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Dr Judith Onwubiko

Dr Judith Onwubiko

onwubikj@lsbu.ac.uk

Law

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I am a Lecturer in law at the School of Law and Social Sciences. I joined LSBU in 2022 having previously worked as an Assistant Lecturer in Law at the University of Kent, where I was also a Vice-Chancellor Funded PhD candidate from 2017-2022. I also hold an LLM (International Law with Medical Law and Ethics) and an LLB (Hons) from the University of Kent. I was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in 2014 and have worked with various law firms in Nigeria as well as the Department of Public Prosecutions, Ministry of Justice, Enugu State, Nigeria.

My main research interest focuses on the regulation of slavery in indigenous, state, and international law. I am also interested in broader questions on personhood, self-determination and indigenous/minority rights. I use socio-legal and TWAIL approaches to understand why slavery continues to exist and the most effective methods of abolition. For my PhD research, I investigated the continuous existence of indigenous forms of slavery in southeastern Nigeria (osu and ohu). I examined how and why existing anti-slavery laws in the region failed to effectively abolish these slavery practices, and how the Igbo indigenous legal system could offer a better form of abolition. I am currently working on turning my PhD thesis into a book.

I am passionate about anti-slavery studies because the continuity of slavery is both a painful reminder and an uncomfortable reproduction of histories of prejudice and injustice against people of colour. Hence, I work with anti-slavery scholars and practitioners with a view to contributing to the complete abolition of slavery in all its forms. I am a Steering Committee Member of the Slavery Past, Present and Future Global Meetings. I am happy to supervise students interested in the study of slavery, human rights in countries of the global south, non-state forms of law and other related topics.

Courses taught

Law - LLB (Hons)

Law (Criminology) - LLB (Hons)

Law (Criminal Law Pathway) - LLB (Hons)

Law (Business Law Pathway) - LLB (Hons)

Law - PhD / MRes

Postgraduate Research Supervision
Current
Mr Souleymane ToureDoctoral Research ProjectPhD

Filter publications

The Biafran Self-Determination Question: Challenges and Prospects
Onwubiko, J. (2023). The Biafran Self-Determination Question: Challenges and Prospects. African Journal of International and Comparative Law. 31 (1), pp. 104-130. https://doi.org/10.3366/ajicl.2023.0437