Staff profile

Mohammad Hedayati Kakhki completed his PhD at Durham University in 2008, and has been teaching at the Law School for over a decade. He is a qualified Attorney-at-Law and is registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority in the UK.

Over the years Mohammad has gained extensive teaching experience as a lecturer and module leader in several universities; he has also acted as an external examiner on a range of postgraduate programmes relating to Islamic law and energy law and practice.

Mohammad participated as a committee member of the Centre for Iranian Studies (Durham School of Government and International Affairs), and was the co-founder of, as well as a special advisor on Islamic jurisprudence to, the previous Islam Law and Modernity research group at Durham University. Mohammad has also acted as a special advisor on Islamic law to the Centre for Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, and was appointed an honorary fellow of Durham Law School.

He has participated in numerous conferences, seminars and training events relevant to his research areas. He provided a series of guest lectures on the constitutional and legal ramifications of the Arab Spring, with a particular focus on the events in Egypt, at Durham University. Mohammad is currently a member of the editorial board and a peer reviewer for the Manchester Journal of Transnational Islamic Law & Practice (MJTILP).

Outside his academic work, Mohammad has developed a thriving independent legal consultancy based in the UK with clients from around the world (USA, UAE, Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland, etc), using his more than 20 years’ experience as an Attorney to provide legal expertise to clients across a wide range of civil, criminal and human rights cases.

He is frequently instructed by various NGOs and government bodies to provide commentaries on the applicable Country of Origin Information Report, as well as to act as an expert on Islamic and Iranian legal issues in courts and tribunals in the UK and abroad.

Research Groups

Centre for Criminal Law and Criminal Justice (CCLCJ).

Islam, law and modernity (ILM).

Teaching Areas

Islamic law

Law of Oil and Gas Contracts

Comparative Criminal Law

Human Rights Law

• Energy Law
• Energy Security and Geopolitics
• Islamic Criminal Law
• Islamic Finance
• Human Rights and Asylum Law

• CCLCJ

Chapter in book

• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2022). Islamic Law. In Fault in Criminal Law: Domestic and Comparative Perspectives. Bohlander, Michael & Reed, Alan Routledge/Taylor and Francis.
• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2019). Islamic law. In Homicide in Criminal Law – A Research Companion. Bohlander,Michael & Reed, Alan Routledge. 322 - 346.
• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2017). Islamic Law. In Consent: Domestic and Comparative Perspectives. Bohlander,Michael & Reed, Alan Routledge. 280-301.
• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2015). Interrogation of Suspects. In Contemporary Developments and Practices in Investigative Interviewing and Interrogation; An International Perspective. Welsh, Dave & et al. Routledge. 34-47.
• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2014). Islamic Law. In General Defences in Criminal Law - Domestic and Comparative Perspectives. Bohlander,Michael & Reed, Alan Ashgate. 241-254.
• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2013). Islamic Law. In Participation in Crime - Domestic and Comparative Perspectives. Bohlander,Michael & Reed, Alan Ashgate. 341-358.
• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2011). The Conflation of Provocation and Justification: An Analysis of Partial Defences to Murder in Islamic Law. In Loss of Control and Diminished Responsibility - Domestic, Comparative and International Perspectives on the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. Bohlander,Michael & Reed, Alan Ashgate. 311-323.

Journal Article

• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2015). Egyptian political transformations: Transforming International Recognition of States and Governments? State Practice and International Law Journal 2(1): 17.
• Bohlander, Michael & Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2009). Criminal Justice under Shari’ah in the 21st Century – An Inter-Cultural View. Arab Law Quarterly 23(4): 417-436.
• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2009). Coexistence of Democracy and Rule by Juris-consult within the Shi’ite System of Law. Shi’a Affairs Journal 38-51.

Newspaper/Magazine Article

• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2015). Iran’s tentative nuclear deal may not mean an international oil boom. the Conversation
• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2014). False dawn? Iran on the edge of the international oil market. the Conversation
• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2009). Futility of Lawful Appeal in the Iranian Election Crisis. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty online

Report

• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2011). Commentary on the UK Border Agency’s Country of Origin Information Report (COI). Commissioned by the Chief Inspector/Independent Advisory Group on Country Information (IAGCI).
• Hedayati-Kakhki, Mohammad (2009). Commentary on the UK Border Agency’s Country of Origin Information Report (COI). Commissioned by the Chief Inspector/Independent Advisory Group on Country Information (IAGCI).