Dr. Sarah Hamill

Dr Sarah Hamill joined Trinity College Dublin in September 2017. She previously worked as a Lecturer at The City Law School, City, University of London, and prior to that she was a Catalyst Fellow at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada. She holds an LLB Honours from the University of Glasgow, an LLM from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Law from the University of Alberta. Dr Hamill's main areas of research are property law, housing law, and legal history. She has published widely in both areas. Her research in property law focuses on the interaction of public and private claims in the context of property law and housing law. Recent work includes a comparative analysis of restrictions on accessing property and housing, and an article about specific performance in Ireland. Dr Hamill's legal history research has focused on the regulation of alcohol in early-twentieth-century Canada and explored how the province of Alberta sought to make its liquor laws effective. This research included an examination of the role plebiscites played in shaping the regulation of alcohol. In addition to her research in property and legal history, Dr Hamill has also published in the area of public law, specifically equality, and freedom of expression. Dr Hamill"s work on legal history has been cited by the Tribunal des droits de la personne (Human Rights Tribunal of Quebec), her work on freedom of expression has been cited by the Quebec Court of Appeal, and her work on property law has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada. Dr Hamill has provided media commentary about her areas of research, in particular she has provided media commentary on drug and alcohol regulation in Canada and on housing law issues in Ireland. She has written articles for the Irish Examiner, the Sunday Business Post, and the Irish Times, and she has appeared on Morning Ireland, News Talk, Drivetime, and Prime Time. She is open to media queries on housing law and property law issues both in Ireland and beyond. At Trinity Dr Hamill teaches English Land Law, and Housing Law and Rights in Context to undergraduate students. She also leads a final-year undergraduate dissertation group on Law and Empire. She has previously taught Private Law Remedies, and formerly led a final-year dissertation group on Property Law and Theory.

  Legal History   Property   Property Law   PROPERTY RIGHTS   Property Theory

Dr Hamill's areas of research are mainly in property law, property theory, and legal history. In particular her expertise lies in how the law understands public property, and in Canadian legal history. Dr Hamill's research has included both theoretical and doctrinal analyses, as well as using sociolegal approaches to law. Her research in legal history has included a large, mostly archival research project, as well as utilising an approach known as legal archaeology to explore a single case. Dr Hamill has published widely in both property law and legal history. Additionally, her published work has considered how property law intersects with civil liberties (such as freedoms of expression and religion, as well as, equality rights) and housing.