Mark Poustie

Email:
m.r.poustie@reading.ac.uk
Phone:
+44 (0) 118 378 7721
Job title:
Head of School

Responsibilities:

Head of School (1 April 2026 - )
Board Member, Foundation for Law and International Affairs

Areas of interest

Mark works predominantly in the areas of environmental (international, European, comparative and domestic) and planning law and human rights primarily those related to the foregoing areas. He is interested in effective forms of regulation, environmental and climate justice and particularly how to better secure compliance with legal obligations through effective forms of enforcement. Mark also has research interests in the use of simulation in legal education and pioneered the use of simulated climate conferences in his international environmental law teaching over 25 years ago and, more recently, the use of simulated negotiations in legal education building on the Belt and Road Initiative Simulated Negotiation Competition first piloted at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics School of Law in 2018.

Postgraduate supervision

Mark has successfully supervised 10 PhDs to completion from China, Ireland, Nigeria, Pakistan, UK and Zimbabwe and have externally examined PhDs at Aberdeen, Aberystywth, Edinburgh Napier, Cardiff and York Universities.

He is open to supervising PhD students in his fields of interest.

Teaching

Mark has taught extensively at under- and postgraduate level in the fields of environmental (international, European, comparative and domestic), planning and human rights law. He has also taught Legal Research, Legal Reasoning and Academic Writing skills classes for many years as well as EU Law.

Research funding

Mark has secured research funding from Enterprise Ireland, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, the EU Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law, the Scottish Government, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Environment Agency.

Background

Mark was educated at the University of Edinburgh, studying Classics and then Law. Having worked as a government linguist 1986-87, he thereafter qualified as a solicitor in Scotland in 1993. His academic career has taken him from the University of Strathclyde School of Law in Glasgow, Scotland where he worked 1992-2016 and was Head of School from 2007 to 2013 and Vice-Dean Internationalisation for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences from 2013 to 2015, to Shanghai University of Finance and Economics School of Law from 2014-2019 where he worked part-time as an Oriental Scholar from 2014-2016 and then full-time as a Shanghai Thousand Talents Scholar from 2016 to 2019, to Ireland from 2019-2025 where he served as Dean of University College Cork School of Law during that period, and then to Reading in January 2026 to take up the Head of School role from April 2026. He was appointed as a full professor in 2003.

Mark has extensive experience in higher education strategy and business model development and implementation; identification and pursuit of new market opportunities; rankings; financial management; engagement with external stakeholders; successful Athena Swan applications; change management; ensuring quality student experience, competitive bidding for staff and resources; and staff development, line management, staff retention and recruitment and internationalisation.

He has overseas lecturing experience at universities in the USA, Hungary, Poland and China.

Mark has also served as an external examiner for universities and providers: City, London; Abertay, Dundee; Glasgow Caledonian; Edinburgh; Glasgow, the Open University Tanzania and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Conferences, conference panels and invited papers (since 2013)

19/9/25-21/9/25, organised the 19^th European China Law Studies Association Annual Conference at University College Cork, Ireland, chairing panels on Chinese Perspectives on International Law, Marine Law and Sustainable Development and Circular Economy.
19/9/24, organised and convened panel, Reconceptualisation, Fragmentation or Recommitment to Multilateralism? Chinese Perspectives on Developments in International Economic Law, 18^th Annual Conference of the European China Law Studies Association, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 19/9/24-21/9/24.
20/9/23, The PRC’s Compliance with International Norms – Norm Taker or Norm Maker? - accepted address to 17^th Annual Conference of the European China Law Studies Association, Helsinki, 20/9/23-22/9/23.
8/9/23, Organised and convened panel Chinese Investment in Europe – The Environmental Cost of Investment at China in Europe Research Network Joint Working Group Conference, Amsterdam 7/9/23-8/9/23.
4/9/23, Where next for Planning Law in Scotland? – invited address to theScottish Universities Law Institute Showcase Conference, Edinburgh.
22/9/22, Why do things go Awry? A Review of the Environmental Daily Penalty System in China, accepted address to 16^th Annual Conference of the European China Law Studies Association, Copenhagen 21/9/22-23/9/22.
27/2/21, Prospects for Multilateralism: The Contribution of Environmental Law, invited address to joint East China University of Political Science and Law School of Foreign Studies and Foundation for Law and International Affairs, Globalization in a Post-COVID World: Retreat or Revival? Conference, online.
25/11/19, Tougher Penalties for Wildlife Crime in Scotland, invited address to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Irish Centre for European Law (ICEL), Environmental Law Enforcement: Emerging Challenges 2019 conference, Dublin, Ireland.
2/12/17, Environmental Governance in China – Can One Belt, One Road Help to Address Environmental Governance Problems in China, invited address at One Belt One Road Legal System and Five New Strategies Conference, Northwestern Polytechnical University Law School, Xi’an, PRC.
11/11/17, Strengthening of Environmental Law and Governance in the UK – Lessons for China? - keynote address at International Symposium on Enhancing Environmental Law & Governance in China (which I organised), Shanghai University of Finance & Economics Law School, Shanghai, PRC.
30/3/17, Reflections on Teaching Legal Reasoning, Research and Writing on SUFE’s Common Law Certificate Programme – invited address at 2017 Cross-Straits Conference on Anglo-American Legal Education, Yantai, PRC.
25/3/17, Evolution of Environmental Regulation in the UK – Lessons for China? – invited keynote address at 2017 Chinese Environmental Law Forum, Reform of Environmental Governance and Supervision, Shanghai University of Finance & Economics Law School, Shanghai, PRC.
10/9/16, Evaluating the Performance of Environmental Courts vis a vis Non-Specialist Courts in Dealing with Environmental Enforcement Cases at International Conference on Compliance and Enforcement of Environmental Law & 4^th Sino-European Conference on Environmental Law, Research Institute for Environmental Law, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PRC.
12/11/15, Prospects for the Paris Conference, Research Institute for Environmental Law, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PRC
3/9/15, Assessing the Effectiveness of Sanctions in Environmental Law, EELF Annual Conference, Aix-en-Provence, France
11/12/14, Environmental Rights, Research Institute of Environmental Law, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PRC
31/10/13, Development of the International Climate Change Regime, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, PRC
26/10/13, Comparative Perspectives on the Enforcement of Environmental Law, Sino-Scottish Comparative Law Symposium, Fudan University Law School, Shanghai, PRC
29/3/13, Improving Environmental Regulation, Zhejiang University Guanghua Law School, Hangzhou, PRC
25/3/13, Enforcement of Environmental Law, A Key Factor in Securing Protection of the Environment, Peking University Law School, Beijing, PRC

Publications

Mark is currently working to produce new editions of (1) Environmental Law, Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia of the Laws of Scotland, (Butterworths Lexis Nexis, 2007) 934pp ISBN 9 780 406 982 834. The first edition was referred to as a ‘truly magisterial volume’ by Donald McGillivray, University of Kent, Edin LR 2008, 12(3), 505-506. and (2) Scottish Planning Law and Procedure (Scottish Universities Law Institute/W Green, 2001) which is intended to be the primary reference point for academics and practitioners on planning law issues in Scotland with extensive comparative English and Welsh material.

He is also co-editing a book, New Frontiers and Voices in Chinese Environmental, Sustainability and Climate Law (Springer, forthcoming) containing a number of the papers presented at the 19^th European China Law Studies Association Annual Conference held at University College Cork in September 2025.

Finally, Mark is currently co-authoring a book, Understanding the Belt and Road Initiative through Simulation (Springer, forthcoming) due for completion this year.

Recent publications include

2024

(with CURRAN) ‘China: Systematic Rival or Selective Partner? Prospects and Challenges’ in, Lacklustre World Power: EU Geopolitics (Pollak & Jopp, eds) (Springer, 2024) 19pp ISBN 978-3-031-74586-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74587-4.

2023

“The President and Access to Environmental Information: An Analysis of Irish Supreme Court Review - Right to Know CLG v Commissioner for Environmental Information [2022] IESC 19”(2023) 5 Irish Supreme Court Review) 185