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SUMAIYA KHAIR Ph.D.

Professor of Law, University of Dhaka

Cell phone: +88 01730-796-988; +88 01819-248-162

e-mail: skhair@du.ac.bd

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

  • Ph.D., 1996, University of East London, Essex, U.K.
  • LL.M., 1985, (First Class), Dept. of Law, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  • LL.B. (Hons.), 1984, (First Class), Dept. of Law, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  • H.S.C. (Science), 1980, (First Division), Holy Cross College, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  • S.S.C. (Science), 1978, (First Division), Viquarunnisa Noon School, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Organisational Management

I served as Head of the Department of Law, University of Dhaka from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011. My key responsibilities included executive decision-making and policy directions, overall administration, development, coordination, discipline and oversight of the teachers, staff, students and departmental activities. Other duties involved planning, managing and supporting of various academic events (talks, lectures by resource persons from overseas, seminars, conferences, debates, etc.) and extra and co-curricular engagements by students and representing departmental interests at different forums.

I was on extra-ordinary leave from the University from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2017 when I worked for Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) as Deputy Executive Director.  My key role was to share and support TIB’s Executive Director in overall management of the organisation’s work in general and implementation of its core project including supervising, oversight, grievance handling, guiding and coordinating programme activities including research & policy, outreach & communication, civic engagement. Additionally, I assisted in the preparation, review and update of programme strategies and in overseeing implementation of various policies, regulations and commitments consistent with the mandate, jurisdiction and commitment of TIB. I also helped lead on fund raising initiatives and represented TIB in national, regional and international fora.

Currently, in addition to my academic duties at the University, I am serving TIB as its Adviser, Executive Management with formal permission of the University.

 Project Management

At Transparency International Bangladesh, I have developed project proposals for core funding for TIB. Additionally, I guide, review and implement specific research, communication, policy advocacy and/or other assignments consistent with institutional and programmatic priorities of TIB; assist in overall project coordination and implementation, fund-raising, undertake substantive editorial work and work to ensure higher level of professional excellence and capacity building of TIB; and perform any other tasks related to TIB’s vision and mission, as may be necessary.

Prior to joining TIB, I served as Advisory Head of Research and Policy Influence in a DFID-funded five and half year project on Community Legal Services (CLS) implemented by Maxwell Stamp PLC. The main aim of CLS was to help grantee NGOs deliver more and better legal services to disadvantaged communities at local levels in ways that will complement and stimulate government provisions, will be sustainable and will support wider justice sector reforms. My overall responsibilities included assisting grantee partners design and develop evidence- based research, develop a knowledge library for hosting access to justice and related resources, develop a network of experts, academics and researchers working in CLS and access to justice sectors globally for collaborative work, and overall knowledge management. In addition, I was closely involved in all the processes of grant- making under this project—call for concept notes and proposals, scoring concept notes and proposals, developing ToRs for specific activities under the project, formulating local ownership strategy, work plans and research tools, budget negotiation, programme activity review, etc. with shortlisted grantee NGOs, contributing to reporting measures, engaging in review meetings and orientation workshops for grantees NGOs, etc.

Others

  • Judge, Asian Human Rights Court Simulation (AHRCS), independent court of the peoples, by the peoples and for the peoples of Asia established under the auspices of the Chang Fo-Chuan Center for the Study of Human Rights in Taipei to promote human rights protection and deliver judgements to Asian governments. Tried first case in July 2019 in Taipei, Taiwan (in the case of Chiou, Ho-shun v. Republic of China (Taiwan), [Application no. 18-01 of Oct.2019].
  • Instructor, Law Clinic (under the Clinical Legal Education Programme, Faculty of Law, Dhaka University 1996-2005.
  • Resource person for training on child rights and gender issues at the Foundation Course of the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (PATC), Savar, 1999-2000.
  • Resource person for training senior civil servants on Gender Analysis in Development Policy and Planning, PATC, Savar, 1999-2002.
  • Resource person for training women executives at the Regional Public Administration Training Centre (RPATC), Chittagong on Gender and Violence under a UNFPA funded programme on Management Development, November 1999.
  • Resource person on International Law and Human Rights at the Bangladesh Foreign Services Academy, Dhaka, 1998-1999.
  • Member, Task Force on National Policy Review Forum 2003 on Administrative Reform and Local Government under the auspices of Centre for Policy Dialogue, The Daily Star and Prothom Alo.
  • Member, pre-election Task Force 2001 on Administrative Reform and the Strengthening of the Local Government under the auspices of Centre for Policy Dialogue, The Daily Star and Prothom Alo.
  • Resource person for training on international humanitarian law, human rights and rights of migrants in international law in different forums.
  • Resource person on International Humanitarian Law at various teaching seminars organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

PUBLICATIONS and RESEARCH

Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis

Changing Responses to Child Labour: The Case of Female Children in the Bangladesh Garment Industry, August 1995, University of East London, Essex, United Kingdom.

Post-Doctoral Fellowship Research

Access to Justice and Legal Empowerment for the Poor and the Marginalised in Bangladesh: Strategies, Achievements and Challenges, School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS), University of London, U.K.

Published Books

  1. Justice at the Doorsteps. Mediation on Migration Fraudulence, Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), Dhaka, 2018.
  2. Governance and Integrity. The National Integrity System in Bangladesh, University Press Limited (UPL), Dhaka, 2017 (co-authored).
  • Child Labour Revisited. Gender, Culture, Economics and Human Rights, University Press Limited (UPL), Dhaka, 2011.
  1. Legal Empowerment for the Poor and the Disadvantaged: Strategies, Achievements and Challenges. Experiences from Bangladesh, Colourline, Dhaka, 2008.
  2. Child Migration for Work, Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty, Sussex and Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), Dhaka, 2008.
  3. Women in the Labour Market. Impact and Implications of Labour Law, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Government of Bangladesh, PLAGE Project (supported by CIDA), 2002 (co-authored).

  Published Articles/Monographs/State Party submissions

  1. ‘State Practice of Asian Countries in International Law. Bangladesh’, Asian Yearbook of International Law, Vol.24 (2018), pp. pp. 353-369, available at https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004437784/BP000023.xml ( online publication on 22 October 2020).
  2. ‘State Practice of Asian Countries in International Law. Bangladesh’, Asian Yearbook of International Law, Vol.23 (2017), pp. 203-226, available at https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004415829/BP000014.xml (online publication on 16 Dec. 2019).
  • ‘Corruption in humanitarian assistance: challenges and opportunities’, in Amita Singh (ed.), Disaster Law. Emerging Thresholds, Routledge, London & New York, 2018, pp.207-227.
  1. ‘State Practice of Asian Countries in International Law. Bangladesh’, Asian Yearbook of International Law, Vol.22 (2016), pp.329-345, available at https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004379633/BP000023.xml (online publication on 05 Nov. 2018).
  2. ‘State Practice of Asian Countries in International Law. Bangladesh’, Asian Yearbook of International Law, Vol.21 (2015), pp.260-275, available at http://booksand journals.brillonline.com/content/books/9789004344556 (online publication on 10 Sept. 2017).
  3. ‘Legal Empowerment for Improved Access to Justice: Dominant Discourses’, Dhaka University Law Journal (The Dhaka University Studies Part-F) Volume 28, 2017, pp.1-20.
  1. ‘Globalisation and children’s rights: The case of child labour’ in Alam, Shawkat, Klein, Natalie and Overland, Juliette (eds.), Globalisation and the Quest for Social and Environmental Justice. The relevance of international law in an evolving world order, Routledge, London & New York, 2011, pp. 168-188.
  2. ‘Migration and Minority Formation: The Interplay of Economics, Politics and Conflict’, in Bhaumik, Subir (ed.), Counter-Gaze: Media, Migrants and Minorities, frontpage, London, 2010, pp. 101-120.
  3. ‘From consciousness to empowerment: role and significance of legal literacy’, in Uncharted Territories. Thoughts on 2020, ActionAid Bangladesh, Dhaka, 2009, pp. 15-34.
  • ‘Evaluating Legal Empowerment: Problems of Analysis and Measurement’, in Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, Vol. 1, Issue 1, Cambridge University Press, March 2009, pp.33-37.
  • ‘Challenges to democratization: perspectives of structural malgovernance in Bangladesh’ in Panandiker, V.A. Pai and Tripathi, Rahul (eds.), Towards Freedom in South Asia. Democratization, Peace and Regional Cooperation, Konark Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2008, pp. 47-64.
  • ‘Philanthropy and Law in Bangladesh: Recent Developments’ in Philanthropy and Law in South Asia. Recent Developments in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka prepared by the PALISA Group, Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium (APPC), Philippines, September 2007, pp. 7-23.
  1. ‘Juvenile Justice Administration and Correctional Services in Bangladesh: A Critical Review’, Journal of the Faculty of Law, The Dhaka University Studies, Part F, Vol.16, No.2, December 2005, pp. 1-28.
  • Child Labour in Bangladesh. A Forward-Looking Policy Study, ILO-IPEC and CPD, April, 2005.
  • Bangladesh. Child Domestic Workers in Dhaka City: A Situation Analysis, ILO-IPEC, Dhaka, December 2004.
  • ‘Philanthropy and Law in Bangladesh’ (Country Chapter) in Sidel, Mark and Zaman, Iftekhar (eds.), Philanthropy and Law in South Asia, Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium (APPC), Philippines, 2004, pp. 49-114 (co-authored).
  • ‘Enslavement across the Borders: The Case of Trafficking in Women and Children in Bangladesh’ in BIISS Journal, Vol.25, Number 3, 2004, pp. 255-278.
  1. ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution: How It Works in Bangladesh’, Journal of the Faculty of Law, Dhaka University Studies, Part F, Vol.15, No.1, June 2004, pp.59-92.
  • ‘Institutional Violence against Women: The Saga of Women in Safe Custody’ in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Human Rights and the Law, 2, 2003, Brill NV, Netherlands, pp.28-51.
  • `Sustaining Human Rights: The Role of International Human Rights NGOs’, BIISS Journal, Vol.24, No.1, 2003, Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, pp. 133-152.
  • ‘Laws on Children and Perspectives on Children’s Rights in Bangladesh’ in the Banglapedia (National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh), Vol.2, March 2003, The Asiatic Society, Bangladesh, pp. 278-280.
  • ‘Paradigm Shifts in Legal Regulation of Women’, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Humanities), Golden Jubilee Issue, Vol.47, No.2, December, 2002, pp.31-50.

 ‘Female Children in the Labour Market: Determinants of Factory Employment’, Journal of the Faculty of Law, Dhaka University Studies, Part F, Vol.13, No.1, June 2002, pp. 21-72.

  • ‘Legislation on Child Labour: International and Domestic Perspectives’, Journal of the Faculty of Law, Dhaka University Studies, Part F, Vol.14, No.1, June 2003, pp. 17-36.

xxvii. `Street Children in Conflict with the Law: The Bangladesh Experience’ in Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law, Vol.2, Number 1, 2001, Kluwer Law International, the Hague et al., pp.55-76.

  • `Child Labour Reconsidered: The Employment of the Girl Child in the Bangladesh Garment Industry’, in Stewart, Ann (ed.), Law in its Social Setting. Gender, Law and Social Justice, Blackstone Press Limited, London, 2000, pp.119-137.
  • `Violence against Women: Ideologies in Law and Society’, in the Bangladesh Journal of Law, Vol.3, No.2, December 1999, Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA), Dhaka, pp.139-160.
  • `Cultural Conflict and Children’s Rights in Bangladesh’, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Humanities), Vol.44, No.2, December 1999, pp.23-49.
  • `Understanding Sexual Harassment in Bangladesh: Dynamics of Male Control and Female Subordinationin the Journal of the Faculty of Law, Dhaka University Studies Part F, Vol. 9, No. 1, June 1998, Dhaka, pp. 87-110.
  • `Struggling against the Doldrums: The Public-Private Dichotomy and the Bangladeshi Woman’ in the Social Science Review, Vol. XV, No.1, June 1998, Dhaka, pp.101-118.

 

  • `Revisiting International Human Rights Law’ in the Journal of the Faculty of Law, Dhaka University Studies, Part F, Vol.8, No.1, June 1997, Dhaka.

 

  • `The Girl Child in Bangladesh: Towards an Understanding of Her Labour’ in the Bangladesh Journal of Law, Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA), Dhaka, June 1997, pp.71-112.

 

  • `Limiting Child Labour: The Impact of Protective Legislation in Bangladesh’ in the Journal of the Faculty of Law, Dhaka University Studies, Part F, Vol.7, No.1, 1996, pp. 21-34.

 

  • `Child Labour Revisited: The Situation of the Girl Child in the Bangladesh Garment Industry’ in Politics Administration and Change (an international multi-disciplinary journal), Issue 25, July 1996, Centre for Public Affairs, Bangladesh and the Department of Politics, University of New England, Australia, pp.24-43.

 

  • `Women’s Human Rights in Bangladesh’ in Ahmad, Tahmina and Khan, Md. Maimul Ahsan (eds.): Gender in Law, Adtam Publishing House, Dhaka, 1998, pp.1-27

 

  • `The Endangered Generation: Enslavement of Children’ in the Dhaka University Studies, Part F, Vol. V, No.1, June 1994, Dhaka, pp.103-131.

 

  • `Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions 1949 and Development of the Law of Non-International Armed Conflict in Human Rights and Development Review, Vols. III and IV, 1993-4, Humanist and Ethical Association of Bangladesh, pp.56-76.

 

  1. `Refugees in Armed Conflicts and Internal Disturbances: Protection and Assistance’ in BIISS Journal, Vol.12, No.3, July 1991, Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Dhaka, pp.336-66.

 

  • `Human Rights and Women in the Indian Sub-Continent’ in the Dhaka University Studies, Part F, Vol. II, No.1, June 1991, Dhaka, pp.149-58.

 

Books/Manuscript Reviews

 

  1. Reviewed a book titled Mobility, Labour Migration and Border Controls in Asia, Amarjit Kaur and Ian Metcalfe (eds.), (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), xix+322 pp. in South Asia Research, Vol. 27(3), pp.365-367, Sage Publications, Los Angeles et al., 2007.

 

  1. Reviewed a book titled Measuring Empowerment: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives, Deepa Narayan (ed.), (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006, xx+475 pp. in South Asia Research, Vol. 27(2), pp.240-242, Sage Publications, Los Angeles et al., 2007.

 

  • Reviewed a manuscript for Routledge titled Democratic transition and the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh in a culture of mistrust by Sonia Zaman Khan, May 2016.

 

I regularly review academic papers for university based journals.

 

Other research work

 

  • Review of National Integrity pillars in Bangladesh under the Transparency International Secretariat’s National Integrity Context and System Analysis (NICSA) project (October 2012-September 2013, co-researched).

 

  • Protection of Human Rights under the Caretaker Government and Elected Governments, UNDP, July 2009.

 

  • Towards Effective Prosecution of Acid-related Cases: The Feasibility of Establishing a Formal Monitoring Process, CIDA, Legal Reform Project, Part A, Sept.-Nov. 2007.

 

  • Access to Justice and Legal Empowerment for the Poor and the Disadvantaged in Bangladesh: Strategies, Achievements and Challenges under the Commonwealth Academic Post-Doctoral Fellowship 2006-2007.

 

  • Situation Analysis of the Rights of Ethnic Minority Children in Bangladesh, commissioned by Danida and Save the Children, Sweden-Denmark, 2007.

 

  • Non-traditional Security Threats: Human Security Concerns of Trafficked Women and Children in Bangladesh, Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), University of Dhaka, under a Ford Foundation Grant, 2006.

 

  • Children’s Migration for Livelihood: The Bangladesh Experience, under partnership of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), University of Dhaka and the Development Research Cooperation (DRC) project of the University of Sussex, K., 2005.

 

  • Exploring Male Perception of Violence against Women in Bangladesh, under the auspices of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), University of Dhaka and management of the British Council, Dhaka, and with technical assistance from DFID, Bangladesh, November 2001.

 

  • Exploring Root Causes of Juvenile Crime in Bangladesh, UNICEF, Dhaka, September-December 1998.

 

  • Strengthening of the Implementation of the Legal Framework for Human Security in Bangladesh (from the perspective of the poor and disadvantaged), UNDP, Dhaka, 1997.

Teaching

My academic career primarily revolves around teaching undergraduate and Masters students, supervising post-graduate students and scholars, curriculum development, review of academic articles and editorial work and researching on selected issues of law and justice. My teaching experience spans across multi-dimensional subjects, namely, International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Law on Refugees, Stateless Persons and Migrant Workers, Public International Law, Roman Law, Laws on Evidence, Law of Torts, and Criminology. I have been involved with the clinical legal education programme at the Faculty of Law, University of Dhaka for a number of years and worked closely with mooting events at the Department.

I was an adjunct Faculty at Eastern University (a private university) since its inception until 2013.

Given my involvement in numerous professional activities in addition to regular teaching, I am selective about taking on Ph.D. supervisory and examination responsibilities. To date, I have supervised one Ph.D. student (thesis titled–Consumer Justice in Bangladesh: A Critical Study of Laws and Rules) and examined another (thesis titled–Gender, Power and Justice: An Ethnographic Study of Union Parishad-led Arbitration Councils in Rural Bangladesh). They were awarded Ph.D. degrees from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India respectively.

Human Rights, Humanitarian Laws, Refugee and
Migration, Governance, Gender Issues.