Professor Kilpatrick brings with her a wealth of expertise in European and international labour law, having most recently served as Professor at the European University Institute in Florence, where she also held the roles of Dean of Graduate Studies and Co-Director of the Academy of European Law. Her distinguished academic journey has also included positions in London, Cambridge, and Bristol.

At Queen's, Professor Kilpatrick is leading a major four-year research project on ‘The EU’s new frontiers of human rights at work: exploring and assessing how the EU uses international human and labour rights to address green, trade and supply-chain concerns’.  The project focuses on a consequential set of legal sources in EU law which are concerned with market regulation for goods, services and commodities. From forced labour to deforestation, from critical raw materials and batteries, and from fishing to corporate sustainability, these new sources are important for labour rights, human rights and environmental protection. The project’s focus is on labour rights, which remain a profoundly underexplored element of these sources. It will analyse the implications of this novel embedding of international labour and human rights in EU market regulation sources, both for people working within the EU and for people working abroad. It will address questions of regulatory design and regulatory impact, as well as evaluating EU legitimacy and accountability in the labour dimension of these measures.

Head of School, Professor Warren Barr commented, "I am delighted to welcome Claire, who has chosen Queen's Law School as a home for this major, prestigious project and appointment.   It is a testament to the incredible reputation of our researchers here across the variety of micro-disciplines in law, both in terms of academic excellence and the real-world impact of their research.  Great things happen at Queen's Law School."

We are thrilled to have Professor Kilpatrick join our academic community and look forward to the insights and impact her work will bring.