Staff
Professor Paul Beaumont FRSE moved to the University of Stirling in August 2019 to become the Professor in Private International Law from his personal chair at the University of Aberdeen which he had held since 1995. Since 2009, Paul has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (Scotland’s National Academy). Paul is one of the editors of the Journal of Private International Law since its inception in 2005. He is also the series editor for Hart Studies in Private International Law since its inception in 2008, which has published 37 books to date. He is one of two authors of the Scottish Universities Law Institute book on Private International Law: Anton (3rd edn 2001).
He was the chair of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH)’s Experts’ Group on Family Agreements until 2022. He is a member of the EU’s negotiating team in the HCCH’s Expert Group on Jurisdiction which held its last meeting in Buenes Aires in September 2023. He has negotiated the following instruments for the UK and Scottish Governments in the HCCH; Hague Statute 2005, Hague Maintenance Convention and Protocol 2007 and Hague Choice of Court Convention 2005, and in the European Union; Brussels I and 1a, Rome 1 and II, Maintenance and Succession Regulations. He was also part of the EU delegration throughout the negotiations on the Hague Judgments Convention that was finalised in 2019 (having started on this project in 1996 working for the UK and Scottish Governments in the HCCH on the failed original Judgments Convention negotiations).
He has published several books on private international law, co-authored or co-edited, including ‘A Guide to Global Private International Law‘ (Hart, 2022), ‘The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction‘ (Oxford University Press, 1999), and ‘Recovery of Maintenance in the EU and Worldwide‘ (Hart, 2014). He has published articles in the leading Journals in the field including two contributions to the Hague Academy Collected Courses: the Journal of Private International Law, the International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Rabel’s Zeitschrift, Revie critique de droit international privé, Netherlands International Law Review, Yearbook of Private International Law, European Law Review, Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, NIPR etc.
Paul has led a number of research projects funded by the EU and the AHRC and the Nuffield foundation doing empirical, comparative and analytical work on maintenance, child abduction and a broad range of EU private international law in the EUPILLAR project (Brussels Ia, Brussels IIa, Rome I, Rome II and Maintenance). His work has had an impact on the interpretation of international Conventions (eg the Hague Child Abduction Convention) and on the development of legislation (eg the Brussels IIb Regulation).
Dr Jayne Holliday is a Lecturer in private international law. Her research focuses on private international law of family law and succession law. She has written on child abduction, rights of the child, divorce and succession. Her PhD was published as a monograph, ‘Clawback Law in the Context of Succession‘ (Hart, 2020) and most recently she co-edited and co-authored several chapters in ‘A Guide to Global Private International Law‘ (Hart, 2022).
Her work on recognition of foreign divorce has been recognised as having impact by the Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, Dr Christophe Bernasconi.
Prior to coming to Stirling, Jayne was a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen and before that Robert Gordon University.
She obtained her PhD in Private International Law of Clawback Law in the Context of Succession, her LLM in Private International Law (both commercial law and family law) (with distinction) and her LLB from the University of Aberdeen. She also has a BA(Hons) Humanities with History (2:1) (Open University) and a Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (University of Aberdeen). In 2020 she became an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Dr Pontian Okoli is a Senior Lecturer in Private International Law specialising in Commercial Law and also Arbitration Law. He obtained his PhD and LLM from the University of Dundee. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Having worked as a Barrister and Solicitor in two law firms in Nigeria and as In House Counsel in a leading Nigerian Financial Institution, a great part of Pontian’s law practice and experience concerns international commercial/corporate dealings and investment risks – representing clients based in various jurisdictions including European countries and the United States. In addition to private international law, his research interests and publications include topics on the intersections between international business transactions and access to justice, and regional integration. His publications include Promoting Foreign Judgments: Lessons in Legal Convergence from South Africa and Nigeria (Wolters Kluwer, 2019).
Robbie Reid is a Lecturer in Law who specialises in criminal law, the law of delict, the relationship between civil and criminal law, and private international law.
Prior to joining the University of Stirling in October 2023, Robbie studied for a PhD at the University of Glasgow and was awarded an LLM by Research (with distinction) from the same university. For his doctoral research on the criminal law’s protection of privacy and reputation interests, Robbie received funding from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.
Robbie previously received an LLB (First Class) from the University of Edinburgh and went on to complete the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice there, where he studied modules on civil court practice, commercial litigation, and mediation.
Robbie has been involved in teaching private international law at the University of Edinburgh since 2016 and has recently delivered lectures on the LLB course. Private international law research interests primarily relate to the civil and commercial sphere, including rules on jurisdiction and applicable law, with a particular focus on the law of obligations.
PhD Students
Stephen Olayiwola Babalola – Stephen is a qualified solicitor, and has practiced both in Nigeria and England. He is currently a doctoral student at the University of Stirling, researching the private international law of securities.
Mohamed Omran
Associate Members
Dr Mukarrum Akmed is a Lecturer at Lancaster University. His research interests are private international law of commercial law.
Dr Mihail Danov is an Associate Professor at the University of Exeter and Barrister in England and Wales. His research Interests are Competition Litigation and Private International Law.
Dr Cristina Mariottini has a PhD in Private International Law from the University of Milan, and most recently was a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law. She now works as a lecturer for the European Institute of Public Administration in Luxembourg.
Dr Onyója Momoh is a Lecturer in Private International Law at the University of Aberdeen and a Barrister in England and Wales specialising in Child Abduction. Her research interests are private international law of family law. In recent years, Onyoja’s research and advocacy initiatives have focused on the conflict of laws/private international law (family law) in Africa, with a particular interest in Nigeria, and the sub-saharan region.
Dr Chukwuma Okoli is an Assistant Professor in Commercial Conflict of Laws at the University of Birmingham. He specialises in conflict of laws, international commercial litigation and international civil procedure.
Dr Abubakri Yekini is a Lecturer in Law (Conflict of Laws) at the University of Manchester. His research interests are conflict of laws and transnational dispute resolution.