Dr Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm
Position: Lecturer in Law
Email Address: V.Ruiz@sheffield.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 114 222 6714
Room No: EF01b
Academic Profile
Dr Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm is a Lecturer in Law at the School of Law, where she is also the Deputy Director of the Sheffield Centre for International and European Law (SCIEL). Verónica is a qualified Uruguayan solicitor and she started her law career as a shipping practitioner in Uruguay in 1997. At the same time she joined the Catholic University of Uruguay (UCUDAL) as an Assistant Professor of Private International Law. She moved to the UK in 2002 to pursue postgraduate studies (LL.M. in Commercial Law (Dist.), University of Edinburgh (UoE); Ph.D. in Private International Law, UoE. During her Ph.D. studies she taught Commercial Law (Hons.) as a Part time Tutor at Edinburgh Law School. She has been a member of the Sheffield Law School staff since 2008.
Her main areas of research are Private International Law or Conflict of Laws, international commercial litigation, international commercial arbitration and international shipping law. Other research interests include air law, comparative law, the interaction between public and private international law, and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
Qualifications
Ph.D., University of Edinburgh, Thesis Title: ‘The Arrest of Ships in Private International Law’ (2008)
LL.M. in Commercial Law (Dist.), University of Edinburgh (2003)
Prof. Adscr. in Private International Law, Catholic University of Uruguay (UCUDAL) (2002)
M.A. on the Law of Mercosur, Catholic University of Uruguay (1998)
J. D. (First Class), Catholic University of Uruguay (1996)
Teaching and Learning
Verónica teaches a number of different modules in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. All her teaching is informed by her research interests. She is passionate about Private International Law and committed to share her enthusiasm with her colleagues and students, integrating insights from her own and others’ research into her teaching, particularly in the area of European Private International Law.
Since she joined the Law School in Sheffield she has designed several new undergraduate and postgraduate modules. She is constantly developing their content in order to reflect recent trends and in response to student feedback. Over the years she has consistently received very positive feedback from students, personal tutees, peers and the wider academic community (nominated for the Law Lecturer of the Year award by the LawCareers.net in 2013).
The modules I teach are:
| Undergraduate | Postgraduate and MA |
|---|---|
| Maritime Law (Convenor) | International Commercial Arbitration (Convenor) |
| Conflict of Laws (Convenor) | International Commercial Litigation (Convenor) |
| Principles of Comparative Law |
Research Interests
- Private International Law (Jurisdiction, Choice of Law, Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments)
- Transnational Law
- Carriage of Goods by Sea
- Comparative Law
- International Commercial Arbitration
- International Commercial Litigation
Member of the Sheffield Centre for International and European Law (SCIEL) and the Institute for Commercial Law Studies (ICLS) Research Cluster(s).
Key Publications
JD McClean and V Ruiz Abou-Nigm, Morris on The Conflict of Laws (8th edn Sweet & Maxwell 2012)
V Ruiz Abou-Nigm, The Arrest of Ships in Private International Law (OUP 2011) Oxford Monographs in Private International Law Series.
V Ruiz Abou-Nigm, ‘Rome I: Evolution or Status Quo?’ in D.P. Fernandez Arroyo and N. Gonzalez Martin (Eds.), Tendencias... (2010) Porrua, Mexico, 553-575.
V Ruiz Abou-Nigm, ‘United Kingdom National Report to the 18th International Congress on Comparative Law’ (2010) in D.P. Fernandez Arroyo Consumer Protection in International Private Relationships (ed.) (2010) CEDEP, Paraguay, 487-508.
V Ruiz Abou-Nigm, ‘Application of Foreign Law in Uruguayan Private International Law’, 23 Revista de Transporte y Seguros (2010) FCU, Montevideo, 182-197.
V Ruiz Abou-Nigm, ‘Ancillary Jurisdiction for Interim Measures of Protection in Support of Cross-Border Litigation’, 4 Uniform Law Review (2005) 759-784.
Recent Invited Papers and Keynote Lectures
- V Ruiz Abou-Nigm, ‘Private International Law, Lateral Thinking and the Common European Sales Law’, 5th Conference of the Journal of Private International Law, Madrid, September 2013.
- V Ruiz Abou-Nigm and D French, ‘International Laws - Public and Private: (is there) A Bridge over Troubled Waters?’ 2013 ANZSIL Annual Conference, Canberra, Australia, July 2013.
- V Ruiz Abou-Nigm, ‘The Arrest of Ships in Private International Law’, Ravenna Summer School in Maritime, Transport and Mobility Law, Ravenna Campus of the University of Bologna, June 2013.
- V Ruiz Abou-Nigm, ‘El arresto de buques en las Reglas de Rotterdam’, University of Valencia, May 2013.
- V Ruiz Abou-Nigm, ‘To Create and to Transcend: Boosting the Effectiveness of Private International Law in the Age of Legal Diversity’, Doing Law Beyond the State –Research Methodologies Workshop- Sheffield University, January 2013.
- V Ruiz Abou-Nigm and D Marston, ‘The Scope of Application of the CESL: Broader is Better?’, Conflict of Laws Forum, University of Leicester, November 2012.
- V Ruiz Abou-Nigm, ‘Maritime Liens in the Conflict of Laws Revisited’, 4th Conference of the Journal of Private International Law, Milan, April 2011.
Key Projects/Grants
| Title/Description: | Research Methodologies in EU and International Law |
|---|---|
| Awarding Body: | Modern Law Review Seminar Funding |
| People Involved: | R. Collins (PI), T. Hervey, V. Ruiz Abou-Ngim and A. Bohm |
| Years Funded for: | January 2013 |
| Amount: | £2,485 |
| Title/Description: | Research Methodologies in EU and International Law |
|---|---|
| Awarding Body: | Workshops and Networks for Methodological Innovation Fund, University of Sheffield |
| People Involved: | R. Collins (PI), T. Hervey, V. Ruiz Abou-Ngim and A. Bohm |
| Years Funded for: | April 2012 |
| Amount: | £2,000 |
| Title/Description: | Arrest of Ships in Private International Law (Ph.D.) |
|---|---|
| Awarding Body: | College of Humanities and Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Studentship Award for pursuing PhD Studies at the School of Law (2003-2006); ORS (Overseas Research Students) Award (2003-2006) |
| People Involved: | Veronica Ruiz Abou-Nigm (student), Prof. Gerry Maher (Ph.D. supervisor) |
| Years Funded for: | 2003-2006 |
| Amount: | University of Edinburgh (circa £42,000 on studentship and fee waiver) ORS (circa £21,000 covering the difference between home fees and overseas fees) |
Professional Activities and Recognition
- Specialist Editor of Shawcross and Beaumont on Air Law (LexisNexis) (2008 - to date)
- External Consultant (Sciarra & Asociates (Law Firm, Uruguay) (2012- to date)
- Appointed as the UK National Reporter on Application of Foreign Law, International Academy of Comparative Law Conference, Vienna 2014.
- UK National Reporter on International Consumer Transactions, International Academy of Comparative Law Conference, Washington 2010.
- Specialist Editor of DeCITA, Derecho del Comercio Internacional (2005-2009)
- Visiting Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign Private and Private International Law, Hamburg, Germany (2004,2005,2006) (Awarded the Research Fellowship grant in three consecutive years (over £ 5,000 for the stay from the Max Planck Institute)
- Visiting Research Fellow at Unidroit, Rome, Italy (2006) (Awarded Research Scholarship grant from Unidroit for two months research at the Unidroit Secretariat (1500 euros) and matching funds from the Edinburgh Legal Education Trust.
- Visiting Researcher at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris, France (September 2004)
- Accredited Researcher at the International Max Planck Research School for Maritime Affairs at the University of Hamburg, www.maritimeaffairs.org
- Research Assistant (Dr. Stephen Tierney), School of Law, University of Edinburgh (2003) worked acknowledged in S Tierney, Constitutional Law and National Pluralism (OUP 2004).
- External Consultant to the Inter-American Child Institute (IIN), a specialised organ of the Organisation of American States (OAS) on International Conventions on International Child Abduction, Montevideo (2002).
- Member of the Uruguayan Delegation to The Hague Conference on Private International Law (2002).
- Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law (by invitation only)
- Member of the American Association of Private International Law (ASADIP)
- Member of the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS)
Areas of Research Supervision
- Transnational Law and international commercial contracts
- Carriage of Goods by Sea
- Transnational Civil procedure
- Jurisdictional issues in commercial litigation
- International Commercial Arbitration and ADR