NEW HEAD OF THE SCHOOL OF LAW
16 July 2018
Queen’s University has appointed Professor Robin Hickey as the new head of the School of Law in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Robin Hickey earned his PhD at Queen’s in 2009 and has held a number of academic posts at the University and at the Durham Law School.
Commenting on his appointment, Professor Hickey said: “I am very excited to be taking up this role, particularly at this time of year when we will be celebrating the achievements of our students and the encouragement provided by their friends and families.
“Law is a great subject to study, and Queen’s is a great place to do it.”
Currently teaching and researching in the areas of property law and legal history, Professor Hickey is particularly interested in foundational concepts of property such as ‘ownership’ and ‘possession’ and how these interact with civil and criminal rules protecting property. He is currently working on a book exploring these themes (Possession and Entitlement, Hart Publishing).
Robin’s first publication, Property and the Law of Finders (Hart, 2010) was the first full-length account of the legal position of finders, and was one of two books shortlisted for the Inner Temple Book Prize 2011 (New Authors' Category).
He edits a number of highly regarded collections, is Casenotes Editor of property journal The Conveyancer, and serves on the executive board of the US-based Association for Law, Property and Society.
Robin Hickey taught Land Law, Equity and Jurisprudence at Queen’s before joining Durham for 12 months in 2012, where he was a Senior Lecturer. He returned to Queen’s and took up the role of Director of Education in the School of Law.
In another major current project, Robin seeks to apply common law perspectives on property to the problem of modern slavery. He was a founding member of the Research Network on the Legal Parameters of Slavery, which conducted research, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), on Slavery as the Powers Attaching to the Right of Ownership.
At present he is leading another AHRC-funded project ‘Restoring cultural property and communities after conflict’, which considers the harm caused by destruction of cultural property by case study in Cambodia.
Professor Hickey has spent time as a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School, and an International Research Visitor at Melbourne Law School. Currently he is working with Dr Matthew Harding of Melbourne Law School on a project concerning the values which animate equity's approach to gifts.
With almost 30 publications to his name, Professor Hickey regularly contributes to journals such as The Conveyancer and Property Lawyer, Journal of Equity and the International and Comparative Law Quarterly.
Looking forward to his new role in the School, Professor Hickey added: “The main task for me in the years ahead is to enable this wonderful community of scholars to do its best work, as we strive to make a difference to communities in Northern Ireland and beyond.
“I am genuinely excited about the prospects and opportunities ahead.”
The Law School at Queen's is currently ranked in the top 20 in the UK, according to The Complete University Guide 2018.
For further details, or to get in touch with Professor Hickey, please contact School Manager Colette Farrell, telephone +44 (0)28 9097 3863.
General enquiries to Gerry Power, Communications Officer, Development and Alumni Relations Office (DARO), tel: +44 (0)28 9097 5321.
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