Murdoch, James (fl 1970s-2010s : law graduate : University of Glasgow, Scotland)

Professor James "Jim" Murdoch is Professor of Public Law in the School of Law. Born in 1955 he studied at the University and graduated with an LLB in 1977. In his first year, he studied Constitutional Law and History, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure and Civil Law, gaining a Certificate of Merit in Constitutional Law and History and a Certificate of Distinction in Contracts. His second year studies included Accountancy, Company Law, Delict,History of Scots Law and Jurisprudence in which he attained a Certificate of Distinction in Delict and a Certificate of Merit in Jurisprudence. He studied Conveyancing, Government Law, Private Law, Public Law, Tax Law and Practice in the third year.

He joined the School of Law in 1979 after qualifying as a solicitor. In adddition to his LLB degree, he has an LLM from the University of California at Berkeley. He was Head of the School of Law at Glasgow University between 1996 and 2000. His teaching career has included periods at the Universities of Mainz and Hamburg and he was also appointed a professeur stagiaire with the Directorate of Human Rights of the Council of Europe in France. His research interests are in domestic and European human rights law. He is a regular participant in Council of Europe seminar programme visits to Central and East European states and has developed a particular interest in non-judicial human rights enforcement mechanisms.

In 2012 he was awarded the Pro Merito medal of the Council of Europe. The medal is the highest distinction granted by the Secretary General to individuals or organisations in recognition of their commitment to the Council of Europe's values and work. The medal was presented to Murdoch for his work in human rights education and in particular, the Human Rights Project, now in its 20th year. As of January 2013 he was still teaching at the University.

Selected Publications: Mullen, T., Murdoch, J., Craig, S. and Miller, A.(2005) Human Rights in the Scottish Courts. 0263-323X Journal of Law and Society Special Issue Vol 32pp148-168; Craig, S., Greenhill, P., Mullen, T., Murdoch, J. and Miller, A.(2004) The Use of Human Rights Legislation in the Scottish Courts; 0950 2254 prepared for Scottish Executive, Edinburgh.

Source: University staff page