Staff profile

Tom Allen has a BA from Queen's University, Kingston, Canada, an LLB from Dalhousie Law School, Halifax, Canada, and an LLM from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. He began his academic career at Durham in 1991, and has previously held posts at Newcastle Law School and the University of Leeds. Prior to entering academic life, Professor Allen practised law in Toronto, Canada and taught secondary school mathematics as a volunteer in Botswana.

His principal area of research concerns property as a human right. He has published a number of articles on the topic and two books, The Right to Property in Commonwealth Constitutions (Cambridge, 2000) and Property and the Human Rights Act 1998 (Hart Publishing, 2005).

Professor Allen was Visiting Adjunct Professor at Cornell Law School, Cornell University, USA in the Fall Semester, 2005, and has been a visiting lecturer at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Professor Allen became the Master of Grey College, Durham, in October 2011.

Teaching Areas

• The right to property in constitutional and international law

• Human Rights Centre
• Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law
• Law and Global Justice at Durham

• Grants

• 2010: Artists in Residence - Anna Woodford(£12500.00 from The Leverhulme Trust)
• 2007: PROPERTY AS A HUMAN RIGHT: THE EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE(£29898.00 from The Leverhulme Trust)

Authored book

• Allen, Tom. (2005). 'Property and the Human Rights Act 1998'. Oxford.: Hart Publishing.
• Allen, Tom. (2000). The Right to Property in Commonwealth Constitutions. Cambridge University Press.

Chapter in book

• Allen, Tom (2020). Property Rights. In Common Law Constitutional Rights. Elliot, M. & Hughes, K. Hart Publishing.
• Allen, Tom (2016). Constitutional law, Social Justice and the Redistribution of Land. In Property and Human Rights in a Global Context. Xu, Ting & Allain, Jean Oxford: Hart. 63-92.
• Allen, Tom (2014). The Right to Property. In Comparative Constitutional Law in Asia. Dixon, R. & Ginsburg, T. Cheltenham, UK Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar. 250-276.
• Allen, Tom (2012). Legal Principles, Political Processes and Cultural Property. In Appropriating the Past: Philosophical Perspectives on the Practice of Archaeology. Scarre, Geoffrey & Coningham, Robin Cambridge University Press.
• Allen, Tom. & Douglas, Benedict. (2011). Closing the Door on Restitution: The European Court of Human Rights. In Transitional Jurisprudence and the ECHR. Buyse, Antoine. & Hamilton, Michael. Cambridge University Press. 208-238.
• Allen, Tom. (2011). The Right to Property. In Comparative Constitutional Law. Ginsburg, Tom. & Dixon, Rosalind. Edward Elgar. 504-518.
• Allen, Tom. (2008). Controls over the Use and Abuse of Eminent Domain in England: A Comparative View. In Private Property, Community Development & Eminent Domain. Malloy, Robin Paul. Ashgate Publishing. 75-99.
• Allen, Tom. (2003). The Autonomous Meaning of ‘Possessions’ under the European Convention on Human Rights. In Modern Studies in Property Law. Cooke, E. Oxford: Hart Publishing. 2: 57-80.

Journal Article

• Lundmark, Jan Mikael & Allen, Tom (2022). Norwegian Law and the Swedish Sami: Rights, Paternalism and International Law. Nordic Journal of International Law
• Allen, Tom (2018). Constitutional Rights in the Irish Home Rule Bill of 1893. Journal of Legal History 39(2): 187-215.
• Allen, Tom (2017). The Purposes of Land Settlement in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 1898-1914: Drawing Paths through the Weeds. Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 45(6): 894-922.
• Allen, Tom (2015). The Revival of the Right to Property in India. Asian Journal of Comparative Law 10(01): 23-52.
• Allen, Tom (2012). General Principles of International Law and the Autonomous Interpetation of the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Journal of Islamic State Practices in International Law 8(1): 91-100.
• Allen, Tom. (2010). Liberalism, Social Democracy and the Value of Property under the European Convention on Human Rights. International and Comparative Law Quarterly 59(4): 1055-1078.
• Allen, Tom. (2007). Compensation for Property under the European Convention on Human Rights. Michigan Journal of International Law 28(2): 287-335.
• Allen, Tom. (2007). 'Restitution and Transitional Justice in the European Court of Human Rights'. Columbia Journal of European Law 13(1): 1-46.
• Allen, Tom (2007). Property as a Fundamental Right in India, Europe and South Africa. Asia-Pacific Law Review 15(2): 193-218.
• Allen, Tom. (2005). 'Transitional Justice and the Right to Property under the European Convention on Human Rights'. Stellenbosch Law Review 3: 413-430.
• Allen, Tom. (2005). Human Rights and Regulatory Takings. Journal of Environmental Law 17(2): 245-264.
• Allen, Tom. (2004). 'Transitional Justice and Property, Working Group on Property, Citizenship and Social Entrepreneurship'. Transitional Justice and Property, Working Group on Property, Citizenship and Social Entrepreneurship
• Allen, Tom. & Ulph, J (2004). 'Transactions at an Undervalue, Purchasers and the Human Rights Act 1998'. Journal of Business Law 1: 1-33.
• Allen, Tom. (2003). 'The Autonomous Meaning of 'Possessions' under the European Convention on Human Rights'. The Autonomous Meaning of Possessions under Article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights 2: 57-80.
• Allen, Tom. (2002). Scandalising the Court: The Impact of Bills of Rights. Asia Pacific Education Review 10(1): 1-28.
• Allen, Tom. (2000). 'The Power to Acquire Property on Just Terms'. Sydney Law Review (22): 351-380.