Public Law
The public law research area at Edinburgh Law School provides cutting-edge research and teaching in some of the most pressing issues in contemporary law and politics.
It covers a wide variety of issues, including: questions of sub-state nationalism, plurinational constitutionalism, and the constitutionality of independence and secession of states; the legal and constitutional issues emerging from societies transition from conflict, such as inclusive peace process design and the role and status of peace agreements in constitutional and international law; the regulation and administration of environmental issues including climate change law; as well as the legal and constitutional implications of suprastate governance and adjudication, especially with respect to the EU and ECHR.
It has also been a major hub of research in pressing issues facing the constitutional futures of the UK, such as the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum and the process of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
Sanja Badanjak, Chancellor's Fellow
Kathryn Nash, Chancellor's Fellow
Christine Bell, Professor of Constitutional Law
Elisenda Casanas Adam, Lecturer in Public Law and Human Rights
Navraj Singh Ghaleigh, Senior Lecturer in Climate Law
Cormac Mac Amhlaigh, Senior Lecturer
Stephen Tierney, Professor of Constitutional Theory
Neil Walker, Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations
Asanga Welikala, Lecturer in Public Law
Research Project Staff:
Juline Beaujouan, PSRP Research Associate
Devanjan Bhattacharya, Train@ed Research Fellow
Tim Epple, PSRP Research Associate
Adam Farquhar, Research Associate and Data Officer
Anne Funnemark, Research Assistant
Niamh Henry, Research Data Engineer, Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PCREP)
Justin D Macinante, Research Fellow
Robert Wilson, PSRP Research Associate
Laura Wise, Research Analyst
Journal articles
The dismissal of prime ministers in the Asian Commonwealth : Comparing democratic deconsolidation in Malaysia and Sri Lanka
Welikala, Asanga, In: Political Quarterly, 18.09.2020. View article
Books chapters
A globalised practice of local peace agreements.
Bell, Christine; Wise, Laura; Beaujouan, Juline; Epple, Tim; Forster, Robert; Wilson, Robert. Local Peace Processes. ed. / Christine Bell; Jan Pospisil; Laura Wise. London : British Academy, 2021. p. 7-14. View chapter
Article 2: Aims, objectives and principles
Ghaleigh, NS. .in G Van Calster & L Reins (eds), The Paris Agreement on Climate Change: A Commentary. Elgar Commentaries Series, Edward Elgar Publishing. 2021. View chapter
Article 3: Aims, objectives and principles
Ghaleigh, NS & Verkuijl, C. in G Van Calster & L Reins (eds), The Paris Agreement on Climate Change: A Commentary. Elgar Commentaries Series, Edward Elgar Publishing. 2021. View chapter
Reset or revert in the New Climate normal
Ghaleigh, NS & Burrows, L. in VV Ramraj (ed.), Covid-19 in Asia: Law and Policy Contexts. Oxford University Press. 2021. View chapter
The Eastminster Viceroy and the Republican Monarch : The Sri Lankan Head of State and the 2018 Constitutional Crisis in Historical Context.
Welikala, Asanga. Viceregalism: The Crown and its Representatives in Political Crises in the Post-War Commonwealth. ed.
Harshan Kumarasingham. Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. View chapter
Sri Lanka.
Welikala, Asanga. The Oxford Handbook of Constitutional Law in Asia. Oxford University Press, 2020. View chapter
Paris Agreement: Article 3.
Ghaleigh, Navraj Singh. Research Handbook on Climate Change Mitigation. ed.
Geert Van Calster; Leonie Reins. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020. View chapter
Keith Forum on Commonwealth Constitutionalism
The Keith Forum aims to harness the reservoir of comparative ideas from the Commonwealth for current UK constitutional debates, and to benefit Commonwealth states facing similar challenges.
Visit the Keith Forum website
Law and Polity Project
The Law and Polity Project addresses the challenges of how the modern state polity is affected by new legal and political forms.
Visit the Law and Polity Project website
Political Settlements Research Programme
The Political Settlements Research Programme (PSRP) engages with political settlements to build stable institutions, reduce poverty, and minimise violence.
Visit the PSRP website
The International Legitimacy Research Project
The International Legitimacy project is an interdisciplinary project examining various dimensions of legitimacy beyond the state.
Visit the International Legitimacy website
Edinburgh Dialogues on Post-Conflict Constitution Building
Edinburgh Dialogues on Post-Conflict Consitution Building is a partnership that seeks to bring together a network of academic and professional experts to share experiences, discuss contemporary challenges, and reflect on current scholarship and policy practice. The initiative is premised on the benefits of informed constitutional comparativism, an interdisciplinary approach to constitutional substance and processes, and the mutual benefits of regular and structured engagement between scholars and practitioners of constitution building.
Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law
The Centre for Constitutional Law provides a focal-point for research in public law and constitutional theory in the United Kingdom and beyond.
Visit the Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law website
Edinburgh Centre for Legal Theory
The Centre for Legal Theory combines an openness to diverse areas and styles of theoretical research with a deeply collegiate atmosphere.
Visit the Edinburgh Centre for Legal Theory website
Global Justice Academy
The Global Justice Academy is an interdisciplinary research network at the University of Edinburgh and beyond exploring global justice in its broadest sense.
Visit the Global Justice Academy website
