Sameer Rashid Bhat
Other affiliations
Blavatnik School of Government Bonavero Institute of Human Rights Oxford Transitional Justice Research (OTJR) Public International Law @ Oxford
Biography
Sameer Rashid Bhat is a DPhil candidate and a Lecturer in Law at University College, University of Oxford. His doctoral research, supervised by Prof Dapo Akande, examines the interaction of legal regimes in armed conflict, particularly "mixed armed conflicts”. He is a Rhodes Scholar and a Clarendon Scholar.
Sameer holds an MSc in Global Governance and Diplomacy and a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Oxford. Before Oxford, he obtained a law degree from Gujarat National Law University and qualified to practise law in India.
Sameer teaches and has taught a range of subjects, including Public International Law, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Contract Law, and Conflict, Security and Human Rights. His teaching spans University College, Hertford College, St Anne's College, Exeter College and the Department for Continuing Education at Oxford, as well as the London School of Economics and universities in India.
Sameer has worked on research and policy projects concerning comparative and international law, transitional justice, international peace and security, cultural expertise and access to justice. He was a research consultant on an international humanitarian law project at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and a Research Assistant at the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC), where he authored a report on increasing accountability for crimes against children in armed conflicts as part of a collaborative project with Save the Children. He has also worked on the EURO-EXPERT Project and its subsequent spinouts, including coordinating research on cultural expertise in India.
At Oxford, he has served as chairperson of Oxford Pro Bono Publico (OPBP), Student Chairperson, Chief Editor and Blog Lead at Oxford Transitional Justice Research (OTJR) and a Graduate Research Resident at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights.
His research interests include public international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, constitutional law, comparative public law, counterinsurgency and Kashmir studies. He is currently working on a project on the constitutional history and status of Jammu and Kashmir, including its relationship with the Indian Constitution.
Beyond his academic pursuits, Sameer takes keen interest in improving access to education and professional opportunities for individuals from marginalised communities. To this end, he founded Project EduAccess, a non-profit initiative with operations in South Asia.