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Biography

Personal Details:

Prof. R. Rajesh Babu, Professor at IIM Calcutta is a lawyer by training with over two decades of experience in industry and academia. He served as a Member of the Board of Governors of IIM Calcutta from April 2021 to April 2023. Rajesh had been a post-doctoral scholar-in-residence at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Geneva, Visiting Scholar on DAAD Scholarship at Hamburg University, and was a Fellow at the Centre for Studies and Research, Hague Academy of International Law (2013). He obtained his PhD and MPhil in International Law from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi and an LL.M. in Comparative Constitutional Law from the School of Legal Studies, Cochin University (CUSAT). Before joining IIM Calcutta, Rajesh served as Senior Legal Officer (2002-2009) in Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO), New Delhi an inter-governmental organization (IGO) that represents Asian and African States. He also practised law at the High Court of Kerala and the subordinate courts briefly. His research and teaching interests are in the following areas: international economic law (trade and investment), dispute settlement (litigation, arbitration, conciliation and mediation), corporate liability, legal strategy, property rights, etc. He is currently the Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Foundation for Development of International Law in Asia (DILA), a Member of the Executive Council of the Asian Society of International Law (ASIL) and a Member of the Board of Governors of the Nuclear Law Association of India (NLAI - India Chapter of International Nuclear Law Association).

Contact Details:

Office: B-209, Old Academic Block, DH Road, Joka, Kolkata – 700 104 W B, INDIA

Website:

www.iimcal.ac.in/users/rajeshbabu

Academics

Academic Background:

Visiting Scholar, Hamburg University School of Law
Fellow, Centre for Studies, Hague Academy of International Law
Global Scholar-in-Residence, Graduate Institute Geneva (IHEID), Switzerland
Ph.D., Jawaharlal Nehru University (J.N.U.), New Delhi.
M.Phil. in International Law, Jawaharlal Nehru University (J.N.U.), New Delhi.
LL.M. in Comparative Constitutional Law and Consumer Laws, Cochin University (C.U.S.A.T.), Kochi.
LL.B., Pondicherry University, Pondicherry

Courses Taught:

Law and Public Policy I and II: Judiciary, Judicial Techniques, Judicial Process and Judicial Policy Making Indian Legal System Contract Management Managing International Legal Environment (MILE) WTO Law and Policy International Dispute Settlement (Arbitration and ADR)

Awards:

Hamburg University, DAAD Scholarship (Sep – Nov 2019) Global Scholar (2011), Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) Geneva Hague Academy of International Law 2013 JICA training on Societal Manufacturing, Japan, Feb 21 to 2 March 2016 Center for Studies and Research, The Hague Academy of International Law, 2013 Workshop of Young Scholars from the Global South, Graduate Institute (IHEID), Geneva 30 October - 3 November 2006 Training for Trainers Workshop on Corporate Governance, organized by International Financial Corporation/NISM/IIMC, January 2010. Public International Trade Law Course for the Asia Pacific Region, in Sydney, Australia, organized by International Development Law Organization (IDLO) 2005, sponsored by the WTO and AusAID. Legal Affairs Division, The World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva, Switzerland 2002

Consulting Interests:

Corporate Liability; Legal strategy, Legal and Regulatory Framework: India and International; WTO law and policy, IPR, Property law, mediation and dispute settlement

Current Projects:

India and the Multilateral Trading System Judicial management Encyclopaedia of Public International Law in Asia

Past Projects:

Scheme for Action Research and Studies on judicial Reforms, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice 2018 Consultant to Advisory Committee Member (Calcutta High Court) of the Supreme Court established ‘National Court Management Systems Committee.’ 2014. World Bank Project on Land Management (preliminary study) 2014.

Experience

Work Experience:

Associate Professor, IIM Calcutta (Oct 2012 to March 2017)
Assistant Professor, IIM Calcutta (June 2009 to Oct 2012)
Senior Legal Officer, Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization, New Delhi (2002 to 2009);
Advocate, High Court of Kerala

Research

Journal Publications:

• ‘Challenging the Status Quo: IIMs and the NEP 2020’ Economic and Political Weekly (2023) (co-author M. Thakur) (forthcoming)
• ‘The H-1B visa and US GATS Market Access Commitments: Options and Strategies for India’ IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review (July 2022) (co-author S. Ansari)
• ‘Practice of Asian Countries in International Law: India 2020’ 26 Asian Yearbook of International Law (2020) (published in 2022) (co-author S. Koonan)
• ‘Fixing the Collective Action Problem in Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Significance of Third World Solidarity’ Third World Quarterly (2022) (co-authors S. Ansari and Devaprasad M.)
• ‘Reports from International Courts and Tribunals: 5. United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) (formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA))’ 31(1) Yearbook of International Environment Law (2020) 283-287
• ‘Critical Issues Affecting Asia in the Area of Trade and Investment’, Korean Journal of International and Comparative Law (2020) (co-author, Christine Sim)
• ‘The Many Shades of Temporal Pluralities: Alternative Ethics of Law and Society’ Editorial 25 (1) Journal of Human Values (2020) (co-author S G Sreejith) 1-10
• ‘On the Legality of the United States Action of Terminating India’s GSP Status’, 55 (1) Foreign Trade Review (2020) 119-129
• ‘Reports from International Courts and Tribunals: 5. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Disputes’ 30(1) Yearbook of International Environment Law (2019) 483–488 (with Ansari Salamah)
• ‘WTO Law and the Protection of Public Morals’, 13(2) Asian Journal of WTO and International Health Law (2018) 333-354
• ‘International Posturing Amidst Domestic Neglect? India’s agricultural policy examined’ 18 (3) World Trade Review (2018) (co-author Priyanshu Gupta) 399-429
• ‘State-to-State Mediation: Perspectives from India’ 13(1) Asian Journal of WTO and International Health Law (2018) 135 (co-author R.V. Anuradha)
• ‘IIMs and Reservations,’ 52 (13) Economic and Political Weekly (2017) (co-author M. Thakur)
• ‘Concept Paper on the Creation of a Permanent ‘Asia-Pacific Regional Mediation Organization’ for State-to-State (Economy-to-Economy) Disputes’ 10 (2) Contemporary Asia Arbitration Journal (CAAJ), (2017) (Co-authors Chang-fa Lo, J. Nakagawa, T. Lin, J. Chaisse, L. Toohey, J. Lee, T. Kobayashi, R. Sharma, JW Koesnaidi, and Anuradha RV)
• European Data Protection Laws: Learnings and Implications for Indian Business, 1(1) Journal of Data Protection and Privacy (2016) (with Suren Sista).
• State Responsibility for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing and Sustainable Fisheries in the EEZ: Some Reflections on the ITLOS Advisory Opinion of 2015, 55 (2) Indian Journal of International Law (2015)
• Nuclear energy and Indian society: public engagement, risk assessment and legal frameworks’ Editorial Article, 18 (8) Journal of Risk Research (2015) 1009-1011 (with Ram Mohan M.P.)
• Legal aspects of multilevel marketing in India: Negotiating through murky waters, 42(4) Decision (2015) (with Pushkar Anand)
• Changing Trajectories of Investment Protection in India: An Analysis of Compensation for Expropriation, 6(2) Trade, Law & Development (2014) 359-392
• Nuclear Energy Law and Decision Making in India, Editorial Article, 7(1) Journal of Risk Research (2014) (with MP Ram Mohan)
• Social media and the law in India, 1(4) Journal of Digital Social Media Management, (2014) (with Ardi Kolah and Suren Sista) India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement: Ramifications for India, 8(2), Asian Journal of WTO and International Health Law, (2013), pp. 453-473
• Constitutional Right to Property in Changing Times: The Indian Experience, 6(2) Vienna Journal on International Constitutional Law, (2012), pp. 213-247
• Remedies for Violations of WTO Law: The Misplaced Notion of Effectiveness, 7(2) Asian Journal of WTO and International Health Law, (2012), pp. 457-514
• Cause and effect of ‘differentiation’ among developing countries in the WTO, 4(3) International Journal of Private Law, (2011), pp. 342-353
• Interpretation of the WTO Agreements, Democratic Legitimacy and the Developing Nations, 50(1) Indian Journal of International Law, (2010) Understanding the Role of International Law in the WTO Law, 1(1) Indian Yearbook of International Law and Policy (2009).
• Foreign State Immunity in Contracts of Employment with Particular Reference to Indian State Practice 49(4) Journal of Indian Law Institute, (2007).
• The United Nations Convention Against Corruption: A Critical Overview’ 2006, Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=891898
• International Commercial Arbitration and the Developing Countries, 2(4) AALCO Quarterly Bulletin (2006).
• Review of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding: Progress and Prospects, 1 (2-3) AALCO Quarter
• IMF Conditionality: A Perspective, Cochin University Law Review (2001).

Conferences:

• ‘India’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and International Law’ 2023 ILA-ASIL Asia-Pacific Research Forum: Indo-Pacific Strategies and International Law, Taipei, 3-5 December 2023.
• ‘Workshop for Headmasters & Headmistress on School Leadership Development Programme’ by IIM Calcutta was organized by School Education & Higher Education Departments, Government of West Bengal. November 2023
• ‘India's Domestic Approval and Ratification Procedure and Approaches to Integrate the Contents into Domestic Legal System’, International Academic Conference on The Architecture of the 2022 Fisheries Subsidies Agreement: Sustainability, Faithful Implementation and Beyond, Organized by the WTO Chair Programme, National Taiwan University at Taipei, Taiwan17-19 September 2023
• ‘India’s Refugee Protection and Border Control: Some Reflections on State Practice’ 2023 DILA International Conference on Refugee Protection and Border Control: Asian State Practice, June 26-27, 2023 National University of Mongolia, Mongolia
• Chaired the Session on ‘Revisiting the Exhaustion of Local Remedies under International Law’ at the Golden Jubilee (50th) Annual Conference of the Indian Society of International Law (ISIL) on 29-30th July 2022 ‘Future of ISDS in Asia: Trends from Select State Practice’ AWRN Annual Meeting 2023 at China Institute for WTO Studies, Beijing June 4-7, 2023
• International Dispute Settlement in Trade and Investment: Challenges and Changing trends in Asia, University of Bradford School of Law Summer School “Law in the Time of Global Change”, 13 June 2022
• ILA Study Group on Asian State Practice of Domestic Implementation of International Law: Trade and Investment, The Role of International Law in Asian Countries, HGU-DILA Conference 27 November 2021 (Jointly with Christine Sim)
• Discussant, Law, Politics and Policy, Session 2, XVI CPP Conference on Public Policy and Management, 23 August 2021
• International Law (Tax) in the shadow of National Courts: Reclaiming the Sovereign’s Regulatory Space 8th AsiansIL Biennial Conference, 24 May 2021 (jointly with Ajay Kumar)
• Panel Discussion (webinar) on “India’s Data Protection Law: A boon or bane for businesses? Organized by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, held on 23rd March 2021
• Session Chair and Commentator on Trade, Investment and other Issues in "Reshaping International Law in the Asian Centaury" 2020 DILA International conference (online) 25 February 2021
• Rapporteur for the “Trade and Investment” section of the ILA Study Group ASP-DIIL (Asian State Practice of Domestic Implementation of International Law) ILA Kyoto Conference (online) 11 December 2020
• ‘Denunciation of BITs by India: Issues and Trends in International Investment Law’, AWRN A2019, Shonan, Japan 6-8 July 2019
• ‘Initiatives in India with regard to Business and Human Rights’, invited presentation in “Round Table - Germany’s National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights” Organized by Indo-German Chamber of Commerce jointly with the German Consulate and German companies, 28 June 2019, Kolkata
• ‘Encyclopedia of Public International Law in Asia’ Editors Meet, DILA-KOREA International Conference, May 24, 2019 Seoul, Korea
• ‘Critical International Legal Issues Affecting Asia (ASP-DIIL)” ILA Study Group, May 25, 2019 DILA-KOREA, Seoul, Korea
• ‘Appellate Body and the Developing Countries’, Workshop on the “WTO Appellate Body and Its Reform” organized by AWRN and National Taiwan University College of Law, January 12-13, 2019, Taipei, Taiwan
• ‘The Asia-Pacific Regional Mediation Organization (AMRO) Initiative’ 8th Meeting of the Asia-Pacific FDI Network, UNESCAP, 25-26 September 2018, Bangkok, Thailand
• Participation in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Institute PIDA Training level 2 on ‘International Commercial Arbitration’, 5-7 March 2018, Tokyo, Japan
• ‘WTO and the Protection of Public Morals in the Asian Context’, Joint Conference of AWRN and China International Business and Economic Law, University of New South Wales (UNSW), 17-18 August 2018 Sydney, Australia.
• ‘International Posturing Amidst Domestic Neglect? Examining Contradictions in India’s Domestic and International Agricultural Policies’ (with Priyanshu Gupta), 5th International Conference on WTO, Trade and Agriculture: Issues and Challenges for Developing and Least Developed Countries, IIFT, New Delhi 20-21 October, 2016
• ‘The State of Management Education in India: Trajectories and Pathways’ (with Manish Thakur) in International Education Conference at LA, US 2-5 October 2016
• ‘European Data Protection Laws: Learnings and Implications for India’ (with Suren Sista) International Conference on Marketing Technology and Society (Markconf2016), IIM Kozhikode from Sep 29 to 1 October 2016
• ‘Decision Making in the WTO: Implications for the Developing countries and Multilateralism,’ Second Annual International Conference on Law, Economics and Politics, Oxford, UK 14-15 September 2015
• ‘Future of Legal Education in India,’ All India Seminar on Global Legal Education, Confederation of Indian Bar and KIIT University, Bhubaneswar 8-10 August 2015
• ‘Teaching and Research in International Law,’ World Conference on International Law, Indian Society of International Law, 2014 ‘Sanctions and International Trade Law,’ Special Meeting on
• “Extraterritorial Application of National Legislation: Sanctions Imposed against Third Parties” at the Fifty-Second Annual Session of AALCO held at New Delhi on 11th Sep 2013
• ‘India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement: Ramifications,’ AWRN and ACWH at 10 Conference on Asia’s Plurilateral Trade Agreements: TPP, ASEAN and Beyond, Taipei, 15-16 June 2013
• ‘Compensation for Expropriation of Foreign Investments: Hull formula Revisited,’ Panel on Foreign Investment, Third IIFT Conference on Empirical Issues in International Trade and Finance Kolkata, India January 2013
• ‘Right to Private Property in India: Changing Trajectories’ presented at the ‘Law and Development in India’ International Conference at IIAS Shimla, 20-21 June 2012
• Invited presentation on "The WTO legal system" by the Legal Affairs Division, World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva 1 July 2011.
• ‘The Indian Constitution and the Changing Dimensions of Property Law’ presented at the Second Law and Social Sciences Research Network (LASSnet) Conference: “Siting Law”, Pune from 27th and 30th December 2010.
• ‘Cause and effect of ‘differentiation’ among developing countries in the WTO’, Paper presented at the Fourth International Law and Trade Conference (ILTC), Barcelona, Spain, November 3-5, 2010.
• “Interpretation of the WTO Agreements by the Panel/Appellate Body: Bias against Developing Countries”, The Challenging issues under WTO organized by the Asian WTO Research Network (Thailand), Koh Samui, Thailand, 13-14 October 2009
• “International Protection of IPRs in Traditional Knowledge and Folklore” The Challenging issues under WTO organized by the Asian WTO Research Network (Thailand), Koh Samui, Thailand, 13-14 October 2009
• “The US – Shrimp/Turtle Saga: The Expanding Horizon of GATT Article XX Defence for Green Protectionism”, International Law Association (ILA) Regional Conference “International Trade Law & Legal Aspects of Trans-Border Investment”, New Delhi 19-20 September 2009.
• “Remedies under the WTO Legal System”, Second Annual Workshop for Young Scholars from the Global South organized by the Graduate Institute of International Studies (HEI), Geneva, 30 October – 4 November 2006
• “Doha Development Agenda: Progress and Prospects” in the University Grant Commission (UGC) Training for Law Teachers organized by the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi, July 2006
• “S&D Treatment under the WTO Agreements” in the University Grant Commission (UGC) Training for Law Teachers organized by the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi, July 2006
• “Implementation of WTO Recommendations: Some Issues”, Paper presented at the National Seminar on India and WTO: Challenges and Opportunities, University of Law and Legal Studies, GuruGobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi,7-8 October 2005
• “Special and Differential Treatment under the WTO Agreements”, Centre for International Legal Studies, SIS, Jawaharlal Nehru University 2005
• “Effectiveness of Sanctions under the WTO Legal System”, Paper presented at the Second International Law Conference of the Indian Society of International Law, New Delhi 2004

Research Interests:

• International Economic Law; Corporate Liability; Legal Strategy; Trade and Investment laws; Business and Human Rights; and Arbitration and Mediation.

Books/Book Chapters:

Books:

• ‘Managing India: The Idea of IIMs and Its Changing Contexts’ (Routledge 2024) (co-editor Manish Thakur) 
• ‘State Practice in Public International Law: India (State Volume Editor), in Seokwoo Lee (ed) Encyclopedia of Public International Law in Asia, Volume III (Brill Publishing, Netherlands 2021)
• ‘Temporal Pluralism: Alternative Ethics of Law and Society’ (Special Issue) 25 (1) Journal of Human Values, January 2020 (co-guest editor S.G. Sreejith)
• Locating India in the Contemporary International Legal Order (eds.) (Springer: Singapore, 2018) (Hardcover – 337 pp.) (co-editor Srinivas Burra)
• Management Education in India: Perspectives and Practices (eds.) (Springer, Singapore, 2017) (Hardcover – 238 pp.) (co-editor Manish Thakur)
• ‘Nuclear energy and Indian society: public engagement, risk assessment and legal frameworks’ (Special Issue) 18 (8) Journal of Risk Research 2015(Taylor and Francis, UK) (co-guest editor Ram Mohan)
• 'Nuclear Law and Decision Making in India' (Special Issue) 17 (1) Journal of Risk Research 2014 (Taylor and Francis, UK) (co-guest editor Ram Mohan)
• Remedies under the WTO Legal System (Martinus Nijhoff: Leiden/Boston 2012) (Hardcover – 500 pp.)
• Rights and Obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (AALCO, New Delhi 2006)
• Combating Corruption: A Legal Analysis (AALCO, New Delhi 2005) (jointly with Dr. Ali Reza Deihim)
• Special and Differential Treatments in WTO Agreements, (AALCO, New Delhi 2003) (jointly with Dr. Li Zhenhua and R. Vidjayabarthy)