Associate Professor Radha Ivory

Senior Lecturer

School of Law
Faculty of Business, Economics and Law
r.ivory@law.uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 59123

Overview

Dr Radha Ivory is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Queensland, Australia (UQ), where she teaches company law and researches the transnational regulation of corruption and corporate crime.

Her work explores the interlocking domestic and international laws that aim to govern powerful economic and political actors, from politically exposed persons to multinational enterprises. Radha asks what these laws require of whom; how they develop and change across borders; and how we can better appraise and design them to manage their unintended consequences. Her approach is interdisciplinary, using doctrinal legal and socio-legal methodologies, as well as insights from economics, sociology, and international relations. Current projects focus on the human rights impacts of asset recovery laws, the reform of transnational anticorruption and corporate criminal laws, and the securitisation of integrity regulations (corporate ‘lawfare’).

Radha’s research has appeared in leading law journals (International & Comparative Law Quarterly, London Review of International Law, UNSW Law Journal) and important edited collections (e.g., Krieger/Peters/Kreuzer, Due Diligence in the International Legal Order, Oxford University Press; Aaronson/Shaffer, Transnational Legal Ordering of Criminal Justice, Cambridge University Press). Her sole-authored book, Corruption, Asset Recovery, and the Protection of Property in Public International Law: The Human Rights of Bad Guys was published by Cambridge University Press and launched by former Australian federal treasurer, The Hon. Peter Costello AC. Her work with Pieth on corporate criminal liability is also widely cited. A regular speaker at international conferences and meetings, Radha has been a visitor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and has delivered presentations at the University of Melbourne, the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania), and the University of Bergen.

Radha’s scholarship is informed by her past and ongoing roles in the international and private sectors. She commenced her career at Freehills (now Herbert Smith Freehills) in Brisbane, Australia, before joining an NGO self-governance and compliance initiative, Building Safer Organisations in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to commencing at UQ, Radha was a Senior Expert, Collective Action and Compliance, at the Basel Institute on Governance, Switzerland. In that role, she supported Ukraine and Colombia in anticorruption project design and implementation. During her PhD studies, Radha held research roles in the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) and the University of Basel. Radha currently consults to the World Bank and has previously been engaged by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. She is on the Advisory Board of the Bribery Prevention Network, Australia.

Radha was awarded a PhD (summa cum laude) from the University of Basel, and Bachelors of Arts (International Relations and German) and Laws (Hons I) from UQ.

Research Interests

  • International Law
  • Transnational Criminal Law
  • Corporate Law
  • Human Rights

Research Impacts

The Human Rights of Bad Guys

Radha Ivory researches problems at the intersection of transnational criminal law, international human rights law, and global governance. She seeks to understand the impact of globalised economic crime controls on individuals, companies, and communities. Her work focuses on tensions between efforts to combat corruption and protect fundamental human entitlements in asset recovery and corporate anti-bribery regimes. Through publications and presentation, she contributes to international policy debates that are key to Australia’s place in a changing world.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Universitat Basel
  • Bachelor (Honours) of Law, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Arts, The University of Queensland

Publications

View all Publications

Available Projects

  • Radha welcomes expressions of interest for Higher Degree by Research supervision (MPhil or PhD) on a range of topic in international law and corporate (criminal) law.

    Projects could explore:

    • Economic crime controls and human rights – The impact of anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and/or counter-terrorist financing regimes on individuals or groups
    • Non-state actors in international law – The role of corporations and other non-state actors in international law formation, implementation and/or change
    • Anti-corruption controls in international and domestic law – The scope, history and future of efforts to control problems, like foreign bribery, through transnational regulation
    • Corporate criminal laws and reforms – The history, content and direction of efforts to control corporate power through the criminal law or allied regulatory strategies in particular states, like Australia
    • Business and human rights initiatives – The formation and/or implementation of the so-called Ruggie Principles and related efforts to limit the harmful impact of investment, especially in the Global South

    Other projects on the transnational regulation of economic crime, transnational criminal law or transnational legal theory, including applied studies of transnational legal ordering.

    For further information contact Dr Radha Ivory, e: r.ivory@law.uq.edu.au

  • While few people would contest the importance of values like transparency, accountability, and participation, laws to enhance governance within and between states raise many important and unexplored research questions.

    Dr Radha Ivory welcomes HDR proposals on:

    International efforts to suppress transnational crime and promote human rights Domestic measures on corruption, terrorist financing, asset recovery, and corporate criminal liability, including compliance International cooperation in criminal matters and targeted financial sanctions Individual and collective rights, including the right to development The regulation of international financial institutions, multinational corporations, and non-governmental organisations Candidates are particularly encouraged to explore interactions between regimes.

    For more information, please email Dr Radha Ivory, r.ivory@law.uq.edu.au or call +61 7 3365 9123

View all Available Projects

Publications

Featured Publications

Book

Book Chapter

Journal Article

Conference Publication

  • Ivory, Radha (2017). Asset Recovery in Four Dimensions: Returning Wealth to Victim Countries as a Challenge for Global Governance. International Conference on Chasing Criminal Money in the EU - New Tools and Practices, Luxembourg, Luxembourg, 15-16 June 2015. Portland, OR United States: Hart Publishing.

  • Ivory, Radha (2014). Transparency and opacity in the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. International Conference on Good Governance and Human Rights: new perspectives in public law to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of public administration in Peru, Lima, Peru, 5 December 2012. Lima, Peru: Facultad de Derecho. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú/Instituto de Democracia y Derechos Humanos de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.

Grants (Administered at UQ)

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • Radha welcomes expressions of interest for Higher Degree by Research supervision (MPhil or PhD) on a range of topic in international law and corporate (criminal) law.

    Projects could explore:

    • Economic crime controls and human rights – The impact of anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and/or counter-terrorist financing regimes on individuals or groups
    • Non-state actors in international law – The role of corporations and other non-state actors in international law formation, implementation and/or change
    • Anti-corruption controls in international and domestic law – The scope, history and future of efforts to control problems, like foreign bribery, through transnational regulation
    • Corporate criminal laws and reforms – The history, content and direction of efforts to control corporate power through the criminal law or allied regulatory strategies in particular states, like Australia
    • Business and human rights initiatives – The formation and/or implementation of the so-called Ruggie Principles and related efforts to limit the harmful impact of investment, especially in the Global South

    Other projects on the transnational regulation of economic crime, transnational criminal law or transnational legal theory, including applied studies of transnational legal ordering.

    For further information contact Dr Radha Ivory, e: r.ivory@law.uq.edu.au

  • While few people would contest the importance of values like transparency, accountability, and participation, laws to enhance governance within and between states raise many important and unexplored research questions.

    Dr Radha Ivory welcomes HDR proposals on:

    International efforts to suppress transnational crime and promote human rights Domestic measures on corruption, terrorist financing, asset recovery, and corporate criminal liability, including compliance International cooperation in criminal matters and targeted financial sanctions Individual and collective rights, including the right to development The regulation of international financial institutions, multinational corporations, and non-governmental organisations Candidates are particularly encouraged to explore interactions between regimes.

    For more information, please email Dr Radha Ivory, r.ivory@law.uq.edu.au or call +61 7 3365 9123