Biography

Leïla Choukroune is Professor of International Economic Law and Director of the University of Portsmouth Thematic Initiative in Democratic Citizenship.

Her research focuses on the interactions between international trade and investment law, human rights, development studies, jurisprudence, and social theory. For the past twenty years, it is applied to the Global South, in India, South Asia, China and East Africa in particular.

Professor Leïla Choukroune is a leading global scholar. She has published numerous scientific articles, book chapters and special issues in English, French, Spanish or Mandarin Chinese and authored more than ten books, including recently, Judging the State in International Trade and Investment Law (2016), and Exploring Indian Modernities (2018), Handbook of International Investment Law and Policy (2020-21), Adjudicating Businesses in India, (2021), International Economic Law (2021), The SDGS and International Investment Law, Handbook of the Law and Policy of the Blue Economy, both forthcoming in 2024.

She is the Editor of the Springer book series International Law and the Global South; the Editor of the Routledge Series in Human Rights, Citizenship and the Law ; and the Editor (Law) of the Journal of International Trade Law and Policy.

She is a member of the board of the Journal of World Investment and Trade.

She is also Associate Editor of the Manchester Journal of International Economic Law and Member of the Editorial Boards of the leading peer reviewed Journals China Perspectives and Perspectives Chinoises.

She regularly publishes in the global media, has created popular Webinar series and a new podcast series “Our Rights in Action”. She has given a large number of interviews about her research and its impact.

Together with Professor James Nedumpara, she is the co-Chair of the South Asia International Economic Law Network (SAIELN) a learned society, which endeavours to foster research and publication in international economic law.

She has taught all disciplines of international law to graduate and post-graduate students as well as specialized executive courses and programmes in Europe, Asia and Africa. She has also supervised and mentored a very large number of students at the master and PhD levels.

Professor Leïla Choukroune is regularly solicited as an independent expert on international economic law and business and human rights issues. She has been an independent adviser to the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH)and a Member of the French National Books Commission (CNL).  

She is a listed arbitrator and mediator for the European Union.

She is an independent evaluator for Trade Mark Africa.

She is Officer of “l’Ordre du mérité” (Knight of the Order of Merit - conferred by the French government).

Before joining the University of Portsmouth, she was Director of the Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities (CSH), a research unit of the CNRS based in New Delhi (India), Associate Professor at the Law Faculty of Maastricht University (Netherlands); Deputy Director of the Institute for Globalization and International Regulation (IGIR) and Director of the Advanced Master in international economic law (Maastricht University); Assistant Professor at HEC Paris, Consultant for the OECD, Lecturer at Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and Researcher at the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC) a unit of the CNRS in Hong Kong.

Professor Leïla Choukroune holds a Doctorate in international law (suma cum laude – highest honour) from the University Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne and is a qualified lawyer to the Paris Bar.

She is fluent in English, French, and Spanish, speaks Chinese and German and learns Hindi.

Professor Choukroune has worked in six different higher education systems over the world and has grown an impressive professional network. She has developed unique intercultural skills to negotiate with and advise academic institutions, governments, industries, and civil society.

Research interests

My research focuses on the interactions between international trade and investment law, human rights, development studies, jurisprudence and social theory. It is also applied to emerging countries, India, China and East Africa in particular.