Aberdeen Centre for Constitutional and Public International Law

Overview

The Aberdeen Centre for Constitutional and Public Law (ACCPIL) brings constitutional and public international lawyers and legal theorists together; the central aim of the Centre being to promote research and scholarship in the aforementioned legal disciplines in all their aspects –normative, theoretical and practical. The Centre aspires to promote quality research and scholarship on UK, regional and global issues of good governance and the rule of law.  

The constitutional landscape of the UK has changed considerably in recent decades as a result of numerous reforms, including devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998.  Because of Brexit, this process of constitutional change is set to continue long into the future.  The Centre therefore aims to encourage research on and discussion of UK Constitutional Law and the new challenges it may face as the UK prepares to withdraw from the EU. 

In an increasingly globalised world, the migration of constitutional ideas is a major factor in the development of constitutional law. Therefore, the Centre also intends to strengthen the comparative approach to constitutional law and encourage international collaboration. In addition, as the Centre brings together expertise in constitutional and public international law, our focus also extends to the internationalisation of constitutional law.   

The Centre’s interest on matters of public international law is ambitious. The challenges and topics of research range from matters of international peace and security (such as the regulation of arms trading, the law on the use of force and the role of international and regional organisations in international relations) to that of the governance of foreign direct investment and transboundary water resources; we focus on the application of international law to the developing world when looking at the law making and implementation aspects of the law and collaborate on multidisciplinary and inter-disciplinary research projects on such aspects of international law. 

Objectives

The Centre promotes:

• High quality research and scholarship;
• Vibrant research, debate and knowledge transfer practices; 
• Inclusive research culture and environment; 
• Collaboration nationally, regionally and globally with experts who have common interest and expertise.  

To achieve these aims, the Centre:  

• Gives the opportunity to its members to present and discuss working papers 
• Follows recent development (including recent cases) in constitutional and international law 
•  Discusses research proposals and develops funding applications 
• Invites external speakers to present their research in the Law School Research Seminar Series 
• Organises conferences 
• Promotes research-led teaching 
• Integrates PhDs students into a nurturing research environment 
• Encourages public engagement 

Areas of Expertise

Constitutional law 

• UK Public Law: 
  • constitutional law 
  • administrative law
  • human rights law 
• Comparative Constitutional Law
  • constitutional adjudication
  • electoral law
• French Constitutional Law

Public International Law 

• The laws of war and peace
• International water law
• Africa and International Law
• The law of regional and international organisations
• Arms control law
• International economic law 
• International law on cyber security
• International and European human rights law
• International environmental law
• The law of the sea

Legal theory 

• Legal reasoning
• Legal scholarship