Academic Profile

After a successful career in local government working in the field of economic regeneration, I pursued studies in law, eventually undertaking PhD study combined with a Graduate Teaching Assistant position at the University of Sheffield in September 2006. I successfully defended my PhD in 2011 (awarded without corrections). I started a full-time lectureship at Sheffield in September 2009.

Member of the Sheffield Centre for International and European Law Research Cluster.

Qualifications

Ph.D University of Sheffield
LL.M (Dist.), University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
LL.B (First Class Hons.), Sheffield Hallam University

Teaching and Learning

My teaching spans both domestic public law and public international law, which is informed by my research interests in legal, constitutional and political theory. I am committed to integrating insights from my own and others’ research into my teaching, particularly in the area of international law and international organisations. Furthermore, I have played an integral role in developing module structures, content and assessment methods in order to reflect recent developments and in response to student feedback.

The modules I teach are:

Undergraduate	Postgraduate and MA
International Law I	International Humanitarian Law (LLM)
International Law II	Law of International Organisations (LLM)
Public Law I	Politics of International Law (MA Global Politics and Law)
Public Law II

Research Interests

• International Law
• Legal Theory/Jurisprudence
• Peacekeeping and Collective Security
• The Law of International Organisations
• Public Law
• Political Theory

Key Publications

R. Collins, 'Constitutionalism as Liberal-Juridical Consciousness: Echoes from International Law's Past' (2009) 22 Leiden Journal of International Law 251-87

R. Collins and N. D. White (eds.), International Organizations and the Idea of Autonomy: Institutional Independence in the International Legal Order (Abingdon: Routledge, 2011)

R. Collins, ‘Modernist-Positivism and the Problem of Institutional Autonomy in International Law ' in R. Collins and N. D. White (eds.), International Organizations and the Idea of Autonomy: Institutional Independence in the International Legal Order (Abingdon: Routledge, 2011), pp. 22-47

R. Collins, ‘Non-State, Inter-state or Supra-State? The Peculiar Identity of the Intergovernmental Organization in International Institutional Law’ in J. d’Aspremont (ed.), Participants in the International Legal System (Abingdon: Routledge, 2011), pp. 311-25

View Full List of Publications

Recent Invited Papers and Keynote Lectures

'Arendt’s Recovery of the Political and the Problem of Foundation in International Law', invited paper given at the conference, "Hannah Arendt and the Law", University of Antwerp, Belgium, 14-15 June 2010

'Classical Legal Positivism Revisited' invited paper to be given at the conference/workshop: 'International Legal Positivism in a Post-Modern World', University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, 3-4 November 2011

Professional Activities and Recognition

• Visiting Research Fellow at the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights and the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in Global Governance Research, Helsinki, Finland, in August and September 2008
  (I was awarded over £2,000 of funding for the stay from the University of Sheffield's Excellence Exchange Scheme)
• Invited external reviewer: Leiden Journal of International Law, June 2010; Cooperation and Conflict, September 2011
• Guest Editorial in the International Organizations Law Review, Vol 7(1) of 2010

Areas of Research Supervision

• History and Theory of International Law
• Peacekeeping and Collective Security
• Law of International Organisations