Adam is a lecturer in law at the University of Exeter with research interests in the relation between law, governance, and human rights. He has a PhD in law from the University of Groningen and an LLM from the University of Utrecht. He was also recently a Visiting Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge. He is set to be a Visiting Researcher at the University of Amsterdam (Centre for European Law and Governance) in 2019. In January 2017, Adam was appointed one of the editors of the European Journal of Comparative Law and Governance. He is also the Director of Admissions for Law at Exeter and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Prior to joining the University of Exeter, Adam taught law at the University of Groningen and he also taught on the University of London LLB international programme at the University of Seychelles. His teaching experience at both undergraduate and postgraduate level includes: Criminal Law, Evidence Law, Medical Ethics and Law, Public International Law, EU law and governance, and Public Law.
Research Interests
Adam’s research focus extends beyond the public law – private law divide. His overarching interest is on the relation between law and broader governance and political theories. His specific research interest, and forthcoming monograph, is on comparing legal and governance frameworks on a national and supranational level surrounding end-of-life medical decisions. His PhD thesis – ‘Assisted Dying in Europe: A Comparative Law and Governance Analysis’ – is the most downloaded Law School output in the past year (via Exeter’s open access repository – ORE). He has published numerous articles and book chapters on issues beyond his PhD topic: namely, on the CJEU and EU free movement law (European Review of Private Law), fundamental rights in EU law (Cambridge University Press), Ireland and the EU (Irish Yearbook of International Law), and ‘Immoral contracts’ in Europe (forthcoming Oxford University Press). He also co-edited a book on law and governance processes (Eleven International).
Select Outputs
A. McCann, “Immoral Contracts in Ireland,” in A. Colombi Ciacchi and C. Mak (eds.) Immoral Contracts in Europe (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2020).
A. McCann, “Ireland and the EU in 2018,” Irish Yearbook of International Law (Bloomsbury, forthcoming Autumn 2019).
A. McCann, “The right to assisted suicide and institutional limits of judicial governance” (Editorial), European Journal of Comparative Law and Governance, 6(1) (2019): 1-5.
A. McCann, “Regressive Liberalism and Principles of Good Governance” (Editorial), European Journal of Comparative Law and Governance, 5(2) (2018): 115-118.
A. McCann and A. Colombi Ciacchi, “Fundamental rights and humaneness in European private law: the case of health care,” in N. Ferreira, D. Kostakopoulou (eds.) The Human Face of the European Union Are EU Law and Policy Humane Enough?, Cambridge University Press, 2016.
A. McCann, “Comparing the Law and Governance of Assisted Dying in Four European Nations,” European Journal of Comparative Law and Governance, 2(1) (2015): 37-91.
A. McCann, “Euthanasia in England, France and the Netherlands: a Comparative Law and Governance Perspective,” in A. McCann, A. Hallo de Wolf, M. van Rooij (eds.) Law and Governance: When Private Actors Contribute to Public Interests, the Hague: Eleven International, 2014.
A. McCann, “Irish Legal solution to the Hammock Case,” European Review of Private Law, 22(1) (2014): 119-129.
A. McCann, A. Colombi Ciacchi and F. Oldenhuis, “Non-contractual Liability for Defective Immovable Property – the Hammock Case in a Comparative Perspective,” European Review of Private Law, 22(1) (2014): 89-156.
Select Conference Appearances
“The semantics of a right to assisted dying,” International Conference on End of Life Law, Ethics, Policy, and Practice, University of Ghent, Belgium, 2019.
“The law on end-of-life care in the case of severely ill minors,” Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, UK, 2019.
“Political game theory and the law on assisted dying: comparative reflections on reform processes in England, the Netherlands and Belgium,” King’s College London, UK, 2018.
“The politics behind the law on assisted dying,” International Conference on End of Life Law, Ethics, Policy, and Practice, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, 2017.
“Collaborative Governance and Morality Policy: A Case Study on Assisted Dying,” ECPR 6th Biennial Conference on Regulatory Governance, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands, 2016.
Select Media Appearances
Adam has also contributed to The Times Higher Education (discussing EU law, Brexit and student mobility), and to The Conversation, The Irish Times, BBC Radio, and Irish national radio discussing the law on assisted suicide.
Email Adam | Visit Adam’s University of Exeter Law School Profile