporting Events and Human Rights. London: Routledge, pp. 448-458.

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2023) 'The Olympics: Culture, Values, Tensions.' Olympic Laws. Routledge, pp. 1-20.

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2023) 'Recalibrating the Olympics: Misplaced leverage and a relational turn?.' Olympic Laws. Routledge, pp. 88-109.

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2023) 'The Curious Case of the IOC and the Creation of Olympic Law.' Olympic Laws. Routledge, pp. 21-40.

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2023) 'Freedom of Expression and the Olympics.' Olympic Laws. Routledge, pp. 65-87.

    James, M. (2020) 'CRIMINAL LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF PARTICIPATION IN SPORT.' Sport: Law and Practice. Bloomsbury Professional,

    James, M. (2020) 'CIVIL LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF PARTICIPATION IN SPORT.' Sport: Law and Practice. Bloomsbury Professional,

    James, M.D. (2016) 'Consent: Revisiting the Exemption for Contact Sports.' Consent: Domestic and Comparative Perspectives. Routledge,

    James, M.D. (2016) 'Legal Responses to Football Crowd Disorder and Violence in England and Wales.' Legal Responses to Football Hooliganism in Europe. Springer,

    James, M.D., Pearson, G. (2014) 'Regulating Anti-Social Behaviour Amongst Football Spectators Since 1985.' Anti-Social Behaviour in Britain: Victorian and Contemporary Perspectives. Springer,

    James, M.D. (2013) 'Player Violence and Compensation for Injury: R v Barnes [2005] 1 Cr App R 507.' In Anderson, J. (ed.) Leading Cases in Sports Law. Springer Science & Business Media, pp. 323-337.

    James, M.D., Osborn, G. (2013) 'The Olympic Laws and The Tensions and Contradictions of Promoting and Preserving the Olympic Deal.' In Girginov, V. (ed.) Handbook of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: Vol. 1 Making the Games. Routledge, pp. 74-86.

    James, M.D., Greenfield, S., Osborn, G. (2012) 'The Olympics, the Law and the Contradictions of Olympism.' In Lenskyj, H., Wagg, S. (ed.) The Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 304-318.

    James, M.D., Pearson, G. (2009) 'The Legality and Effectiveness of Using Football Banning Orders in the Fight Against Racism and Violence at Football Matches.' In Parrish, R., Siekman, R., Gardiner, S. (ed.) Professional Sport in the European Union: Regulation, Re-Regulation and Representation. TMC Asser Press, pp. 535-554.

    James, M. (2005) 'Virtually foul or virtually fair?: FIFA, fair play and video gaming.' Readings in Law and Popular Culture. pp. 133-154.

  • Internet publications

    Brown, J., James, M. (2024) Sport, Safety and Participation - Annual Review 2023/24. https://www.lawinsport.com/topics/item/sport-safety-and-participation-annual-review-2023-24.

    James, M.D., Osborn, G. (2017) How to Crack Down on the Scourge of Ticket Touting. http://theconversation.com/how-to-crack-down-on-the-scourge-of-ticket-touting-87223.

    James, M.D. (2012) WADA Overturns BOA's Lifetime Olympic Ban.

    James, M.D. (2010) Consuming the Olympics: The Fan, The Rights Holder and the Law.

  • Journal articles

    James, M., Duval, A. (2024) 'Editorial: Another Bosman moment? The decisions of the court of justice of the European Union on 21 December 2023 and the future of transnational sports governance.' International Sports Law Journal,

    James, M. (2023) 'Human rights and the Olympic Charter.' International Sports Law Journal,

    James, M. (2023) 'A victory for Caster Semenya—but still no right to compete.' The International Sports Law Journal, 23(2) pp. 149-150.

    James, M. (2023) 'Editorial: A big thank you and looking to the future.' International Sports Law Journal, 23(1) pp. 1-2.

    Garcia-Garcia, B., James, M., Koller, D., Lindholm, J., Mavromati, D., Parrish, R., Rodenberg, R. (2020) 'The impact of Covid-19 on sports: a mid-way assessment.' International Sports Law Journal, 20(3-4) pp. 115-119.

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2019) 'Pliant Bodies: Generic event laws and the normalisation of the exceptional.' Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Journal,

    James, M.D., Pearson, G. (2018) '30 Years of Hurt: The Evolution of Civil Preventive Orders, Hybrid Law, and the Emergence of the Super-Football Banning Order.' Public Law, 2018(1)

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2016) 'The Olympics, transnational law and legal transplants: The International Olympic Committee, ambush marketing and ticket touting.' Legal Studies, 36(1) pp. 93-110.

    James, M.D., Osborn, G. (2016) 'Criminalising Contract: Does Ticket Touting Warrant the Protection of the Criminal Law?.' Criminal Law Review, 2016(1) pp. 4-19.

    James, M., Pearson, G. (2015) 'Public Order and the Rebalancing of Football Fans' Rights: Legal Problems With Pre-Emptive Policing Strategies and Banning Orders.' Public Law, 3pp. 458-475.

    James, M.D., Osborn, G. (2014) 'IOC Rules Go Too Far With Ban on Black Armbands.' The Conversation,

    James, M.D., Osborn, G. (2014) 'The Missing Link: The Coming Out of Ambush Marketing?.' Law in Sport,

    James, M.D., Osborn, G. (2014) 'Sochi and Protesting in the Zone.' The Justice Gap,

    James, M.D., Koh, B., Adair, D., Holmes, T. (2013) 'WADA's Role as Corporate Citizen.' Sports Business International,

    James, M.D., Osborn, G. (2013) 'Guilt By Association: Olympic Law and the IP Effect.' Intellectual Property Quarterly, 2pp. 97-113.

    James, M.D., Koh, B., Adair, D. (2013) 'Separating the Powers of Athlete Advice from Prosecution.' World Sports Law Report, 11(10) pp. 8-11.

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2012) 'The Sources and Interpretation of Olympic Law.' Legal Information Management, 12(02) pp. 80-86.

    Cooper, S., James, M. (2012) 'Entertainment-The painful process of rethinking consent.' Criminal Law Review, (3) pp. 188-199.

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2011) 'London 2012 and the Impact of the UK's Olympic and Paralympic Legislation: Protecting Commerce or Preserving Culture?.' MODERN LAW REVIEW, 74(3) pp. 410-429.

    Osborn, G., James, M. (2011) 'London 2012 and the Impact of the UK's Olympic and Paralympic Legislation: Protecting Commerce or Preserving Culture?.' SSRN Electronic Journal,

    James, M., Osborn, G. (2010) 'Tickets, Policy and Social Inclusion: Can the European White Paper on Sport Deliver?.' SSRN Electronic Journal,

    James, M., Pearson, G. (2006) 'Football Banning Orders: Analysing Their Use in Court.' The Journal of Criminal Law, 70(6) pp. 509-530.

    James, M., McArdle, D. (2005) 'Are You Experienced? "Playing Cultures", Sporting Rules and Personal Injury Litigation After Caldwell v Maguire.' The Tort Law Review, 13

    James, M., McArdle, D. (2004) 'Player Violence, or Violent Players? Vicarious Liability for Sports Participants.' The Tort Law Review, 12

    James, M. (2002) 'The trouble with Roy Keane.' Entertainment Law, 1(3) pp. 72-92.

    James, M., Deeley, I. (2002) 'The standard of care in sports negligence cases.' Entertainment Law, 1(1) pp. 104-108.

    James, M., Gardiner, S. (1997) 'Touchlines and guidelines: The lord advocate's response to sportsfield violence.' Criminal Law Review, 1997(1) pp. 41-45.

    Pinkney, R., Gardiner, S., James, M. (1996) 'Football hooliganism - Who won?.' Criminal Justice Matters, 23(1) pp. 19-22.

  • Conference papers

    James, M.D. (2016) 'Regulating Ticket Scalping: What the US Learn From the UK Experience.' In Sport and Recreation Law Alliance. Latoya University, New Orleans, USA, 1/1/2016 - 1/1/2016.

    James, M.D. (2015) 'Ticket Touting and RWC 2015.' In The World in Union: Rugby Past, Present and Future. University of Brighton, United Kingdom, 1/1/2015 - 1/1/2015.

    James, M.D. (2014) 'Reimagining the IOC: Host City Contracts and Sporting Justice.' In Sporting Justice. Centre for Conflict, Rights and Justice, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 1/1/2014 - 1/1/2014.

    James, M.D. (2014) 'Legal Lessons to be Learned From London 2012 and Sochi 2014.' In Commonwealth Sport and Law Conference. Law Society of Scotland and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 1/1/2014 - 1/1/2014.

    James, M.D. (2014) 'Sports Law and Sports Managers.' In Legal Claims in Sport and Leisure. Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity, Northumbria University, Newcastle, United Kingdom, 1/1/2014 - 1/1/2014.

    James, M.D. (2014) 'Reimagining the IOC: The Recalibration of Host City Contracts'.' In Re-Imagining the Olympics. Interdisciplinary.net, Mansfield College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, 1/1/2014 - 1/1/2014.

    James, M.D. (2013) 'What Glasgow 2014 Can Learn From London 2012: Protecting the Brand From Ambush Marketing.' In De Montfort University-British Association for Sport and the Law Autumn Conference. DMU, Leicester, United Kingdom, 1/1/2013 - 1/1/2013.

    James, M.D. (2013) 'Ambush Marketing: Reviewing the Effectiveness of the Olympic Association Right.' In Leeds Metropolitan University-British Association for Sport and the Law Conference. LMU, Leeds, United Kingdom, 1/1/2013 - 1/1/2013.

    James, M.D. (2013) 'Olympic Law, Ambush Marketing and the Regulation of Sporting Mega Events.' In Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economia Summer School. Woolfson College, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1/1/2013 - 1/1/2013.

    James, M.D., Osborn, G. (2012) 'Legislative Creep: Unpacking Lex Olympica.' In European College of Sports Science 17th Annual Congress. Bruges, The Netherlands, 1/1/2012 - 1/1/2012.

    James, M.D., Osborn, G. (2012) 'Legislative Creep: Unpacking Lex Olympica.' In Sport and EU Annual Conference. Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1/1/2012 - 1/1/2012.

    James, M.D. (2012) 'Olympic Law, Ambush Marketing, the IOC and WADA.' In Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economia Summer School. Woolfson College, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1/1/2012 - 1/1/2012.

    Osborn, G., James, M.D. (2012) 'Olympic Law: How the Legislation Works.' In Law, Policy and the Olympic Movement III. Ithaca College, London Centre, United Kingdom, 1/1/2012 - 1/1/2012.

    James, M.D., Osborn, G. (2012) 'Mapping the City: Regulating Advertising and Trading Around London Olympic Venues.' In Law, Policy and the Olympic Movement II. Ithaca College, London Centre, London, United Kingdom, 1/1/2012 - 1/1/2012.

    James, M.D. (2012) 'Football Spectators Act 1989: Section 14B Banning Orders.' In Football Supporter' Federation Fans' Parliament. Wembley Stadium, London, United Kingdom, 1/1/2012 - 1/1/2012.

    James, M.D., Osborn, G. (2012) 'Protecting Commerce or Preserving Culture? Legal Issues Surrounding the Olympic Games.' In Law, Policy and the Olympic Movement. Ithaca College, London Centre, London, United Kingdom, 1/1/2012 - 1/1/2012.

    James, M.D. (2010) 'The Policing of Football Supporters in Italy in the 21st Century: Repeating the Mistakes of England in the 1980s?.' In The Business of Sport Seminar Series. Birkbeck College, University of London, London, United Kingdom, 1/1/2010 - 1/1/2010.

    James, M.D. (2009) 'Getting Away With It: Stopping the Law at the Touchline.' In Research Committee on the Sociology of Law Annual Conference. International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Onati, Spain, 1/1/2009 - 1/1/2009.

    James, M.D. (2009) 'The Regulation of Football Disorder: A Case of Punishment Without Trial?.' In The Business of Sport Seminar Series. Birkbeck College, University of London, London, United Kingdom, 1/1/2009 - 1/1/2009.

    James, M.D. (2009) 'Grayson, Corinthianism, Idealism and Pragmatism.' In Sport and EU Annual Conference. University of Stirling, United Kingdom, 1/1/2009 - 1/1/2009.

    James, M.D. (2008) 'The Changing Nature of Anti-Ticket Touting Legislation.' In Workshop on Law and Popular Culture, Research Committee for the Sociology of Law. International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Onati, Spain, 1/1/2008 - 1/1/2008.

    James, M.D. (2008) 'The Effectiveness and Legality of Football Banning Orders.' In Workshop on the White Paper on Sport. The Asser Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands, 1/1/2008 - 1/1/2008.

    James, M.D. (2007) 'Touting for Business: Controlling the Resale of Sports Tickets.' In Law and Society in the 21st Century, Joint Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association and the Research Committee on the Sociology of Law. Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, 1/1/2007 - 1/1/2007.