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Staff Profile

Dr Sylvia de Mars

Reader in Transnational Public Law

  • Email: sylvia.de-mars@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 7568
  • Personal Website:
  • Address: Â鶹´«Ã½ Law School,
    21-24 Windsor Terrace,
    Â鶹´«Ã½-upon-Tyne,
    NE1 7RU.
Background

Introduction

I am a Reader in Transnational Public Law. I joined the Law School in September 2010, following a PhD at the University of Nottingham on the national regulatory responses to a variety of EU-level public procurement measures. I previously taught at the University of Nottingham, where I also administrated the Public Procurement Research Group and organized the 2009 edition of the Public Procurement Research Students Conference. From February 2018 until August 2020, I also worked as a Senior Researcher in EU and International Law and Policy at the House of Commons Library.

Qualifications

PhD (Nottingham, 2011)

LLM in International Law (Nottingham, 2006)

BA(Hons) in Social Science (University College Utrecht, 2004)

Areas of Expertise

EU Law, Brexit-related 'law', International Trade Law, Transnational Public Law (with focuses on healthcare regulation, social security coordination, and non-discrimination rights)


Research

Research Area

My academic history lies in public international law, with a focus on international economic/trade law. Since completing my PhD, I have focused on how different aspects of EU law affect the public law of EU Member States. From 2016, I have become a Brexit specialist; the majority of my work since 2017 has been on the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland, covering trade law but also movement of persons and social security coordination. Given that I also look at areas of public law in other jurisdictions when they become relevant for comparative purposes or stand-alone interests I have, the easiest way to describe my work is as that of a transnational public lawyer.

My current work is about UK conceptions of sovereignty and various dimensions of Brexit as they affect the UK as a whole.

My work on Brexit has led to substantial engagement with Parliament and the media. In November 2015, I was interviewed about the legal consequences of a 'Brexit' by BBC Radio 4's Law in Action; the interview can be downloaded/listened to . In 2017, I gave evidence on the implications of Brexit for trade and the border in Northern Ireland to the and the . In 2018, the  invited me to give evidence on the future UK-EU relationship. Also in 2018, the invited me to give evidence on the role of the European Parliament in scrutinising EU treaties. I have given further evidence on the effects of Brexit on Northern Ireland to the between 2021 and 2024. I have also co-produced various consultancy projects and research reports for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission from 2018 onwards, with the most recent being a detailed report on the , co-authored with Professor Charlotte O'Brien.

Research Funding

2018/2020

ESRC Governance After Brexit Grant £249869, alongside Colin Murray (Â鶹´«Ã½), Aoife O'Donoghue (Durham) and Ben Warwick (Birmingham) for a project titled Performing Identities: Post-Brexit Northern Ireland and the reshaping of 21st Century Governance

2015/2016 - 2017/2018

ESRC IAA funding, £19924, alongside Colin Murray (Â鶹´«Ã½), Aoife O'Donoghue (Durham) and Ben Warwick (Birmingham) for a project titled Constitutional Conundrums: Northern Ireland, the EU and Human Rights

2014/2015

BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant, £3380, for a project titled Regulating Healthcare Access in a Citizens' Europe: Lessons from the US

2013/2014

For a project titled The Indirect Pressures of EU Free Movement of Persons on Domestic Healthcare Regulation: The EU-Compatibility of Healthcare Access Rules in Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and Ireland:

  • Society of Legal Scholars, £865, for research conducted in Ireland
  • Â鶹´«Ã½'s HaSS Faculty Research Fund, £1536, for research conducted in Belgium and the Netherlands

Doctoral Supervision

Note: I am as of 1/9/2024 able to take on PhD supervision again. I am interested in supervising any postgraduate research projects on EU law, particularly those that take a comparative approach to evaluating the effects of EU measures on Member States in a variety of public law fields, as well as any research projects on Brexit and its impacts on the UK's legal landscape as well as on the EU (including on Northern Ireland, but not specifically on Northern Ireland).

If you would like information on reading for a research degree at Â鶹´«Ã½ Law School please see

Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

The UK and EU Law

Postgraduate Teaching

Medical Devices' Regulatory Requirements

Publications

  • Articles

    • Sorensen E, de Mars S, McArdle D. . Journal of Legal Aspects of Sports 2025, 35(2), 102-165.
    • de Mars S, O'Donoghue A. . Legal Studies 2024, 44(2), 201-220.
    • de Mars S, McArdle D. . Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport 2023, 33(1), 3-45.
    • de Mars S. . European Law Review 2023, 48(2), 151-166.
    • de Mars S. . Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law 2022, 36(4), 358-363.
    • de Mars S, O'Brien C. . Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 2022, 73(S2), 119-147.
    • de Mars S, Murray C. . German Law Journal 2020, 21(5), 815-837.
    • de Mars S. . European Public Law 2019, 25(4), 709-734.
    • de Mars S, O'Callaghan P. . Journal of Law and Society 2016, 43(2), 257-284.
    • de Mars S, O'Callaghan P. . International Review of Law, Computers & Technology 2016, 30(1-2), 42-56.
    • Van Garsse S, de Mars S. . Nieuw Juridisch Weekblad 2016, 340, 274-278.
    • de Mars S. . European Law Review 2014, 39(6), 770-789.
    • de Mars S. . European Law Review 2013, 38(3), 316-334.

  • Authored Books

    • de Mars S. . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.
    • de Mars S, Murray C, O'Donoghue A, Warwick B. . Bristol: Policy Press, 2018.

  • Book Chapters

    • de Mars S. . In: Katja Ziegler, Paivi Neuvonen and Violeta Moreno-Lax, ed. Research Handbook on General Principles of EU Law. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2022, pp.462-479.
    • de Mars S, O'Donoghue A. . In: McHarg, A; Doyle, O; Murkens, J, ed. The Brexit Challenge for Ireland and the United Kingdom: Constitutions Under Pressure. Cambridge University Press, 2021, pp.64-85.
    • van Garsse S, de Mars S. . In: Marique, Y; Wauters, K, ed. EU Directive 2014/24 on public procurement: a new turn for competition in public markets?. Brussels: Larcier, 2016, pp.121-138.
    • de Mars S. . In: Ølykke, G; Sanchez-Graells, A, ed. Reformation or Deformation of the EU Public Procurement Rules. Edward Elgar, 2016, pp.253-273.
    • de Mars S, Olivier F. . In: Arrowsmith, S., Treumer, S, ed. Competitive Dialogue in EU Procurement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp.272-305.
    • de Mars S, Craven R. . In: Arrowsmith, S., Treumer, S, ed. Competitive Dialogue in EU Procurement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp.144-178.

  • Note

    • de Mars S. . Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 2014, 65(4), 449-453.

  • Reports

    • de Mars S, Murray C. . Dublin: Institute of International and European Affairs, 2025.
    • de Mars S, O'Brien C. . Belfast: Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, 2023.
    • de Mars S, Murray C, O'Donoghue A, Warwick B. . Dublin: Joint Committee of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, 2020.
    • de Mars S, Murray C, O'Donoghue A, Warwick B. . Dublin and Belfast: Joint Committee of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, 2018.
    • Murray C, de Mars S, O'Donoghue A, Warwick B. . Durham University, Â鶹´«Ã½, Birmingham University, 2017.
    • Murray C, de Mars S, O'Donoghue A, Warwick B. . Social Science Electronic Publishing: Durham University; Â鶹´«Ã½, 2016.