Andy has been teaching and researching in criminology at the University of Edinburgh since 2006, first in the School of Social and Political Science and the in the School of Law from 2012 onwards. He has also held research posts with the Home Office and Cardiff University. He holds degrees from the University of Edinburgh and Cardiff University covering Criminology, Politics and Modern History.

Andy directs the cross-school and cross-disciplinary MSc programme in Global Crime, Justice and Security. He has served in leadership roles in postgraduate teaching, external relations, and research, most recently as Postgraduate Research Director in the School of Law. Andy has mentored several colleagues in early career research and lecturing roles, including BA Newton and ESRC Global Challenges Research post-doctoral fellows. He is an active PhD supervisor and has supervised PhDs to completion in topics including policy making, policy transfer, community policing and domestic violence. Andy continues to welcome applicants for doctoral study and post-doctoral mentoring. 

Andy is currently working on the criminology of atrocity crimes with an empirical focus on the former Yugoslavia and the analysis of evidence presented in international criminal courts. His recent work on the emerging Serb Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina explores issues of democratisation, deprofessionalisation and militarisation of the police as explanatory factors underlying police violence. His earlier work on Bosnia and Herzegovina explores the processes of criminal justice reform as part of a post-war state-building and democratisation, and links to more general questions of the relationship between police and democracy and of policing in post-communist states.

Andy maintains his interest in democratic governance of police and, continuing on from research undertaken in the SIPR-funded ‘Partners in Scrutiny’ project, worked with Dr Alistair Henry and Dr Ali Malik (Northumbria University) on the changing landscape of police governance in Scotland. His most recent work in this field, wıth Ceren Mermutluoğlu (Galatasary and MEF Universities, Istanbul) looks at the intersection of democratic policing and human rights.  

Andy teaches on a number of MSc and undergraduate courses focusing on international dimensions of criminology.

Dr Andy Aitchison's Staff page at the School of Law