Nigel White
Professor of Public International Law and Deputy Head of School (Research), Faculty of Social Sciences
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Biography
Professor White re-joined the School of Law at Nottingham in 2009 as Chair in Public International Law. Prior to that he held the Chair of International Law at the University of Sheffield from 2005-2009, and the Chair in International Organisations at the University of Nottingham from 2000-2005. He has held an academic post in Law since 1987, and gained his doctorate from Nottingham in 1988. He gained a First Class BA (Hons) in Jurisprudence from Oxford in 1982. He has twice served as Head of the School of Law at Nottingham and Dean of the Faculty of Law at Sheffield. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Utrecht, University of Uppsala, Australian National University, and Kobe University. He is currently Co-Director of the Nottingham International Law and Security Centre (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/nilsc/index.aspx). He was a member of the REF 2014 sub-panel for Law, and is currently a member of the RAE 2020 Law Panel for Hong Kong Universities. He is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Expertise Summary
Professor Nigel White's expertise lies in the fields of United Nations law, peacekeeping law, sanctions, arms control law, the regulation of private security contractors, war powers, and military justice.
Professor White has undertaken a number funded research projects including on: the regulation of private military and security contractors (PRIVWAR - EU-FP7); democratic accountability and the deployment of troops (Nuffield); human rights and post-conflict situations UK FCO); the role of national courts in international law (COST); counter-terrorism and the rule of law (American Bar Association and World Justice Project); and the role of private security actors in extractive industries (Netherlands - NWO). In recent years he has given written and oral evidence to the UK House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee (on war powers), the Foreign Affairs Committee (on the legal consequences of Scottish independence, and on the regulation of private military contractors), the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Terrorism (on international legal responses to terrorism), and has made a written submission to the Iraq Inquiry (on the legality of the UK's use of force in 2003). Among other editorial responsibilities Professor White is co-editor of the Journal of Conflict and Security Law published by Oxford University Press.
Professor White provides Ph.D supervision in United Nations law, the law relating to peacekeeping, sanctions and countermeasures, the regulation of private military and security contractors, arms control law especially the law relating to nuclear weapons, war powers, and military justice. He has supervised over 40 Ph.D students to completion and has examined a similar number of theses around the UK, Europe, Australia, Malaysia, and New Zealand.
Teaching Summary
Public International Law (LLM)
United Nations Law (LLM)
Post-Conflict Law (LLM)
Military Justice (LLB)
Ph.D Supervision: currently 7 students under supervision
Research Summary
Professor White's current research areas are: United Nations law, the law relating to peacekeeping, sanctions and other means of enforcing international law, arms control law especially the law… read more
Prospective PhD students
Inquiries from prospective students are welcome especially in the areas of United Nations Law, the law relating to peacekeeping, arms control law, sanctions and other means of enforcing international law, the regulation of private military and security contractors, war powers and decisions to deploy troops, and military justice.
If you are interested in these areas and have ideas for Ph.D topics you would like to discuss please email me at nigel.white@nottingham.ac.uk
Information about the School of Law PhD programme and how to apply can be found here: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/law/study/postgraduate-research/index.aspx.
Information about scholarships can be found here: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/law/study/postgraduate-research/funding.aspx.
Information about the University of Nottingham International Law and Security Centre (NILSC) can be found here:
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/nottingham-international-law-and-security-centre/index.aspx
Current PhD Students
- Torres-Penagos, Felix: Setting Priorities in the Wake of Armed Conflict: The Allocation of Socio-Economic Rights between Victims and Non-Victims (co-supervised with Professor Aoife Nolan)
- Giblin, Jennifer: International Law, Intervention and Peacekeeping in the DR Congo (co-supervised with Professor Olympia Bekou)
- Shuo Yan: Maritime Power and the Evolution of Rights of Passage (co-supervised with Dr Hongyi Lai, School of Politics and International Relations)
- Davies-Bright, Lydia: What Price Democracy? Human Rights, Counter-Terrorism and Democracy (co-supervised with Professor Dino Kritsiotis)
- Hernadez, Arturo: The Genesis of a Cuban Legal Order (co-supervised with Professor Antoni Kapcia, Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies)
- Dekeyrel, Simon: The Securitisation of the External Energy Policy of the EU (co-supervised with Dr Marianthi Pappa)
- Vacca, Edoardo: The International Criminal Responsibility of Armed Group Members (co-supervised with Professor Olympia Bekou)
Completed PhD Students Since 2009
- Mackenzie Gray-Scott, Richard: State Responsibility for Non-State Actors in International Law (co-supervised with Professor Sandesh Sivakumaran)
- Steinmeir, Dominik: Counter-Terrorism and Islamic Networks (co-supervised with Professor Andrew Mumford, School of Politics and International Relations)
- Wesley, Marc: The Falkland Islands and the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes (co-supervised with Professor Sandesh Sivakumaran)
- Mendez, Daniela: Transitional Justice and Socio-Economic Rights in Latin America (co-supervised with Professor Sandesh Sivakumaran)
- Auriane Botte: International Criminal Justice and the Responsibility to Protect (co-supervised with Professor Olympia Bekou)
- Jones, Annika: The Use of External Jurisprudence by the International Criminal Court (co-supervised with Dr Olympia Bekou)
- Seiberth, Corrina: Non-binding Norms and the Regulation of Private Military and Security Companies during Armed Conflict: The Contribution of Soft Law and Codes of Conduct to the Legal Framework of Private Military and Security Companies
- Senior, Kerry: The Relationship between International and EU Law: Judicial Review, Art. 103 UN Charter and Protection of Human Rights (co-supervised with Professor Mary Footer)
- Shucksmith, Christy: An analysis of the legal and practical relationship between United Nations Peace Operations and the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Democratic Republic of Congo. How does the human security concept impact upon UN and ICRC missions? (co-supervised with Professor Sandesh Sivakumaran)
- Tan, Alvin: Regionalization of International Criminal Justice (co-supervised with Professor Olympia Bekou)
Current Research
Professor White's current research areas are: United Nations law, the law relating to peacekeeping, sanctions and other means of enforcing international law, arms control law especially the law governing nuclear weapons, the regulation of private security and military contractors, war powers and decisions to deploy troops, and military justice.
Past Research
Professor White's first book was published in 1990, The United Nations and the Maintenance of International Peace and Security (Manchester University Press). In addition to publishing over seventy-five articles and essays he is a co-author and author of eleven books. He is sole author of Keeping the Peace (Manchester University Press, 2nd edn 1997), The UN System: Toward International Justice (Lynne Rienner, 2002), The Law of International Organisations (Manchester University Press, 3rd edn, 2017), Democracy Goes to War: British Military Deployments under International Law (Oxford University Press 2009), Advanced Introduction to Conflict and Security Law (Elgar, 2014) and The Cuban Embargo Under International Law: El Bloqueo (Routledge, 2015). He has recently co-authored Collective Security: Law Theory and Practice (Cambridge University Press, 2013) with Nicholas Tsagourias. He has edited and co-edited a number of books including most recently Security and International Law (Hart, 2016), a collaborative work based in the recently founded Nottingham International Law and Security Centre (NILSC), of which he is co-director. He is co-editor of the Journal of Conflict and Security Law published by Oxford University Press and in its 23rd year.
Future Research
United Nations law, the law relating to peacekeeping, sanctions and other means of enforcing international law, arms control law especially the law governing nuclear weapons, the regulation of private security and military contractors, war powers and decisions to deploy troops, and military justice.