Alexander Pearce Higgins (24 April 1865 – 2 April 1935) was a British international law scholar. He was Whewell Professor of International Law at the University of Cambridge (1920–1935), President of the Institut de Droit International (1929–1931), and a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (1930–1935).

Education

The son of Alexander H. Higgins of Worcester, Pearce Higgins was educated at the King's School, Worcester (1876–82) and

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

(matriculated 1888, Winchester Prize 1891, graduated BA and LL.B. 1891, MA 1895,

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

1898, LL.D. 1904). Before going up to Cambridge, Pearce Higgins had been articled to the Worcester solicitor Samuel Southall, and had already passed the Solicitors Final Examination of the

Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...

. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1899,

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1908 and made

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1919.

Career

Teaching public international law at Cambridge from 1902, Pearce Higgins was named a lecturer at the London School of Economics in 1908 (replacing

L. F. L. Oppenheim Lassa Francis Lawrence Oppenheim (30 March 1858 – 7 October 1919) was a German jurist. He is regarded by many as the father of the modern discipline of international law, especially the hard legal positivist school of thought. He inspired Josep ...

). A specialist in maritime law, he also taught at the

Royal Naval War College The Royal Naval War College was a training establishment for senior officers of the Royal Navy that existed from 1900 to 1914. It was based originally at Greenwich, then Plymouth, then Portsmouth, and then Greenwich again. Branch colleges were ...

and the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. During World War I, he served as an adviser in international law and prize law to Sir John Mellor, the Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor (head of the government legal service). He was appointed Professor of International Law at the LSE in 1919, continuing at the LSE until 1923. He was appointed Whewell Professor of International Law at the University of Cambridge in 1920 (again succeeding Oppenheim), and a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1926. He was also Professor of International Law at The Hague Academy of International Law. Pearce Higgins was an Associate of the Institut de Droit International from 1922, a Member from 1924, and President from 1929 to 1931. He became a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in 1930.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Alexander Pearce 1865 births 1935 deaths Academics of the University of London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English barristers English King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel International law scholars British legal scholars Academics of the University of Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration People educated at King's School, Worcester Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Academics of the London School of Economics Members of Lincoln's Inn Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Whewell Professors of International Law Members of the Institut de Droit International