Pip Nicholson

Pip Nicholson is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (People and Community) at the University of Melbourne, having previously served as Dean of Melbourne Law School (2018–2022) and Director of the Asian Law Centre. She holds a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws and PhD from Melbourne Law School, alongside a Master of Public Policy from the Australian National University. Her research focuses on socialist legal systems, with a particular emphasis on Vietnamese legal institutions, including courts, constitutions, and the legal profession. Her work is supported by Australian Research Council grants, examining legal development in Southeast Asia and comparative legal reforms.

Education: BA/LLB (Melbourne Law School), PhD (Melbourne Law School), Master of Public Policy (ANU). Research explores judicial independence, legal reform dynamics, and transnational legal practices, often through collaborations with global scholars. She has led ARC-funded projects on comparative legal development in Vietnam and Cambodia, and drugs law in Southeast Asia.

Her publications critically analyze legal systems in socialist contexts, judicial reforms, and the impact of international legal aid programs. She is affiliated with the Asian Law Centre and the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies, contributing to academic discourse on constitutionalism and rule of law in Asia.