New book explores the life of Professor Sir Neil MacCormick
Mon 16 June 2025
This new book by Professor Maksymilian Del Mar (Queen Mary University of London and an alumnus of Edinburgh Law School) surveys the intellectual life of the late Professor Sir Neil MacCormick, a towering figure in legal philosophy and Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations at Edinburgh Law School from 1972 to 2008. Professor MacCormick (1941–2009) was one of the twentieth century’s most important legal philosophers and one of Scotland’s most influential public intellectuals.
The book tells the story of Professor MacCormick’s intensely political childhood as the son of ‘King John’, one of the founders of the Scottish National Party, through to his involvement in Scottish politics – especially as the author of the SNP’s constitutional policy – and his role as a member of the European Parliament, helping to draft the European Constitution. With special attention to his character, this book offers a reading of his entire oeuvre, covering his contributions to theories of legal and moral reasoning, institutional legal theory, nationalism, post-sovereignty, subsidiarity, and constitutional pluralism in Europe.
Reflecting the importance of this publishing event, the next (autumn) issue of the Edinburgh Law Review will include a symposium on the book. Contributors include Neil Walker and Claudio Michelon, with a response from the author.
Learn more and purchase the book