School of Law Lecturer speaks on governance at Yale and the UN University

Shiona Mackenzie

20 Apr 2005

On the heels of his successful lecture on issues related to corruption, development and governance delivered at the Yale Law School in the US on 29 March, Mr C Raj Kumar, Lecturer in City University of Hong Kong's School of Law (SLW), was invited by the United Nations University (UNU) to make a presentation in Canberra, Australia, on a research project entitled: "The End of Westphalia? Re-envisioning sovereignty". The project, organized by the International Institute for Ethics, Law and Governance -- a joint initiative between the UNU and Griffith University -- consists of three stages, each of which involves two workshops, publication of selected papers and a report to the United Nations Secretariat in New York.

"Mr Kumar is a fine example of our staff's unstinting efforts to uphold the University's mission of providing quality professional education and making valuable contributions that benefit society," said Professor Peter Malanczuk, SLW Dean. "Not only does our expertise in areas of international significance raise CityU's profile among prestigious universities and respected academics locally, regionally, and overseas, it helps to attract top-notch students to our campus."

Professor Peter Schuck, a Simon E Baldwin Professor of Law at Yale Law School, attested to the expertise evidenced in Mr Kumar's lecture at Yale: “The students and faculty members who enjoyed his lecture found it to be an informative, well-designed exploration of the conflict between corruption and the rule of law. Mr Kumar's lecture was a very stimulating tour d'horizon of an exceedingly important problem of law, policy, and politics.”

Mr Kumar's participation in the UNU's Sovereignty project began with his attending a workshop in Canberra, 8-10 April, and following up with his academic paper for inclusion in an important volume to be published by the United Nations University Press. Mr Kumar's paper on how corruption affects national sovereignty and state

capacity in ways that violate human rights, impede human development and undermine the entire governance process is expected to contribute to the shaping of UN policies. Last year, Mr Kumar completed his research with reference to some of these issues in the context of Japan, Hong Kong and India with a research grant that he received from the Sumitomo Foundation of Japan. Mr Kumar has been engaged actively in research work relating to corruption and the implications for human rights for more than a decade.

Currently, Mr Kumar is working on a project relating to terrorism and its implications for human rights. He is a Special Advisor and Country Expert to REDRESS in the United Kingdom; Honorary Consultant to the National Human Rights Commission in India; and a Member of the Public Affairs Forum of the Home Affairs Bureau, Hong Kong SAR.

Along with supporting CityU's high quality professional education, the School of Law continuously seeks out ways to bolster the University's fresh focus on internationalisation. It's upcoming international conference on "Human Rights and Development: Approaches to the Reform of Governance in Asia" to be held on campus from 9 to 10 May, will be attended by speakers from Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Norway, People's Republic of China, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. Participants will present papers on a number of themes within the focal areas of human rights and development, including: constitutionalism and the rule of law; business and human rights; development and good governance; the WTO and human rights; and the relevance of the right to development for Asia.