Professor Janet McLean is recognised across the British Commonwealth for her multidisciplinary and incisive investigations of the powers and accountabilities necessary for good government. Interweaving public law, historical analysis, and philosophical thought, McLean has transformed colonial and contemporary understandings of the nature of the Crown in the United Kingdom and Aotearoa New Zealand, including in the Tiriti o Waitangi. She has acted as an advisor and expert witness to the New Zealand and Canadian governments, scrutinising the techniques by which human rights instruments have been given effect. McLean’s latest research reveals how government use of contractual mechanisms can undermine core constitutional principles while expanding executive power, and examines the constitutional underpinnings of the public service. In 2019, Professor McLean was appointed a Queen’s Counsel by prerogative for her “extraordinary and long-standing contribution to, and development of, the law”.