Prof. Koen De Feyter (LDRN steering committee) elected to the UN Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development

My academic journey consists of a considerable dedication towards writing papers and getting selected to present my papers in prestigious institutions
such as IIT Madras, NLSIU Bangalore and NLU Delhi.

Research interests: Philosophy, Human Rights, Legal Issues and liminal spaces.

Prior to her teaching roles, she worked as a Research Fellow at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala, Punjab, starting in January 2019. Her primary areas of interest lie in Banking Laws, Insurance Laws, Corporate Law, Mergers & Acquisitions, Insolvency, and Bankruptcy Laws, among others. Her educational journey began with a B.Com degree from International College for Girls, Jaipur, in 2011, where she also secured the third position in the certificate course in Banking Insurance & Equity Services. Subsequently, she completed her Bachelor in Law from the University of Rajasthan in 2014. Later on, she pursued an LL.M. from Amity University, Noida, specializing in Corporate Banking and Insurance Law in 2016. Her performance in the masters program was commendable, earning her a silver medal and the prestigious Shri Baljit Shastri Award for Best in Human & Traditional Values at Amity University in 2017. In June 2018, she successfully cleared the U.G.C. Net Examination and obtained both the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Lectureship. Following this, she enrolled in the PhD in Law program at RGNUL in August 2018. Her dedication to research is evident in her published book titled Legal Aspects of Recovery & Reduction of Non-Performing Assets in Banking Industries, & published by Satyam Law International in 2021. Additionally, she has contributed research papers to various National and International Journals and actively participates in academic conferences and workshops. Throughout her academic journey, she has demonstrated leadership skills and served as a coordinator for various committees at the university.

Research interests: Social Inequality, Political Behavior and Institutions, Cultural Anthropology, Gender Studies, Urbanization and Urban Planning, Educational Technology, Learning Analytics, Curriculum Design, Online and Blended Learning and Cognitive Psychology.

I am interested in international law and how it impacts our life. My areas of specialization are Human Rights; International Humanitarian Law; Public International Law. I completed my graduation from Calcutta University, followed by LL.M. from West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences. I got my Ph.D. degree in 2016. My hobbies are reading, listening to music and painting.

Research interests: Human Rights Law; International Humanitarian Law; Environmental Law; Public International Law.

Website: https://www.nluo.ac.in/faculty/chakraborty-ananya-dr/

DR. SOHINI MAHAPATRA completed her B.A.LL.B. from Amity Law School, Amity University, NOIDA, in 2012, where she was awarded Merit Scholarship by Amity University for Academic Performance (2010¬-11 and 2009¬-10). She started her teaching career in the year 2015. Along with paper presentations at national and international conferences, she has several articles and book chapters to her credit in her areas of specialization, which are Animal Welfare Law, Labour Law and Media Law. Dr. Mahapatra has also authored two books – ‘Non-Human Animals and the Law: An Analysis of Animal Welfare and Animal Rights Within the Indian Legal Discourse’ by Thomson Reuters (2020) and ‘Media Law in India: Freedom, Evolution and Contemporary Issues’ by LexisNexis (2023). She is also one of the editors for the book ‘Animal and Environmental Jurisprudence: A Wildlife Perspective’ by Satyam Law International (2020).

Research interests: Animal Welfare Law, Media Law, Labour Law.

Website: https://www.nluo.ac.in/faculty/mahapatra-sohini-ms/

Katerina holds an LL.B (hons.) from the Democritus University

of Thrace (Greece), an LL.M from the UCL, and a Ph.D. (Dr.iur.) from the School of Advanced Studies, University of London. Katerina has collaborated with numerous academic institutions such as Université Catholique de Lille, the University of Cagliari, UCL and the University of Zurich. She has taught extensively in the subjects of human rights law, environmental protection and international development law, including the role of international financial institutions, businesses and charities in the realization of the SDGs. Katerina has also practiced law in Athens, Greece and consulted in the NGO sector, having interned at the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association and the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre.

Research interests: Katerina’s research interests pertain to issues of global governance and development as they arise from the intersection of international economic law, human rights and environmental law. She is particularly interested in: legal aspects of international financial institutions and sustainable development, for instance public international development finance and the impact of International Financial Institutions’ environmental and social standards in safeguarding environmental and human rights of project-affected peopled and shaping international law for development governance – international accountability mechanisms and remedies for project-affected people – mediation as a means of effective stakeholder engagement in development projects – business and human rights, especially mandatory environmental and human rights due diligence and their obligation to respect the right to development – socioeconomic inequalities in just transitions.

Manvitha BS is pursuing a BA LLB Hons at the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law. She is a legal research assistant under Devaang Salva, an LLM graduate from the University of Oxford. She has interned under Shri Pravin Parekh, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India (Padma Shri Award Recipient).

Research interests: Manvitha is interested in emerging human rights and environment issues. Manvitha is inclined to International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and is deeply interested in human rights, recognizing them as a fundamental cornerstone of a just and equitable society. Manvitha is committed to advocating for human rights, striving to raise awareness, and actively participate in initiatives and actions that contribute to the advancement and preservation of these fundamental principles.

Ashish Kaushik joined the Institute of Legal Studies, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut as Assistant Professor in 2009, where he teaches Constitutional Law, Public International Law, Human Rights and classes

relating to Clinical Legal Education.

Previously he worked as Assistant Professor at Amity Law School, Delhi. Kaushik has done his Post Graduation (LL.M.) from National Law School of India University, Bangalore. After that, he qualified for the National Eligibility Test for Assistant Professor.

He was awarded with the best passing out mooter of National Law School of India University, Bangalore. He was an DAAD fellow at University of Cologne Germany. He has been involved in the research in the field of Human Rights and is currently pursuing Doctorate on the subject of Statelessness under International Human Rights Law. He has published over a dozen of research work in National/International Journals, Chapters in Edited Book etc.

Research interests: Public Law, Human Rights, Clinical Legal Education.

I had my first degree in Law at the University of Ibadan. My master’s degree was also in Law, specifically Business and Insurance from University of Ibadan. I was called to the Nigeria Bar in 2008. I have been in active legal practice since I was called to the bar. I practiced and started my lecturing career at the Faculty of Law, Afe Babalola University, Ekiti State Nigeria. I rose through the ranks to become a senior lecturer. I was a part-time lecturer at the National Open University of Nigeria and at the Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti satellite campus. I taught both undergraduate and postgraduate program. I taught modules in corporate governance, Business, Contract, Human rights, disability Rights, Conflict of Laws and Family Law. My Ph.D. is in Disability Right, Inclusion and Equality. I am at the verge of completing a second PhD. in Corporate Governance at the Faculty of Law University of Cape Town South Africa. I teach business at the Global Banking School Leeds.

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.