Dr Nauman Reayat

• Constitutional law and politics
•  Judicial independence
• Judicialization of politics
• Juristocracy
• Human rights protection/enforcement
• Rule of law,
• and/or Constitutionalism

Any of the above in developing democracies/Global South/authoritarian and hybrid regimes

I am the convener of the Global South Network (GSN). It is a forum for research students, scholars, practitioners, and civil society organisations from different regions of the Global South including but not limited to Africa, Latin America, Asia, East Europe, and Middle East. UK based Academics and researchers (including postgraduate researchers) focusing on the issues of the Global South run GSN. Prof Hakeem Yusuf, School of Law, University of Derby and Prof Rhona Smith, School of Law, Newcastle University are co-conveners of the network.

GSN ACTIVITIES

1. LAUNCH EVENT

    The launch event of GSN took place on Friday 17 March 2023 . Justice Ayesha Malik, Supreme Court of Pakistan virtually gave the keynote speech.

    

2. CONFERENCES

   GSN organised a hybrid conference on judicial independence in Africa on Wednesday 22 March 2023. Justice Dr Rasul Oriyomi Olukolu, High Court Lagos, Nigeria gave the keynote speech and Justice Sainabou Wadda Cisse, Court of Appeal, Gambia was the guest speaker.

   GSN has organised a three-day hybrid international conference titled “Law, Society, and Academia in the Global South: Challenges and Prospects” in collaboration with the University of Ilorin, Nigeria on 26 -29 September 2023.  Call for papers is attached. The conference includes the launch ceremony of GSN (University of Ilorin Chapter). You are welcome to submit the abstract of up to 350 words at 

    

    

3. GUEST LECTURE SERIES

   PHASE 1 (LECTURE SERIES OF THE GLOBAL SOUTH JUDGES)

   
   

   • Justice Aruna Devi Narain of Mauritius Supreme Court . She delivered a talk titled "75 Years of UN Declaration of Human Rights: Challenges and Opportunities for the Global South" on Friday 14 April 2023.
     
     
   • Honourable Dr Azmiralda Zahir, Justice Supreme Court of Maldives delivered  her online talk titled "Reinforcing Democratic Values Through Online Hearings – the Maldives Experience" on Monday 5th of June 2023
     
     
   • Former Justice Mexican Supreme Court  Dr José Ramón Cossío Díaz delivered his online talk titled "Mexican Supreme Court of Justice: current goals and challenges" on 29 June 2023.
     
     

   Please let me know or write at globalsouthnetwork@leicester.ac.uk if you wish to attend the guest lecture series.

    

4. GSN GEOGRAPHIC AND THEMATIC CHAPTERS

   GSN has different geographical chapters (South (East) Asia, Africa, Latin America etc)and thematic chapters (Law, Politics, Sociology, Early Career Academics/PhD Candidates, North-South Engagement Chapter etc). If you are interested in joining the GSN in general and/or any of its chapter(s) in particular, please let me know or write  at globalsouthnetwork@leicester.ac.uk

     

5. PUBLICATIONS

   The network has resulted in two edited book contracts from leading publishers, one on the Rule of Law in Africa from Springer and the other on judicial independence in transitional democracies. These book involves staff from 19 law schools of seven different countries focusing on jurisdictions including but not limited to Hungary, Slovakia, China, South Korea, Philippines, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, and Japan. 

     6. PHD IN PROGRESS SEMINAR SERIES

Further, I organised first phase of weekly international PhD in progress seminar from 9 May 2023. PhD candidates from different universities focusing on any issue of the Global South  present their projects every Wednesday at 14:00 UK time. Students and staff from 8 disciplines, 21 universities, and 8 countries have participated in the first phase. Each seminar is one hour long. In every seminar, a PhD candidate presents for 20 to 25 minutes which is followed by comments of one discussant and one peer commentator and discussion by attendees.

If any PhD candidate from any university focusing on any issue of the Global South is interested in presenting their ongoing research project during one of the above seminars please send brief bio, topic of the work, an abstract of 200 to 350 words discussing research problem/question, the gap in the wider literature on the topic, main argument, methodology and your preliminary findings to me or at globalsouthnetwork@leicester.ac.uk .  

• "De facto judicial independence through protests: Comparing Asia and Africa" during one-day hybrid  conference on judicial independence in Africa, University of Leicester, UK,  22 March 2023.
• “Teaching Public Law in Unsettled Times”, United Kingdom Constitutional Law Association/Durham Law School Teaching in Public Law Workshop, 15 December 2021.
• “Judicial Independence in South Asia: Comparisons”, International Conference on 50 years of Bangladesh, Comparative Constitutional Law, Human Rights and Gender Equality
• "The Rule of Law and Judicial Independence as a Shared Strategy", Political Studies Association Annual International Conference, 15-17 April 2019, Nottingham University, Nottingham, UK.
• "The Role of Judicial and Political Elites in Judicialization of BREXIT", Political Studies Association Annual International Conference, 15-17 April 2019, Nottingham University, Nottingham, UK.
• "The Role of the Higher Judiciaries in Hybrid Democracies", 77^th Annual Mid-West Political Science Association (MPSA) Annual Conference, 4 to 7 April 2019, Chicago, USA.
• "Why the higher judiciaries are relatively more independent in hybrid democracies?" Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities, Twenty-Second Annual Conference, 22-23 March 2019, Carlton University, Ottawa, Canada.
• "The Balance Between Judicial Independence and Judicial Accountability: Comparing Canada and India" Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities, Twenty-Second Annual Conference, 22-23 March 2019, Carlton University, Ottawa, Canada.
• "The Comparative Analysis of Judicial Appointments in Australia and the United Kingdom", Australian New Zealand Studies of North America Annual Conference, The University of Texas, Austin, USA, 6 February to 9, 2019.
• "Judicial Activism and Public Policy in South Asia" World Congress 25^th World Congress of Political Science, International Political Science Association (IPSA), Brisbane, 21-25 July 2018
• "The Role of Media in Judicial Populism", European Consortium of Political Research General Conference, 6 to 9 September, 2017, Oslo Norway.
• "Judicial Independence and Legal Evolution" Durham Castle Conference, Durham University, 26 to 27 July 2017.
• "Juristocracy and Public Policy". White Rose Politics and International Relations Annual Colloquium, University of Sheffield, 22 May 2017.

ORGANISER/CHAIR/DISCUSSANT

• Chaired the panel titled "judicial Independence In Nigeria, Cambodia, and Cameroon" one-day hybrid  conference on judicial independence in Africa, University of Leicester, UK,  22 March 2023.
• Organised and chaired the panel titled “Constitutionalism in Developing Democracies”, Annual Conference of PSA at the
  University of York, April 2022.
• Organised and chaired the panel titled “Judicial Behaviour and Minorities’ Rights in South Asia”, Annual Conference of
  the MPSA, Chicago, April 2022.
• Organised and chaired the panel titled “Judicialization of Politics in Developing Democracies”, Annual Conference of the
  Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA), April 2022.
• Chaired the panel titled “Theory: Populism, Democracy and Autocracy”, European Consortium of Political
  Research (ECPR), Oslo, 6 to 9 September, 2017.
• Chaired the panel titled “Party Policy and Party Competition”, European Consortium of Political Research
  ECPR, Oslo, 6 to 9 September, 2017.
• Discussant for the panel, Populism & Extremism, in 77th Annual Mid-West Political Science Association
  (MPSA) Annual Conference, 4 to 7 April 2019, Chicago, USA.
• Discussant for standing e-Panel: Politics of Developing Countries in 77th MPSA Annual Conference, 4 to 7 April 2019, Chicago, USA.
• Discussant for standing e-panel Democratisation and Democratic Backsliding in 77th MPSA Annual Conference, 4 to 7 April 2019, Chicago, USA.