Sandy Steel
Fellow and Tutor in Law
Professor Sandy Steel
Biography
Sandy Steel is Professor of Law and Philosophy of Law in the Faculty of Law at Oxford, Dr Lee Shau Kee's Sir Man Kam Lo Fellow in Law at Wadham College and Visiting Research Professor at Hong Kong University.
He was awarded a Major Research Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust in 2024 and is on leave from Oxford for three years.
Professor Steel's main interest is in philosophical and doctrinal questions about foundational issues in private law across common law and civilian jurisdictions, with recent papers on omissions, causation, self-defence, the moral basis of compensatory duties, the role of fault, and the role of deterrence arguments in private law. Alongside this, he maintains an interest in general jurisprudence and has co-authored (with Nick McBride) a critical guide to the subject: Great Debates in Jurisprudence (Palgrave, 2014, 2nd edn 2018).
In 2016, he was awarded the Modern Law Review's Wedderburn Prize for his article 'Justifying Exceptions to Proof of Causation in Tort Law'.
Professor Steel's work has been cited by the UK Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the High Court of Australia. He has held visiting positions at Hong Kong University, NYU, National University of Singapore, Tel Aviv University, and Singapore Management University.
Publications
Omissions in Tort Law (Oxford University Press, 2024).