ALT Publication Launch: Decolonising Legal Education at Durham Law School

Join us for the launch of Decolonising Legal Education at Durham Law School, an important publication exploring the imperative of decolonising legal curricula. This event will highlight key themes including the reimagining of land law, climate change law, and EU law through decolonial lenses. Contributors will discuss practical approaches to embedding decolonisation in legal education and how these changes can challenge entrenched Eurocentric perspectives. Whether you're an educator, student, or legal professional, this launch is an essential exploration of how the law can contribute to a more equitable and inclusive future.

Programme

Emma Jones (Association of Law Teachers)

Introduction to the ALT Book Series

Irene Wieczorek (Durham Law School)

Decolonising Legal Education at Durham Law School – An Introduction

Petra Minnerop (Durham Law School)

Decolonising Legal Education at Durham Law School – A practical example

Astha Sangavi (UN Environment Programme)

Decolonising climate law: towards a decolonised pedagogical approach to ‘climate

law and policy'

Sandra Mogeni (Kenya School of Law)

Decolonising and dversifying land law – A critical analysis of current issues in the

modern land law curriculum

Nart Yelken Karaçai (Ginevra Graduate Institute) & Morgan Lim (London School of Economics) 

EU Law, Decolonisation and Brexit

Aileen Editha (Queen’s University)

Decolonising Legal Education – A personal & academic perspective

Laura Marsiliani (Durham Business School)

Decolonising Universities – An institutional perspective

Irene Wieczorek is an Associate Professor in European Union Law at Durham Law School. During her time at Durham, she has been Co-Director of Equality Diversity and Inclusion, and decolonisation contact point for Durham Law School. In this framework Irene hasreceived funding from the Faculty of Health and Social Science to carry out a research project, with the support of students interns, Miranda Wang and Malak Tamer-Mohammed-Moshen-Aly on "EU Law, Decolonisation and Brexit". Irene’s research interests revolve around EU criminal law – currently on a AHRC project on foreign prisoners’ rights in the UK – as well as legal education and especially teaching of EU law outside the European Union, and non-western approaches to the teaching of EU law. Jointly with Samya Amir and Miranda Wang Irene is currently looking at how EU law is being taught in 16 countries in the Global South. She was the coordinator of Durham Law School Decolonisation Internships in 2021/2022.

Petra Minnerop is a Professor of International Law at Durham Law School. She serves as the Chair of the UN SDG Group of the University, with responsibility for the University's reporting on Sustainability (QS) and the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (THE Impact ranking) in the academic dimension. She leads on the University's engagement with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Petra is the founding Director of the Durham Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy (CSDLP). She is the lead PI on the flagship initiative of the CSDLP: the Just Transitions to a Net Zero World (JusTN0W) project that received investment of £5 million for the next four years, with the aim of becoming financially sustainable thereafter. Her research is at the intersection of law and science in the context of sustainability, climate change and environmental degradation. Her research addresses how the law can be used to effectuate change in light of scientific evidence, to address global environmental crises. She uses comparative legal analysis and interdisciplinary methods and has published widely on climate change, environmental law and policy and international law. She has an academic mentor in the internship on decolonising climate change law and policy.

Astha Sangavi is a Law LLB graduate from Durham Law School, specialised in climate law and policy. After leaving Durham she has earned a MA on Climate and Society from Columbia University’s Climate School, and has interned at the Climate Change Legal Initiative. She is currently interning at the UN Environment Programme (Regional Office for North America) and continues in her role as a Research Team Manager at Green New Deal Rising UK. She was the intern on the internships on decolonising climate change law and policy.

Sandra Mogeni is a Law LLB graduate from Durham Law School. She is a dedicated human rights lawyer, currently pursuing the Advocate Training Programme at the Kenya School of Law. She is pursuing a year-long professional program at ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company) where she is a legal adviser for Africa’s largest multilateral reinsurer. Previously, she worked as a management consultant, where she assisted in significant governance and evaluation projects for organizations like SIDA and the African Union. Outside of work, she is an avid writer, runner and mental health advocate. She was the intern on the internships on decolonising land law.

Nart Yelkan Karaçai is a Law LLB graduate from Durham Law School, specialised in international law and third world approaches to international law (TWAIL). Currently enrolled in the Master in International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID), Nart is researching the decolonisation of international law, with a focus on Global South approaches to international investment arbitration. Nart is one of the co-authors of the chapter on “EU Law, Decolonisation and Brexit”.

Morgan Xu Lim,  is a Law LLB graduate from Durham Law School. He has recently completed the LLM at LSE with a Specialisation in Financial Law and Regulation. After writing his postgraduate dissertation on the relationship between open banking and financial inclusion, he continues to gain experience in both legal and FinTech worlds while on his way to qualify as a Solicitor in the UK. Morgan has lived and studied in Malaysia, Canada, and the UK - he hopes to utilise his multicultural upbringing to promote greater financial and digital literacy amongst developing jurisdictions to combat financial exclusion. Morgan is one of the co-authors of the chapter on “EU Law, Decolonisation and Brexit”.

Aileen Editha is a LLB and MJur graduate from Durham Law school, and currently PhD student at the Faculty of Law of Queen’s University in Katarokwi (Kingston), Canada. She researches health law and medical ethics through critical race, feminist, and anti-colonial lenses. She was born and raised in Surabaya, Indonesia. Since 2022, she has worked as a Research Associate for a Government of Canada SSHRC funded project exploring the impact of colonial heritage narratives on the wellbeing of Indigenous and racialised minority communities.

Laura Marsiliani is Professor in Economics and Faculty of Business Equality Diversity and Inclusion Co-Lead and Decolonising the Curriculum Lead. She is a Director of the Centre for Environmental and Energy Economics (CE3) at Durham University Business School and a principal investigator of the Durham University Strategic Research Fund initiative JusTN0W (Just Transition to a Net Zero-carbon-World). Among her research interests is the design of optimal environmental and energy policies in terms of economic efficiency and equity, with applications to developing countries. She is responsible for the decolonising the curriculum agenda at Durham University Business School that has culminated in the launch of the DUBS Decolonising the Curriculum Toolkit in summer 2023. She was bestowed the 2023 DurhamSU Staff Contribution to Decolonisation Award. She teaches modules in environmental economics and public economics.