Brief Bio

Alon Harel is the Mizock professor of law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He wrote numerous articles in moral, political and legal philosophy. He also published articles on law and economics, criminal law and constitutional theory. His recent book Why Law Matters (Oxford University Press, 2014) argues that legal institutions and procedures are not only means to secure independently specifiable ends. They are constituent aspects of a just society and the contribution they make to it is not contingent but necessary.

Recent publications include:

Alon Harel, Why Law Matters (Oxford University Press, 2014).

Alon Harel, The Duty to Criminalize (forthcoming in Law and Philosophy, 2014)

Alon Harel, The Case Against Privatization 41 Philosophy and Public Affairs 67-102 (2013) (with Avihay Dorfman).

Alon Harel, Necessity Knows No Law 61 University of Toronto L.J., 845-867 (2011) (with Assaf Sharon).

Alon Harel, Commensurability and Agency: Yet Two Unmet Challenges to Law and Economics 96 Cornell L. Rev. 749-788 (2011) (with Ariel Porat).

Alon Harel, The Easy Core Case for Judicial Review 2 Journal of Legal Analysis 227-256 (with Tsvi Kahana).

Alon Harel, Criminal Responsibility for Unspecified Offences 94 Minnesota L. Rev. 261-310 (2009) (with Ariel Porat).

Alon Harel, Uncertainty Revisited: Legal Prediction and Legal Postdiction 107 Michigan L. Rev. 467-499 (2008) (with Ehud Guttel).

Alon Harel, Why Only the State May Inflict Criminal Sanctions: The Case Against Privately Inflicted Sanctions 14 Legal Theory 113-133 (2008).

Alon Harel, The Economics of Stigma: Why More Detection of Crime May Result in Less Stigmatization 36 Journal of Legal Studies 355-377 (2007) (with Alon Klement).

Alon Harel, The Right to Judicial Review 92 Virginia L. Rev. 991-1022 (2006) (with Yuval Eylon).

Alon Harel, Ex-Post Egalitarianism 21 Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, 57-75 (2005) (with Zvi Safra & Uzi Segal).

Alon Harel, Matching Probabilities: The Behavioral Law & Economics of Repeated Behavior 72 University of Chicago L. Rev., 1197-2005 (2005) (with Ehud Guttel).

Alon Harel, Theories of Rights in Blackwell’s Guide to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory,191-206(eds. Martin P. Golding & William Edmundson, 2005).

Alon Harel, The Virtues of Uncertainty in Law: An Experimental Approach 89 Iowa L. Rev. 443-494 (2004) (with Tom Baker and Tamar Kugler).

Courses taught at CTLS

  • Core Course: Transnational Legal Theory (Spring 2009)
  • Theories of Constitutional Law (Spring 2015)