Law | History | Development
International & Transnational Jurisdictions
International & Transnational Jurisdictions
International & Transnational Jurisdictions
My life, work, and study have lead me to explore the potential of transnational & international jurisdictions as antidotes to two problem-types in the blind-spots of nation-states: (1) collective-action problems and (2) contested borders.
(1) Collective-Action Problems
International & Transnational Jurisdictions
International & Transnational Jurisdictions
Collective-action problems are those that transcend national borders and self-interest e.g. pandemics, technology flows, and climate change.
(2) Contested Borders
(2) Contested Borders
(2) Contested Borders
There are those who subsist on the margins of major well-defined national borders or as minorities within these nation-states. This is not limited to ethic/religious minorities. Rather, all those who and all that which goes unrecognised is the object of my study.
Thin Jurisdictions
(2) Contested Borders
(2) Contested Borders
And, so, I examine how law (national, transnational, and international) helps and constrains what we can think about those who fall in the cracks between legal categories. Although transnational & international law could be the antidote to the mentioned two problem-types, these two jurisdictions often end up being too ‘thin’ to cure the national jurisdictional problems. Broadly speaking, this is the conundrum that animates my study.
Background in Law & Justice
While completing my undergraduate education at Stanford, I was a National Toyota Community Scholar (in recognition of my fund-raising for girls' education). I won the James Birdsall Weter Prize for Outstanding Thesis. I was Stanford Haas Centre's International Public Service Postgraduate Fellow in The Hague.
Digital Access-to-Justice & Development
I co-founded the digital justice non-profit Zariya which won the National 3M Young Innovator's Award in 2016 as a socially-forward access-to-justice blueprint. It has also been featured in the Times of India (2016), VOGUE Australia (2017), the Pixel Project (2016), and elsewhere.
Law
I was called to the Bar of England & Wales at the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, where I was awarded the Beloff Prize, the Bedingfield Scholarship, and the Residential Scholarship. I was also named a Sir John and Lady Sophie Laws EU Law Scholar by the Bar European Group, selected for the bilingual French-English European Law Moot Court, and received a City Law Scholarship for Academic Excellence from the University of London, among others.
Public Speaking
My speaking engagements have included a keynote speech for Bluebook Stagiaires at an 'Entrepreneurship in Governance' conference at the European Commission (Brussels, Belgium), a presentation on 'Muslims in Europe' (Cordoba, Spain), and advocacy for UN SDG 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions) as an Invitee at the 2017 Nobel Prize Series Exhibition (New Delhi, India), and many others.
Personal
Born in Boston and raised in Oman, I come from an Indo-Afghan heritage. I collect art and rare books and have a deep appreciation for cultural and artistic diplomacy. An avid outdoors enthusiast, I was an intercollegiate bow-seat rower during my time in Cambridge. My languages include French, Urdu-Hindi, and Farsi, with elementary proficiency in Arabic, which has enriched my understanding of cross-cultural exchange.