Professor Pip Nicholson

Overview

Pip is a University of Melbourne (UoM) graduate with a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws and a PhD from Melbourne Law School (MLS). Pip also holds a Masters in Public Policy from the ANU. Pip was previously admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Victorian Supreme Court and the High Court of Australia and is currently the Hearn Professor of Law at MLS.

Pip’s research focusses on the history and development of the theory and practice of socialist systems, specifically undertaking research concerning Vietnamese legal institutions, particularly Vietnamese courts, constitutions and, more recently, the legal profession. Her ARC-supported projects enabled research on the impacts of comparative legal development assistance in Vietnam and Cambodia, and drugs law and the death penalty in Southeast Asia. Working comparatively and with scholars across the globe, Pip has consistently interrogated questions about how scholars investigate foreign legal systems.

Before being appointed as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (People and Community) on 26 April 2022, Pip served as Dean of the Melbourne Law School (MLS) from 2018 to March 2022, and also previously served as the Director of the Asian Law Centre.

Memberships and Affiliations

• Asian Law Centre
• Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies
• Council of Australian Law Deans