Hedley Christ

Current EU funded research involves the Rule of Law and science and how the law deals with failure.  My focus is to consider how the Rule of Law can include soft law principles, i.e. non-binding law, within the Rule of Law framework. My research involved a number of Rule of Law issues within international public and private economic law and international intellectual property law.  In particular I am interested in using linguistics and economics as tool for examining law.

Recently completed research involves the issues of the rule of law, in relation to laws (International, European and National), and science and medicine.  This is an European Union (EU) funded programme, recently awarded.  My main focus, in collaboration with the European Research Institute and other European universities, principally the University of Regensburg, relates to the regulation of genetic databases and how this may encompass a conflict between laws related to patient provision of genetic data and information, which will be stored and accessible for research.  The nature of privacy, confidentiality and potential commercial exploitation of the information provided is also explored.

I am also interest in Ancient Law, particularly that of Mesopotamia (Sumer and Akkad), Assyria and Persia.