The Open University

Professional biography

I have studied at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Oxford, the University of Lancaster, Liverpool John Moores University and The Open University. I was called to the bar at Middle Temple and am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I joined The Open University Law School in 2011 and was appointed Head of School in January 2022. Prior to becoming Head of School, I was Director of Knowledge Exchange and Impact for the Faculty of Business of Law.

Research interests

My research focuses on innovation in higher education, including technology enhanced learning and the opportunities provided by emerging policies on the third mission of universities. I was guest editor for a special edition of the International Journal of Clinical Legal Education which explored the impact of Covid lockdowns on legal education and my latest book argues for a more theoretically engaged approach to legal education. My current research project uses the Capability Approach to evaluate Knowledge Exchange policy in England.

Teaching interests

As Co-Director of the Open Justice Centre and module chair of W360: Justice in Action, I pioneered online approaches to clinical legal education and worked to develop a range of innovative community based experiential learning opportunities for OU students by developing partnerships with national and international third sector organisations. I’ve won several awards for my teaching and was highly commended in the 2020 Times Higher Education Most Innovative Teacher Awards.

Impact and engagement

In the UK, I've developed partnerships with civil society organisations including a project funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission with AdviceUK on discrimination and human rights law issues. My prison engagement work featured on BBC Radio 4's Law in Action and his partnership with Support Through Court was recognised as an excellent collaborative project by the UK Justice Secretary. I was academic advisor for two series of Bafta nominated BBC2 Documentary The Detectives.

My international engagement includes working extensively with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to support their Education for Justice initiative, a project which was awarded UN Secretary General Innovation Award and consulted on the development of GRACE; the UNODC's Global Resources for Anti-corruption Education portal, which aims to develop a global community of practice of anti-corruption educators.

Publications

Journal articles

Supporting access to justice through volunteer training: An evaluation of an Open Educational Resource (2021-08-26)
Mcfaul, Hugh and FitzGerald, Elizabeth
Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 1(5) (pp. 1-14)

Taking Clinical Legal Education Online: Songs of Innocence and Experience (2020-12-11)
McFaul, Hugh; Hardie, Liz; Ryan, Francine; Lloyd Bright, Keren and Graffin, Neil
International Journal of Clinical Legal Education, 27(4) (pp. 6-38)

A realist evaluation of student use of a virtual reality smartphone application in undergraduate legal education (2020-03)
Mcfaul, Hugh and FitzGerald, Elizabeth
British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(2) (pp. 572-589)

Does Clinical Legal Education Need Theory? (2020)
McFaul, Hugh
Asian Journal of Legal Education, 7(2) (pp. 152-163)

A mobile app for public legal education: a case study of co-designing with students (2020)
McFaul, Hugh; FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Ryan, Francine and Byrne, David
Research in Learning Technology, 28, Article 2434

Connectivity, confidentiality and confidence: Key issues in the provision of online pro bono activities (2018-09-05)
Jones, Emma; Ryan, Francine and Mcfaul, Hugh
International Journal of Clinical Legal Education, 25(2) (pp. 48-88)

Pushing the Boundaries: Legal Approaches to the Definition of Religion (2018)
Mcfaul, Hugh
Implicit Religion, 21(3) (pp. 223-238)

Beneficent Spiritist Center União do Vegetal v Secretary of State for the Home Department: [2017] EWHC 1963 (Admin): High Court of Justice (England and Wales), Queen’s Bench Division (Administrative Court): Sir Ross Cranston: 28 June 2017 [Case Note] (2017-12-13)
Mcfaul, Hugh
Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 7(1) (pp. 169-170)

Clinical legal education in the United Kingdom: Origins, growth and the technological innovations and challenges of its future (2017-05)
Jones, Emma; Mcfaul, Hugh and Ryan, Francine
German Journal of Legal Education, 4 (pp. 107-136)

Henderson v General Municipal and Boilermakers Union[2016] EWCA Civ 1049: Court of Appeal (Civil Division): Underhill, Briggs LJJ: 11 October 2016 [Case Note] (2017-03-02)
Mcfaul, Hugh
Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 6(1) (pp. 218-219)

Legal personality, minority religions and religious accommodation in Eastern Europe (2017)
Mcfaul, Hugh
Culture and Society. Journal of Social Research, 8(2) (pp. 13-30)

Lee v Ashers Baking Co Ltd & Ors[2015] NICty 2: Northern Ireland County Court: Brownlie DJ: 19 May 2015 [Case Note] (2016-09-14)
Mcfaul, Hugh
Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 5(3) (pp. 633-634)

Karaahmed v Bulgaria : Application no 30587/13: European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section); Raimondi (President), Hirvelä, Nicolaou, Tsotsoria, Kalaydjieva, Wojtyczek, Vehabović, JJ: 24 February 2015 [Case Note] (2016-05-04)
Mcfaul, Hugh
Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 5(2) (pp. 366-366)

Habeas Corpus and the campaign for animal personhood (2015-10)
Mcfaul, Hugh
Journal of Commonwealth Law and Legal Education, 10(1) (pp. 84-88)

General Municipal and Boilermakers Union v Henderson UKEAT/73/14: Employment Appeal Tribunal: Mrs Justice Simler: 13 March 2015 [Case Note] (2015-09-11)
Mcfaul, Hugh
Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 4(3) (pp. 539-540)

R (Geller & Anor) v Secretary of State for the Home Department[2015] EWCA Civ 45: Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Civil Division): Patten, Tomlinson, and Floyd LJJ: 5 February 2015 [Case Note] (2015-07-23)
Mcfaul, Hugh
Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 4(3) (pp. 540-541)

Teaching legal ethics at the open university – avoiding the pitfalls of formalism (2015-03-01)
McFaul, Hugh
Revista Bio Ciencias, 3(2) (pp. (Supl 2) 20-25)

Church of Scientology of St Petersburg & Others v Russia. Application no 47191/06: European Court of Human Rights (First Section); Berro-Lefèvre, Laffranque, Pinto de Albuquerque, Sicilianos, Møse, Turković, Dedov: 2 October 2014 [Case Note] (2015-01-30)
Mcfaul, Hugh
Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, 4(1) (pp. 155-156)

Book chapters

Using virtual reality to enhance the law school curriculum (2023)
Jones, Emma; Ryan, Francine; McFaul, Hugh; Vince, David; Kizilkaya, Lawrence and Daniels, Jamie
In: Tharanj, Ann and Gledhill, Kris eds. Teaching Legal Education in the Digital Age: Pedagogical Practices to Digitally Empower Law Graduates
ISBN : 9780367367404 | Publisher : Routledge

Towards a Capability Approach to Clinical Legal Education (2022)
McFaul, Hugh
In: Madhloom, Omar and McFaul, Hugh eds. Thinking About Clinical Legal Education
Publisher : Routledge | Published : London, UK

Innovative technologies in UK legal education (2020)
Ryan, Francine and Mcfaul, Hugh
In: Jones, Emma and Cownie, Fiona eds. Key Directions in Legal Education National and International Perspectives (pp. 67-79)
ISBN : 9780429448065 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : Abingdon

Law Clinics: What, why and how? (2020)
Bleasedale, Lydia; Rizzotto, Beverley; Stalker, Rachel; Yeatman, Lucy; McFaul, Hugh; Ryan, Francine; Johnson, Nick and Thomas, Linden
In: Thomas, Linden and Johnson, Nick eds. The Clinical Legal Education Handbook (pp. 7-56)
ISBN : 978-1-911507-17-8 | Publisher : University of London Press

50 years of Clinical Legal Education: Looking Back to the Future (2020)
Hardie, Liz; Mcfaul, Hugh and Ryan, Francine
In: Claydon, Lisa; Derry, Caroline and Ajevski, Marjan eds. Law in Motion: 50 years of Legal Change (pp. 212-227)
ISBN : 978-1-4730-3148-7 | Publisher : The Open University Law School

Brexit and the Environment (2018-11)
Mcfaul, Hugh
In: Prinz von Sachsen Gessaphe, Karl August; Garcia Blesa, Juan J. and Szuka, Nils eds. Legal Implications of Brexit. Hagener Rechtswissenschaftliche Schriften (pp. 351-364)
Publisher : MV-WISSENSCHAFT | Published : Münster

Freedom of Religion and the Invention of Tradition (2018-09-28)
McFaul, Hugh
In: Giles, Jessica; Pin, Andrea and Ravitch, Frank S. eds. Law, Religion and Tradition. Law and Religion in a Global Context (pp. 119-133)
ISBN : 978-3-319-96748-6 | Publisher : Springer

Edited books

Thinking About Clinical Legal Education: Philosophical and Theoretical Perspectives (2022)
Madhloom, Omar and McFaul, Hugh eds.
Emerging Legal Education
ISBN : 9780367273491 | Publisher : Routledge

Thesis

University Engagement: policy, practice and the public good. (2024-03)
McFaul, Hugh
PhD thesis Lancaster University