Andrew Nicol

Fulbright Postgraduate Scholar

Media Profile

“Legal theory has an important role to play in affirming fundamental conceptions about law and justice, especially in times of conflict and uncertainty. Teaching jurisprudence is an important way of developing socially aware and critically engaged lawyers and leaders.”

Andrew Nicol, currently completing his Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) at the University of Western Australia (UWA) has won a Fulbright Scholarship which he will use to undertake his LLM at Harvard University specialising in jurisprudence, the philosophy of law. Upon his return to Australia he plans to teach jurisprudence to law students.

“I believe that law students would benefit from more exposure to legal theory and that the community would benefit from a generation of students who are educated in critically examining the law."

“I want to engage lawyers and policy makers in debates about theoretical legal issues that are essential to our understanding of the role of the law in a liberal democratic state. Whilst at Harvard I will explore new and emerging applications of theories about ‘rights’ especially in regard to debates about international law and international relations and the interaction of human rights instruments with the common law.”

Andrew chose Harvard not only because “legal philosophers at Harvard are the world’s best” but also because he would like to break the traditional Australian-British model of collaboration on the topic that currently exists. “I believe there is a great deal to be gained by facilitating collaboration with institutions and academics in the U.S. Also, jurisprudence is generally not taught much in Australia.” Andrew would like to develop relationships between relevant academics and practitioners in the U.S. and Australia in order to create in-depth debate and dialogue between the two countries on important social and legal issues.

Andrew’s interest in legal philosophy began when, as a high school graduate, he visited The Hague International Model UN as part of an Australian delegation where debates on “rights” gave him deeper insight into the “practical and immediate applications of philosophy”.

Touted by his academic supervisors as a leader in the making, Andrew has not only achieved dramatic results academically (as evidenced by his long list of awards including the UWA Law Honours Program top prize) but also extended himself in voluntary work. As coach, adjudicator and administrator for the WA Debating League for High Schools (of which he himself was a member), Andrew is heavily committed to the intellectual enhancement of high school students and to encouraging healthy debate in general. He has coordinated debating programs in regional WA and is a member of the United Nations Youth Association (WA).