MEET:
Prof James Hathaway KC (Hon)
James specialises in public international law, including international human rights law, international queer rights, and international refugee law.
James C. Hathaway KC (Hon) is the Degan Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Michigan, and the founding Director of the Program in Refugee and Asylum Law at the University of Michigan (1998-2022). He regularly advises and provides training to academic, non-governmental, and official audiences around the world in specialist fields of public international law, including international human rights law, international queer rights, and international refugee law.
James earned law degrees from the Osgoode Hall Law School (Toronto) (LL.B. Honours) and Columbia (LL.M., J.S.D.), and has received doctoral degrees honoris causa from the Université catholique de Louvain (2009) and University of Amsterdam (2017). In 2023, he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. From 2008 until 2010 James was on leave from the University of Michigan to serve as the Dean of Law and William Hearn Professor of Law at the University of Melbourne, where he established Australia’s first all-graduate legal education program. He previously held positions as Professor of Law and Associate Dean of the Osgoode Hall Law School, Canada (1984-1998), Counsel on Special Legal Assistance for the Disadvantaged to the Government of Canada (1983-1984), and Professeur adjoint de droit at the Université de Moncton, Canada (1980-1983). James was the Distinguished Visiting Professor of International Refugee Law at the University of Amsterdam from 2010 to 2022. He has been appointed a visiting professor or scholar at the American University in Cairo, the Australian National University, and at the Universities of California (Los Angeles and San Francisco), Macerata, San Francisco, Stanford, Tokyo, Toronto, and Torcuato di Tella.
James’ publications include more than one hundred journal articles, book chapters, and studies; a leading treatise on the refugee definition (The Law of Refugee Status, second edition 2014 with M. Foster; first edition 1991, republished in both Russian in 2007 and Japanese in 2008); an interdisciplinary study of models for refugee law reform (Reconceiving International Refugee Law, 1997); and The Rights of Refugees under International Law (second edition 2021, first edition republished in Japanese in 2014 and Chinese 2017), the first comprehensive analysis of the human rights of refugees set by the UN Refugee Convention and the International Bill of Rights. He is the founding Editor of Cambridge Asylum and Migration Studies.
+44 (0)20 7404 3447
James specialises in public international law, including international human rights law, international queer rights, and international refugee law.
MAIN AREAS OF PRACTICE
- Public International Law
- Civil Liberties and Human Rights
- Equality and Discrimination Law
- Immigration, Asylum and Free Movement
- International Law
- Public Law
Prof James Hathaway KC (Hon)
Contact James: JamesHathaway@matrixlaw.co.uk | +44 (0)20 7404 3447
Contact James's Practice Team (Team X): TeamX@matrixlaw.co.uk
James C. Hathaway KC (Hon) is the Degan Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Michigan, and the founding Director of the Program in Refugee and Asylum Law at the University of Michigan (1998-2022). He regularly advises and provides training to academic, non-governmental, and official audiences around the world in specialist fields of public international law, including international human rights law, international queer rights, and international refugee law.
Education and Experience
James earned law degrees from the Osgoode Hall Law School (Toronto) (LL.B. Honours) and Columbia (LL.M., J.S.D.), and has received doctoral degrees honoris causa from the Université catholique de Louvain (2009) and University of Amsterdam (2017). In 2023, he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. From 2008 until 2010 James was on leave from the University of Michigan to serve as the Dean of Law and William Hearn Professor of Law at the University of Melbourne, where he established Australia’s first all-graduate legal education program. He previously held positions as Professor of Law and Associate Dean of the Osgoode Hall Law School, Canada (1984-1998), Counsel on Special Legal Assistance for the Disadvantaged to the Government of Canada (1983-1984), and Professeur adjoint de droit at the Université de Moncton, Canada (1980-1983). James was the Distinguished Visiting Professor of International Refugee Law at the University of Amsterdam from 2010 to 2022. He has been appointed a visiting professor or scholar at the American University in Cairo, the Australian National University, and at the Universities of California (Los Angeles and San Francisco), Macerata, San Francisco, Stanford, Tokyo, Toronto, and Torcuato di Tella.
Publications
James’ publications include more than one hundred journal articles, book chapters, and studies; a leading treatise on the refugee definition (The Law of Refugee Status, second edition 2014 with M. Foster; first edition 1991, republished in both Russian in 2007 and Japanese in 2008); an interdisciplinary study of models for refugee law reform (Reconceiving International Refugee Law, 1997); and The Rights of Refugees under International Law (second edition 2021, first edition republished in Japanese in 2014 and Chinese 2017), the first comprehensive analysis of the human rights of refugees set by the UN Refugee Convention and the International Bill of Rights. He is the founding Editor of Cambridge Asylum and Migration Studies.