
Dr Charles Mak
LLB (Hons), LLM, LLMArbDR, PhD
Expertise
Dr Charles Mak's expertise spans insolvency law, sovereign debt restructuring, trust law, financial regulation, technology law, and dispute resolution.
Current positions
Lecturer in Law
University of Bristol Law School
Contact
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Biography
He contributes to the legal profession as a member of the Trusts and Succession Law Sub-Committee and the Competition Law Sub-Committee of the Law Society of Scotland. Prior to his current role, he taught at the University of Glasgow, Robert Gordon University, and the University of the West of Scotland, and served as a Research Associate at the University of Oxford. He was also a visiting scholar at institutions such as Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb), the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators (FHKIArb), the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (FAIADR), the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (FRAS), the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (FSAScot), and Advance HE (FHEA).
His numerous accolades include the III Prize in International Insolvency Studies, the Scottish Universities Law Institute Early Career Fellowship, the Emerging Scholar Award, the YANIL Research Prize (First Prize), and the Association of Law Teachers Stan Marsh Prize.
He serves as Chairperson of the Young Members Group at the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution and holds tribunal secretary accreditation from the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre. In 2024, he was inducted into the International Insolvency Institute's NextGen Leadership Program (Class XIII) in Singapore.
Research interests
Dr Charles Mak’s research focuses on insolvency law, sovereign debt restructuring, trust law, financial regulation, technology law, and dispute resolution. His work explores the intersections between domestic and international legal frameworks, with particular attention to how financial and technological developments shape legal responses. He has published widely in these areas and engages with both doctrinal and policy dimensions of legal reform. Most notably, as one of the Principal Investigators, his research team received Robert Gordon University's Interdisciplinary Research Team of the Year award (2025) for their project on leveraging AI to prevent terrorism in prisons, funded by the Home Office Accelerated Capability Environment and the Counter Terrorism Research Lab and selected for a national showcase.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Transatlantic Perspectives on Digital Platform Governance and Competition Policy in the European Union and the United States
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
University of Bristol Law SchoolDates
01/04/2025
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Identify and Prevent Terrorism in Prisons
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
University of Bristol Law SchoolDates
01/01/2025 to 31/03/2025
A Future Beyond the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024: Further Modernisation of Trust Taxation in Scotland
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
University of Bristol Law SchoolDates
11/09/2024
Artificial Intelligence and Competition Law in the Transatlantic Sphere: Exploring New Frontiers in Regulation and Enforcement
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
University of Bristol Law SchoolDates
01/04/2024 to 30/04/2025
A Comparative Analysis of Blockchain and Competition Law in the European Union and the United States: Decentralization, Data Accumulation, and Collusion
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
University of Bristol Law SchoolDates
04/04/2023 to 01/04/2024
Publications
Selected publications
01/01/2024Evaluating Reform Proposals in Sovereign Debt Restructuring
Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice
Case Study 5.1 Sovereign Debt Restructuring in Zambia
A Casebook on Chinese Outbound Investment
Debts unravelled
Trusts & Trustees
Recent publications
28/02/2025Case Study 5.1 Sovereign Debt Restructuring in Zambia
A Casebook on Chinese Outbound Investment
Artificial Intelligence and Competition Law in the Transatlantic Sphere
European Competition Law Review
Protecting Public Interest in Sovereign and Municipal Restructurings
Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice
Recognition and assistance in cross‐border insolvency
International Insolvency Review
Trust declarations and creditor protection in insolvency
Trusts & Trustees