Christopher McCrudden was one of several Michigan Law faculty who participated in the European Alumni Reunion in Berlin in July 2025.
By Bob Needham
Michigan Law
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) has named Professor Christopher McCrudden as a winner of its 2026 RIA Gold Medal.
The RIA awards two gold medals every year to individuals who have made a demonstrable and internationally recognized scholarly contribution to their fields. McCrudden will receive the RIA Gold Medal in the Social Sciences at a ceremony in the spring.
McCrudden is one of eight L. Bates Lea Global Professors of Law at Michigan Law; the highly selective professorship brings outstanding international academics to campus each year to share their expertise.
McCrudden is also an emeritus professor of human rights and equality law at Queens University Belfast and a practicing barrister-at-law with Blackstone Chambers. Specializing in human rights, he concentrates on issues of equality and discrimination as well as the relationship between international and comparative human rights law.
“I am extremely honored to receive the Royal Irish Academy’s Gold Medal in the Social Sciences, and I am very grateful to the academy for this prestigious award,” McCrudden said. “It is a pleasure also to acknowledge Michigan Law, whose deep commitment to the teaching and study of law has been such an inspiration and whose faculty and students have contributed so significantly to my own scholarship.
The award is as much for Michigan Law as for me.”
At Michigan Law, McCrudden teaches in the areas of international, European, and comparative human rights. He is the author of “Litigating Religions: An Essay on Human Rights, Courts, and Beliefs” (Oxford University Press, 2018) and “Buying Social Justice” (Oxford University Press, 2007), for which he was awarded a certificate of merit by the American Society of International Law in 2008. He also serves on the editorial boards of several journals.
“Each year, only two individuals receive Gold Medals from the Royal Irish Academy. That Chris is one of them is no surprise,” said Neel Sukhatme, David A. Breach Dean of Law. “It’s a rare distinction that recognizes not only scholarly excellence, but a career of ideas that has shaped law and public life beyond any single jurisdiction. We are immensely proud to count Chris as a colleague at Michigan Law and to see his work recognized on the international stage.”
McCrudden was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 2008, a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2018, and an honorary bencher of the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2022. He is the academic member of the Judicial Studies Board for Northern Ireland. He is also a member of the board of the Irish Centre for European Law and chair of its Northern Ireland Committee. He was designated as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2019.
The RIA’s mission is “to recognize and foster academic excellence, and to create, curate and share knowledge for the good of society.” Through its research programs, grants, publications, library, historic collections, and public events, the RIA maintains a tradition of sharing knowledge and insight across the sciences, humanities, and social sciences.
Michigan Law
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) has named Professor Christopher McCrudden as a winner of its 2026 RIA Gold Medal.
The RIA awards two gold medals every year to individuals who have made a demonstrable and internationally recognized scholarly contribution to their fields. McCrudden will receive the RIA Gold Medal in the Social Sciences at a ceremony in the spring.
McCrudden is one of eight L. Bates Lea Global Professors of Law at Michigan Law; the highly selective professorship brings outstanding international academics to campus each year to share their expertise.
McCrudden is also an emeritus professor of human rights and equality law at Queens University Belfast and a practicing barrister-at-law with Blackstone Chambers. Specializing in human rights, he concentrates on issues of equality and discrimination as well as the relationship between international and comparative human rights law.
“I am extremely honored to receive the Royal Irish Academy’s Gold Medal in the Social Sciences, and I am very grateful to the academy for this prestigious award,” McCrudden said. “It is a pleasure also to acknowledge Michigan Law, whose deep commitment to the teaching and study of law has been such an inspiration and whose faculty and students have contributed so significantly to my own scholarship.
The award is as much for Michigan Law as for me.”
At Michigan Law, McCrudden teaches in the areas of international, European, and comparative human rights. He is the author of “Litigating Religions: An Essay on Human Rights, Courts, and Beliefs” (Oxford University Press, 2018) and “Buying Social Justice” (Oxford University Press, 2007), for which he was awarded a certificate of merit by the American Society of International Law in 2008. He also serves on the editorial boards of several journals.
“Each year, only two individuals receive Gold Medals from the Royal Irish Academy. That Chris is one of them is no surprise,” said Neel Sukhatme, David A. Breach Dean of Law. “It’s a rare distinction that recognizes not only scholarly excellence, but a career of ideas that has shaped law and public life beyond any single jurisdiction. We are immensely proud to count Chris as a colleague at Michigan Law and to see his work recognized on the international stage.”
McCrudden was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 2008, a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2018, and an honorary bencher of the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2022. He is the academic member of the Judicial Studies Board for Northern Ireland. He is also a member of the board of the Irish Centre for European Law and chair of its Northern Ireland Committee. He was designated as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2019.
The RIA’s mission is “to recognize and foster academic excellence, and to create, curate and share knowledge for the good of society.” Through its research programs, grants, publications, library, historic collections, and public events, the RIA maintains a tradition of sharing knowledge and insight across the sciences, humanities, and social sciences.
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