For over 20 years, we have been advisors to constitutional reform, democracy support and peace processes, including in Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Libya, Myanmar, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia, Ukraine, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
Our expertise includes:
- transitions from violent conflict to peaceful democratic politics
- transitions from authoritarian to democratic rule
- constitution reform processes
- security sector oversight
- constitutional governance in ethnically divided societies
- federalism, decentralization and secession
- executive powers
- constitutional courts and transitional justice
- official language policy; minority and group rights
- bills of rights
Our experience includes:
- providing technical advice to multi-party dialogues
- facilitating public dialogue sessions with civil society groups and other stakeholders
- leading stakeholder consultations
- performing detailed advisory work with technical experts
- training civil servants and bureaucrats
- engaging party leaders and parliamentarians
- drafting technical reports and memoranda in the field
Representative Mandates
International IDEA, Sudan Constitutional Process
2021 - PresentLegal consultant, providing technical advice on constitutional courts, executive powers, and federalism.
International IDEA, Constitutional Reform in Ethiopia
2021 - PresentLegal consultant.
International Institute for Integrated Transitions
2020Legal consultant in relation to Constitutional Court appointment procedure in Zimbabwe.
International IDEA, Myanmar Peace and Democratization Processes
2019 - PresentLegal consultant, including technical support to Constitutional Tribunal, parliamentary committees, and the ethnic armed organizations/military dialogue.
Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law
2019External expert for meeting of civil society leadership in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on security sector oversight.
Federal Options for Cyprus
2019External expert for Track 2 meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus, convened by the Government of Canada and the Forum of Federations, hosted by the United Nations.
Academy of the Arab Association of Constitutional Law, Tunis
2016 & 2019Served as a senior international scholar in residence at the Academy of the Arab Association of Constitutional Law in Tunis, leading seminars and working intensively with emerging constitutional experts from across the Arab region.
Yemen Peace Process
2018 - PresentLegal consultant to Yemen multi-party dialogue, convened by International IDEA under the auspices of the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen as part of the peace process, including preparation of technical reports and working with political party leaders (in Tunisia and Europe).
Constitutional Commission of Ukraine
2018Launched report on semi-presidentialism to members of the Constitutional Commission of Ukraine in Kyiv at a high-level workshop co-convened by the European Union, the Venice Commission (European Commission for Democracy through Law), International IDEA, and the Center of Policy and Legal Reform (Ukraine).
Transitional Justice and Atrocity Prevention
2017Invited participant in Expert Group meetings in Geneva and New York on Transitional Justice and Atrocity Prevention to advise Pablo de Greiff, UN Special Rapporteur, on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence & Adama Dieng, UN Special Adviser of the Secretary-General, on the prevention of genocide.
Center for Policy Alternatives (Sri Lanka) and International IDEA
2015Participated in an expert consultation co-convened to advise Prime Minster Wickremesinghe on constitutional reform, including meeting personally with the Prime Minister to brief him on the results of our consultation.
Territory and Power Project
2015Co-chaired a two-day international meeting in Brussels to present the preliminary results of the Territory and Power project, in cooperation with the European Union External Action Service and hosted by the European Union Committee of Regions. This was attended by nearly 100 representatives of multilateral organizations (including the United Nations), regional organizations, MFAs, ODAs, NGOs, and technical advisors.
IDEA’s Constitution Building Program, Middle East
2012 - 2014Directed the Constitutional Transitions Clinic (at the New York University School of Law), that deployed 40 student researchers from 11 countries stationed in the United States, Beirut, Cairo and Tunis to support International IDEA’s Middle East constitution building program; served as lead author on six technical reports (in English and Arabic) on constitutional design in the Middle East and North Africa, jointly published by International IDEA, CT, and (for three reports) UNDP; made two missions to Tunisia with the research team to present draft reports and consult President Marzouki, legal experts, parliamentarians with responsibility for the constitutional process, academic experts, civil society, and university students.
Security Sector Reform & Constitutional Transitions In Emerging Democracies Project
2014Co-chaired an international meeting of experts from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, North America and Western Europe at the Canadian embassy in the Hague, in partnership with International IDEA, for the Security Sector Reform & Constitutional Transitions In Emerging Democracies project, to explore the role of security sector reform in constitutional reform processes.
Security Sector Oversight: Protecting Democratic Consolidation From Authoritarian Backsliding & Partisan Abuse Project
2014Co-chaired an international meeting of experts from Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, North America and Western Europe at the Canadian embassy in Tunis, in partnership with International IDEA, to explore legal and institutional mechanisms for security sector oversight in transitional democracies.
Libyan Constitutional Process
2012 - 2013Drafted a report for International IDEA on design options for the Libyan constitutional process (prior to the election of the Constitutional Assembly of Libya), which addressed possible mechanisms to coordinate the work of the Constitutional Assembly and the General National Congress (GNC), and led a workshop in Tripoli with members of the GNC to review and discuss these options.
Egyptian Constitution
2013Member of a joint Egyptian-international expert group, convened by International IDEA in cooperation with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, to review a draft of the Egyptian constitution in Cairo.
Power-sharing Options for Sri Lanka
2012Engaged parliamentarians, civil society, and the diplomatic community in a public lecture, invitational workshop and private sessions, in Colombo, on power-sharing options (including electoral system design and executive powers) for Sri Lanka.
Jordanian Constitutional Amendments
2012Participated as international expert in workshop convened by International IDEA to review a draft of the 2011 Jordanian constitutional amendments in Beirut.
Nepal – Judicial System and Indigenous Rights
2010Served on a team providing technical advice on the redesign of Nepal’s judicial system to adapt it to a federal structure through consultations with the legal profession and judiciary, in support of the Nepal Bar Association; led workshops on official language rights for the indigenous peoples’ caucus of Nepal’s Constitutional Assembly (hosted by International IDEA), and on the right to self-determination for indigenous peoples under international law (hosted by UNDP).
