Law and Development Research Network

Marius Pieterse is a professor in the School of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he teaches urban and local government law, constitutional law and human rights law. His research focuses on urban governance, local government law and the realisation of socio-economic rights in an urban context.

Marius holds a B2 rating from the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. He is the author of “Rights-based Litigation, Urban Governance and Social Justice in South Africa: The right to Joburg” (Routledge, 2017); “Can Rights Cure? The Impact of Human Rights Litigation on South Africa’s Health System” (PULP, 2014) as well as a large number of peer reviewed academic journal articles on different aspects of rights-based litigation, socio-economic rights, urban governance, the right to health, the right to equality and the relationship between law and urban space.

In 2022 Marius was an individual fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS) in Amsterdam, pursuing research on strategic uses of human rights law in and by African cities. He is joint global coordinator of the International Research Group of Law and Urban Space (IRGLUS).

Research interests: Urban governance; urban development, socio-economic rights

Website: www.mariuspieterse.com

Héctor Herrera is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, Institute of Development Policy (IOB). Herrera is a lawyer from Colombia who studied at the University of the Andes in Colombia. Herrera holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the National University of Colombia. Herrera has experience in environmental justice, law, and policy. He has conducted research on environmental justice, climate justice, and climate finance.

Research interests: climate justice and climate finance.

Janet Jebichii Sego is a PhD Researcher at the University of Antwerp, Faculty of Law. She is a member of Law and Development Research Group. She holds a Master of Laws (LL.M) from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Her master’s thesis focused on national legislation on the protection of internally displaced persons in the East Africa Community (EAC) with Kenya and South Sudan as case studies.

Janet is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya (2020) and she has previously practiced as a Principal Associate at Mahida & Maina Company Advocates, Kenya across civil litigation, commercial & bank securitization and conveyancing departments.

Research interests:

Her PhD research is in the field of economic law, sustainable development and international law with focus on the role of bilateral Development Financing Institutions (DFIs) in prevention of development induced displacements in the Global South. Her research analyzes select DFIs’ financed large scale development projects in the Sub-Saharan Africa as case studies.

Biography: Mr. Mohan Kumar Karna, LL.M. from Tribhuvan University, Nepal is currently an assistant professor of International Law at Tribhuvan University. He has worked for more than 12 years in the field of rule of law, human rights and peace building in various national and international organisations including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal.

Research interests: Problem of Denial of Citizenship in Nepal, Federalism, Judicial Reform, Extra Judicial Killings and State Response in Nepal.

Biography: Md. Nurul MOMEN is a professor in the Department of Public Administration at University of Rajshahi (Bangladesh). Since December 2002, he has been teaching courses for different semesters, conducting academic research, and providing supervision and consultation for academic activities of the students and researchers. Dr. Momen regularly teaches on a range of topics related to governance, public administration and Development Administration. He has a Bachelor of Social Science (BSS) and Master of Social Science (MSS) in Public Administration from the University of Rajshahi (Bangladesh), and completed his Master of Philosophy (MPhil) from the University of Bergen in Norway, and obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from Sant Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy with a particular focus on good governance in South Asia.

Research interests: Dr. Momen has extensively published articles in the international journals and chapters in different books, dealing in a range of debates in Public Policy and Law, Governance, and Public Sector Reform in South Asia.

Website: http://rurfid.ru.ac.bd/ru_profile/public/teacher/21601645/profile

Biography:

In 2011, I obtained a master degree in commercial sciences (specialisation in fiscal sciences) with distinction at EHSAL (KUL). Since then, I worked as a tax manager in an international construction company (2011-2019) and an international consultancy firm. In 2020, I obtained a master in law, with distinction, at the University of Brussels (VUB). As from February 2021, I am appointed as a Ph.D. candidate and teaching assistant in tax law. My research is entitled: “In search of a more balanced allocation of taxing powers between developed and developing countries: a plea for inter-nation equity”. In this research I aim to develop a theoretical and operational framework for a more balanced allocation of taxing powers by advancing inter-nation equity on the basis of development studies.

Research interests:

I am interested in the evolution of development (from economic development, human development to sustainable development) and development theories, degrowth, sustainability, the interaction between international (tax) law and sustainable development, global justice, governance for development, inter-nation equity, global inequality and similar topics at the intersection of international (tax) law, equality/equity and development studies.

Website

Summary: Property law and law of succession expert. Lecturer in the Department of Private Law (University of Dar es Salaam School of Law) and advocate of the High Court of Tanzania. Attended the 2017 law and development conference.

Biography: Dr. Laurean Mussa holds a PhD, LLM and LLB from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He was employed as a Tutorial Assistant in the then Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law (now University of Dar es Salaam School of Law) in February 2008 and promoted to the ranks of Assistant Lecturer in July 2009 and Lecturer in November 2016. Currently, Dr. Mussa serves as a Lecturer in the Department of Private Law. He teaches Land Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Civil Procedure and the Law of Succession and Trusts. He has published and carried out several consultancies as a team member or lead consultant nationally and internationally. He has also acted as a facilitator in workshops on land use planning and natural resources law. Dr. Mussa is also a member of the Tanganyika Law Society and the World Commission on Environmental Law (2016- 2020).

Research interests: Property law and law of succession, land use planning and natural resources law, urban land use, environmental law, cybercrime,..

Website

Bidhya Chapagain

Summary: Specialising in law and development – Access to justice, independence of judiciary and judicial reform.

Biography: PhD Candidate at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. Lawyer from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Worked as a National Legal Advisor for International Commission for Jurists, supporting Justice Sector Reform Project in Nepal.

Her PhD research focuses on Judicial Reform and Independence of Judiciary – the gap between rhetoric and reality in discourse and practices of judicial independence in Nepal. It interrogates how, in the face of its constitutional protection, the principle of judicial independence is systematically violated.

Research interests: Law and Development- Rule of Law, Justice and Human Rights – Judicial Reform – Access to Justice- Judiciary – Independence of Judiciary- Public Trust and Confidence – Ethnography

Website

Pallavi Kishore

Biography:

Dr. Pallavi Kishore is a Professor at the Jindal Global Law School, India. She holds graduate degrees from the University of Delhi, India and postgraduate degrees from the Université Paul Cézanne d’Aix-Marseille III, France. She has written and published extensively in English and French in international peer-reviewed journals not only in trade law but also in
other areas of public international law and comparative law.

Research interests:

She has varied interests such as European Law, Comparative Law, and Public International Law. She has also written on human cloning, women’s issues, refugees, territorial disputes, nuclear weapons, environmental law, and consumer protection. Her main interest lies in Trade, Dispute Settlement, and Development.