Daniel Bedford

Dr Daniel Bedford is a Principal Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth and the Programme Lead for the School of Law.

Daniel is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Law Teachers, and the webmaster for the Board of the Socio-Legal Studies Association. 

Daniel has extensive teaching experience across a wide range of legal fields. He specialises in the teaching of Human Rights Law and Social Care Law.

Dr. Daniel Bedford is an internationally recognised expert on the legal protection of human dignity in the UK. He employs an interdisciplinary methodology that combines philosophical perspectives with doctrinal analysis to critically interrogate the uses of human dignity in legal contexts. He draws on insights from the capabilities approach, vulnerability theory, and the ethics of care, to challenge accounts of dignity that focus exclusively on the protection of rational agency. 

Daniel also undertakes research on legal responses to vulnerability, particularly within the context of adult social care law. He is currently leading a socio-legal research project, funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme and in collaboration with Royal Holloway University of London and King's College London. This project investigates how local authorities make safeguarding decisions concerning adults whose capacity may be influenced by relational factors, aiming to address concerns about lack of understanding of alternatives to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. 

Daniel completed his LLB with first-class honors and his LLM in International Human Rights Law with distinction, both at the University of Exeter. After his master's degree, he engaged in volunteer work in East Africa, collaborating with a human rights organisation. Upon returning to Exeter, Daniel was awarded a scholarship to pursue a PhD under the expert guidance of Dr. Catherine Dupré.