Born in London to a doctor and a barrister, Harman was privately educated at St Paul's Girls' School before going on to study Politics at the University of York. After working for Brent Law Centre, she became a legal officer for the National Council for Civil Liberties, (NCCL) (now Liberty) a role in which she was found in contempt of court following action pursued by Michael Havers, a former Attorney General. She successfully took a case, "Harman v United Kingdom", to the European Court of Human Rights which found Havers had breached her right to freedom of expression. In 2014 BBC Newsnight's interview, Harman said that she "regrets" that NCCL had links to the Pro-Paedophile Campaigners (PIE) that in 1975, NCCL had granted "Affiliated" Status to. Liberty's Director, offered her apology in 2014 on behalf of NCCL over PIE's Affiliation links.