A Conflict of Laws Companion

At the end of this academic year, Professor Adrian Briggs (Fellow at St Edmund Hall and Professor of Private International Law) retires after 41 years of service to his College and the Faculty. Throughout that period, he has been an instrumental figure in the study and research in Oxford in the field of the conflict of laws (private international law), having taught the subject to those studying for the B.C.L. and—since its inception—the M.Jur. In the early years of his tenure, he taught alongside Peter Carter (formerly of Wadham College) and Professor Francis Reynolds Q.C. (hon.) (Worcester College). More recently, he has been joined by his former students, Professors Edwin Peel (Keble College) and Andrew Dickinson (St Catherine’s College). In 2016, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel (honaris causa) in acknowledgement of his contributions as an academic, practitioner and expert.

In recognition of Adrian Briggs’ pivotal role in shaping the conflict of laws in England and internationally, and his wider contributions to teaching and research within and outside Oxford, Professors Peel and Dickinson gathered together a group of experts, all of whom have studied with or under Adrian or worked alongside him, to write essays in his honour. The resulting collection, entitled A Conflict of Laws Companion has now been published by OUP. The book contains essays on conflicts topics by (among others) Andrew Burrows (All Souls’ College and formerly Professor of the Law of England), James Edelman (formerly of Keble College and of this Faculty and now a Justice of the High Court of Australia) and Andrew Bell (President of the New South Wales’ Court of Appeal). The introductory section contains shorter pieces by Professor Reynolds on “Adrian Briggs and the Conflict of Laws in Oxford” and by his former College colleague, Professor Derrick Wyatt Q.C., on “Adrian Briggs’ Contribution to the Life of St Edmund Hall”, as well as reflections by the other contributors on their own experiences of Adrian as an Oxford contemporary, tutor, student and colleague.

The book was launched at St Catherine’s College on Friday 25 June 2021 at a gathering of the last B.C.L./M.Jur. cohort to be taught by Adrian during his tenure.

We wish Adrian, and others retiring from the Faculty this year, happiness and success in their new adventures.