Professor Mark Elliott

Research and writing

Mark's research interests lie in the fields of UK Constitutional Law and Administrative Law; he has written widely in those areas. Among his recent publications is Public Law, the UK's best-selling textbook in the field, which he co-authors with Robert Thomas. The most fifth edition of the title was published by Oxford University Press in 2024. Mark has also edited a number of books on Public Law, including The UK Constitution After Miller: Brexit and Beyond (Hart Publishing, 2018, with Alison Young and Jack Williams), on the constitutional implications of Brexit, and Common Law Constitutional Rights (Hart Publishing, 2020, with Kirsty Hughes), on the common law's capacity to uphold fundamental rights. Mark's monograph on The Constitutional Foundations of Judicial Review (Hart Publishing, 2000) was based on his doctoral thesis; it received the University of Cambridge's Yorke Prize, which is awarded annually to recognise PhD theses of 'exceptional quality'. 

Public engagement

Alongside academic writing, Mark enjoys engaging with those beyond the academy. He is the author of the widely read blog Public Law for Everyone, which is aimed at a broad readership from practitioners and policy-makers to students and those who have no specialist knowledge of the area. From 2015 to 2019, he served as Legal Adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution, assisting the Committee with its legislative scrutiny business as well as with legal aspects of its inquiry-related work. Mark is a member of the Constitution Society's UK Constitution Monitoring Group and has given evidence to several parliamentary committees. He has also contributed to a number of media outlets, including through the publication of articles in leading newspapers and through television and radio appearances, including the Today programme, The World this Weekend and Law in Action on BBC Radio 4. While he was a doctoral student in the late 1990s, he worked as a lecture-writer for the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, writing several high-profile lectures for him. Mark was featured in Prospect magazine's list of 50 influential thinkers in 2022 in recognition of his contributions to public engagement. 

Teaching and academic service

Mark is strongly committed to teaching and academic service. He holds a Pilkington Prize for Excellence in University Teaching, and he welcomes applications from prospective PhD students interested in working in most areas of Public Law. Among the academic leadership roles he has held, Mark served as Chair of the Cambridge Law Faculty for five years from 2019 to 2024. In that role, he led the Faculty through a major expansion that resulted in the creation of several new permanent academic posts aligned with a programme of curriculum diversification. Following his period of service as Faculty Chair, Mark is on research leave until September 2026, during which time he is pursuing a number of writing projects.