Staff profile

Aileen McHarg has been Professor of Public Law and Human Rights at Durham Law School since September 2019. Prior to joining Durham she held a Chair in Public Law at Strathclyde University, and before that posts at Glasgow and Bristol Universities.

Her main teaching and research interests lie in UK and Scottish constitutional and administrative law. She publishes widely in these fields, but has particular expertise in devolution and the UK's territorial constitution. Along with Prof Roger Masterman, she is joint general editor of Public Law.

She also researches in energy law and regulation, where her publications focus on questions of energy governance and the promotion and regulation of sustainable energy. 

Professor McHarg welcomes applications for PhD supervision in both of these areas. 

• UK and Scottish constitutional law
• Devolution and the territorial constitution
• Administrative law
• Energy governance
• Sustainable energy regulation

• Human Rights Centre

• 2021: Joint General Editor of Public Law:
• 2021: Member of the UK Constitutional Monitoring Group:
• 2020: Research Excellence Framework, Law Sub-Panel Member:
• 2018: Co-Chair of the British-Irish Chapter of the International Society of Public Law:
• 2018: Editorial Board Member, Public Law:
• 2018: Member of the Scottish Government's Expert Panel on Environmental Charges and Other Measures:
• 2016: Executive Committee Member of the UK Constitutional Law Association:
• 2012: Member of the Law Society of Scotland's Constitutional Law Sub-Committee:
• 2010: Editorial Advisory Board Member, Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law:
• 2006: Member of the Academic Advisory Group to the International Bar Association's Section on Energy, Environment Resources and Infrastructure Law:

Available for media contact about:

• English Law: Constitutional Law
• Law & Crime: Devolution
• Government: Devolution

Book review

• McHarg, Aileen (2019). Popular Sovereignty in Early Modern Constitutional Thought. Public Law 2019(October): 804-806.

Chapter in book

• McHarg, A (2023). Constitutional Law and Secession in the United Kingdom. In Routledge Handbook of Self-Determination and Secession. Pavkovic, A, Radan, P & Griffiths, R Routledge.
• McHarg, Aileen (2021). Giving Substance to Sovereignty: Parliamentary Sovereignty and Parliamentary Effectiveness. In The Judicial Mind: A Festschrift for Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore. Dickson, Brice & McCormick, Conor Bloomsbury.
• McCorkindale, Christopher & McHarg, Aileen (2021). Litigating Brexit. In The Brexit Challenge for Ireland and the United Kingdom: Constitutions Under Pressure. Doyle, Oran, McHarg, Aileen & Murkens, Jo Eric Khushal Cambridge University Press. 260-291.
• McCorkindale, C & McHarg, A (2021). Constitutional Pathways to a Second Independence Referendum. In Scotland's New Choice: Independence After Brexit. Hepburn, E, Keating, M & McEwen, N Centre on Constitutional Change.
• McHarg, Aileen (2020). Energy Justice: Understanding the 'Ethical Turn' in Energy Law and Policy. In Energy Justice and Energy Law. del Guayo, Inigo, Godden, Lee, Zillman, Donald, D., Montoya, Milton Fernando & Gonzalez, Jose Juan Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• McHarg, Aileen (2020). The Declaration of Arbroath and Scots Law. In Scotland and Arbroath 1320 - 2020: 700 Years of Fighting for Freedom, Sovereignty and Independence. Muller, Klaus Peter Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang. 423-442.
• McHarg, Aileen & Nicolson, Donald (2019). Judgment: Salvesen v Riddell. In Scottish Feminist Judgments: (Re)Creating Law from the Outside In. Cowan, Sharon, Kennedy, Chloe & Munro, Vanessa Hart Publishing. 410-412.
• McHarg, Aileen (2019). Devolution in Scotland. In The Changing Constitution. Jowell, Jeffrey & O'Cinneide, Colm Oxford University Press.
• McHarg, Aileen (2019). The Future of the United Kingdom’s Territorial Constitution: Can the Union Survive? In Claims for Secession and Federalism: a Comparative Study with a Special Focus on Spain. Lopez Basaguren, A & Escajedo San Epifanio, L Springer.
• McHarg, A (2018). Constitutional change and territorial consent: The Miller Case and the Sewel Convention. In https://www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/the-uk-constitution-after-miller-9781509916405/. Elliott, M, Williams, J & Young, A Hart Publishing.
• McHarg, A (2018). Unity and Diversity in the United Kingdom’s Territorial Constitution. In The Unity of Public Law? Doctrinal, Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives. Elliott, M, Varuhas, J & Stark, S Hart Publishing. 279-300.
• McHarg, Aileen (2016). The Constitutional Case for Independence. In The Scottish Independence Referendum: Constitutional and Political Implications. McHarg, Aileen, Mullen, Tom, Page, Alan & Walker, Neil Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Edited book

• Doyle, Oran, McHarg, Aileen & Murkens, Jo Eric Khushal (2021). The Brexit Challenge for Ireland and the United Kingdom: Constitutions Under Pressure. Cambridge University Press.

Journal Article

• McHarg, Aileen & Tomkins, Adam (2022). Indyref: Off Limits for Now. Journal of the Law Society of Scotland 2022(December).
• McHarg, Aileen (2022). The Prospects for Scottish Independence in the Aftermath of Brexit. Federalismi.it (Special Issue: The Constitutional Implications of Brexit).
• Dougan, Michael, Hunt, Jo, McEwen, Nicola & McHarg, Aileen (2022). Sleeping with an Elephant: Devolution and the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020. Law Quarterly Review 138: 650-676.
• McHarg, Aileen (2021). Can Holyrood Bind its Successors? Edinburgh Law Review 25(2): 245-252.
• McHarg, Aileen (2020). The Model of Territorial Decentralisation in the United Kingdom. Rivista del Gruppo di Pisa 2: 65 -88.
• McCorkindale, Christopher & McHarg, Aileen (2020). Tackling the Covid-19 Pandemic in Scotland. Revista Catalana de Dret Públic 2020: 256-265.
• McHarg, Aileen (2020). The Supreme Court's Prorogation Judgment: Guardian of the Constitution or Architect of the Constitution? Edinburgh Law Review 24(1): 88-95.
• McHarg, Aileen & McCorkindale, Christopher (2019). The Supreme Court and Devolution: The Scottish Continuity Bill Reference. Juridical Review 2019(2): 190-197.
• Cairney, Paul, McHarg, Aileen, McEwen, Nicola & Turner, Karen (2019). How to Conceptualise Energy Law and Policy for an Interdisciplinary Audience: the Case of Post-Brexit UK. Energy Policy 129: 459-466.
• McHarg, Aileen (2018). Navigating without maps constitutional silence and the management of the Brexit crisis. International Journal of Constitutional Law 16(3): 952-968.
• McCorkindale, C, McHarg, A & Scott, P (2018). The Courts, Devolution and Constitutional Review. University of Queensland Law Journal 36(2): 289-310.
• McHarg, A (2017). Administrative discretion, administrative rule-making and judicial review. Current Legal Problems 70(1): 267-303.
• McHarg, Aileen & Mitchell, James (2017). Brexit and Scotland. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 19(3): 512 - 526.

Newspaper/Magazine Article

• McHarg, A (2022). The Independence Supreme Court Case Explained - and What Might Happen. The Scotsman
• McHarg, Aileen (2021). Analysis. The Times

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• McCorkindale, Chris & McHarg, Aileen (2023). Rescuing the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill? The Scottish Government's Challenge to the Section 35 Order.
• McHarg, Aileen (2023). The Contested Boundaries of Devolved Legislative Competence: Towards Better Devolution Settlements.
• McHarg, A (2022). Securing Scotland's Independence: Moving Beyond Process? Centre on Constitutional Change Blog.
• McHarg, A (2022). Devolution: A View from Scotland. Constitutional Law Matters.
• McHarg, Aileen (2022). The Future of the Territorial Constitution Under Labour? The Report of the Commission on the UK's Future.
• McHarg, Aileen & Young, Alison (2021). The Resilience of the (Old) British Constitution.
• Dougan, Michael, Hayward, Katy, Hunt, Jo, McEwen, Nicola, McHarg, Aileen & Wincott, Daniel (2020). UK Internal Market, Devolution and the Union.
• McCorkindale, C, McHarg, A & Mullen T (2020). The Continuity Bill is Dead - Long Live the Continuity Bill: Regulatory Alignment and Divergence in Scotland Post-Brexit. Blog.
• McCorkindale, Chris & McHarg, Aileen (2020). Constitutional Pathways to a Second Scottish Independence Referendum.
• McEwen, Nicola, McHarg, Aileen, Munro, Fiona, Cairney, Paul, Turner, Karen & Katris, Antonios (2019). Brexit and Renewables in Scotland.
• McHarg, Aileen (2019). Devolution at Twenty: Embedding a New Constitutional Paradigm. Blog.
• McHarg, Aileen (2019). The Art of Judicial Disguise.
• McHarg, Aileen (2019). The Defence of Parliamentary Democracy. Blog.