The annual St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPBILF) is an international platform for discussing questions faced by legal professionals as well as examining ideas on modernising law amidst current global changes.

Professor Paula Giliker was one of eight candidates shortlisted for the 2018 SPBILF Private Law Prize, for which the world’s top-ranking universities were invited to nominate outstanding academic works in the field of private law. She took part in the award ceremony held in in St Petersburgh's Philharmonia Hall on 15 May.

Her book, The Europeanisation of English Tort Law (Hart Publishing, 2014), is an innovative study examining the extent to which English tort law has changed due to European influences, arising from European Union and European Human Rights Law.

The SPBILF states that its “global academic award is tasked with recognizing the highest academic class of the winner, while its financial component is intended to help with the implementation of research ideas of international importance.”

The SPBILF Private Law Prize Expert Committee consisted of prominent jurists and academics, including the Law School’s Professor Ken Oliphant. Committee member Professor Graham Virgo (University of Cambridge) said:

“Lawyers need their own ‘Nobel Prize’ as a reflection of the vital importance of the work of academic lawyers.”

Professor Giliker commented:

"It was a great honour to be nominated for the 2018 SPBILF Private Law Prize and receive such a positive response to my book on the Europeanisation of English Tort Law from such an illustrious judging panel. I was delighted also to be able to highlight in an international forum the outstanding work of the University of Bristol Law School in the field of private, comparative and European law."