Rate My Professor Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm

Professor Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm holds the position of Chair of Private International Law at Edinburgh Law School, University of Edinburgh. She earned her PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 2008 with a thesis entitled ‘The Arrest of Ships in Private International Law’, an LLM in Commercial Law with Distinction from the same institution in 2003, an MA in Law specialising in Law of Integration from the Catholic University of Uruguay in 1998, and a Juris Doctorate with First Class Honours from the Catholic University of Uruguay in 1996. Her research focuses on the intersections between private international law and maritime law, public international law, international commercial arbitration, and international civil and commercial litigation. A common theme in her work is the internationalisation of law through embracing legal, cultural, and methodological diversity to promote cross-border cooperation and accommodate diverse legal traditions in cross-border cases. She served as Principal Investigator for the ‘Private International Law and the Development of Integrated Markets’ (PILIM) project from 2014 to 2017, in collaboration with the University of Buenos Aires and the University of Belgrano.

Professor Ruiz Abou-Nigm has authored the monograph The Arrest of Ships in Private International Law (Oxford University Press, 2011) and edited Diversity and Integration in Private International Law (Edinburgh University Press, 2020). She co-edited The Private Side of Transforming our World: UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and the Role of Private International Law (Intersentia, 2021). Recent publications include ‘Circular Fashion and Legal Design: Weaving Circular Economy Threads into International Contracts’ (2024, co-authored with Dr Antonia Sommerfeld, winner of the José María Cervelló Business Law Prize), ‘Iconic asymmetries of our times: “Super Highways” and “jungle tracks” in transnational access to justice’ (Journal of Private International Law, 2025), and ‘Private international law's inter-systemic thinking in global legal education’ (Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale, 2024). She holds prominent appointments as President of the European Law Faculties Association (elected 2023), Research Director of the Law Schools Global League (appointed 2025), member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (appointed 2024), and member of the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law (appointed 2026, nominated by the Scottish Government). Professor Ruiz Abou-Nigm has delivered lectures on private international law and sustainable development at Ocean University, Wuhan University, and Peking University in China.