Globalex – Latest Papers & Articles

Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan holds an LL.M. from Maastricht University, The Netherlands, and holds a PhD from the University of Galway, Republic of Ireland. He is a senior civil servant with the Department of Justice, Republic of Ireland. He is also currently a Lecturer at Maynooth University, Republic of Ireland; a Guest Professor at ESCP Turin, Italy; and an Adjunct Professor at Woxsen University, India. Prior to these roles, he was a Fellow and research assistant at the Irish Centre for Human Rights in Galway, Ireland; various universities in Dublin; and a human rights academic at the University of Nottingham, UK where he taught in different areas of international law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law. Thamil did his undergraduate studies in Germany at the universities of Bonn and Marburg, with a particular focus on international law.

Dunia P. Zongwe is a consultant, an academic, and an author. He specializes in finance and development and international human rights, usually focusing on Africa and the Global South. Mr. Zongwe studied at the University of Namibia (law), Université de Montréal (humanities), and Cornell University (law) where he earned a master’s degree and a doctorate (foreign investments in mining and infrastructure in Africa). He now serves as an Associate Professor at the University of Namibia and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Walter Sisulu University.

François Butedi is a Congolese legal advisor and human rights defender with considerable experience in the courts of the DRC. The non-governmental organization (NGO) for which he worked advised the government on several pieces of legislation and was actively involved in training and monitoring during the historic 2006 presidential and legislative elections in the DRC. He holds a law degree from the University of Kinshasa (2002) and completed his LL.M. in Human Rights and Constitutional Practice at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. He also worked at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Lawyers’ Association of the Southern African Development Community, and the African Union. He is currently a Technical Advisor at the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in New Caledonia. He co-wrote this update in his personal capacity.

Phebe Mavungu Clément is a former lecturer at the University of Kinshasa where he obtained his first law degree. He has an LL.M. in Human Rights and Democratization in Africa from the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria. He now works as Legal Counsel at the Pan-African Parliament. He co-wrote this update in his personal capacity.

Dr. Arthur Willemse holds a PhD degree in Philosophy and an MA in Laws, and he is a Lecturer in Legal Philosophy at the Maastricht University Faculty of Law and the University of Hasselt Faculty of Law. He also teaches at University College Maastricht.

Mr. Servaas Feiertag, LL.M and M.Sc. in Public Administration is an independent consultant and senior international expert at Servaas Feiertag Consultancy in the areas of the rule of law, justice reform, good governance, integrity and anti-corruption mechanisms, and organizational development in South Eastern Europe (since 2020, notably in the Republic of North Macedonia with public institutions and civil society), Sub Saharan Africa, and the MENA region. Over the last twenty-five years, he has held various senior expert and management positions at the international level, such as senior rule of law/anti-corruption and integrity expert, principal legal counsel, senior legal consultant/team leader, trainer, and project leader.

Gerhard Seibert graduated in Cultural Anthropology from Utrecht University, Netherlands, in 1991 and earned a PhD in Social Sciences at Leiden University, Netherlands in 1999. Until 2008, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the former Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical (IICT), Lisbon, Portugal. From 2008-14, he was a researcher at the former African Studies Center at ISCTE–Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (CEA/ISCTE-IUL). From 2014-19, he was an associate professor at Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira (UNILAB), Campus dos Malês, São Francisco do Conde, Bahia, Brazil. He has conducted research in Mozambique, Cabo Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, and on Brazil-Africa relations. He authored book chapters, journal articles, and the book Comrades, Clients, and Cousins; Colonialism, Socialism and Democratization in São Tomé and Príncipe (Leiden: Brill 2006), widely considered the definitive volume on the recent history of this African island state; and The Wealth of History of the Small African Twin-Island State São Tomé and Príncipe (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024). He is co-editor of Brazil-Africa Relations. Historical Dimensions and Contemporary Engagements (Woodbridge: James Currey, 2019). Currently, he collaborates with the postgraduate program PósAfro at the Centro de Estudos Afro-Orientais (CEAO) at Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) in Salvador, Brazil and is a research associate at the Centro de Estudos Internacionais (CEI), at ISCTE-IUL, Portugal.

Thérèse DONU, an attorney at law at the Togo Bar Association and a founder of Therese Donu Law Firm, got the Certificate of Admission to the Bar in 2011. She holds a Master’s Degree in International and Comparative Environmental Law from the University of Limoges (France) and a Certificate in International and Comparative Law issued jointly by the Justus-Liebig University of Giessen in Germany, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Marquette University. She assists local and international clients in OHADA business law, debt recovery, project finance (infrastructures and energy), and labor law. She also advises in litigation proceedings. Thérèse DONU founded a law firm based in Lomé, after twelve years of practice. She speaks French and English and is learning Chinese.

Alex Zhang is the Archibald C. and Frances Fulk Rufty Research Professor of Law, Associate Dean of Information Services, and Director of the J. Michael Goodson Law Library. Before joining Duke Law, Alex was the Assistant Dean for Legal Information Services, Professor of Practice, and Director of the Wilbur C. Hall Law Library of Washington and Lee University School of Law. She previously held positions at the University of Michigan Law School and Stanford University Law School. Alex received her J.D. with a certificate in International Trade and Finance Law from the University of Kansas and her M.S.I degree from the University of Michigan, School of Information. Alex teaches Research Methods on Chinese Law and Policy and Advanced Legal Research at Duke Law School.

Thank you,

Lucie