About
Dr Ayesha Shahid joined Coventry University in 2017. She is Assistant Professor at Coventry Law School, and an Associate member of the Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations. Ayesha has extensive and varied experience of teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She has designed and developed a number of innovative courses and modules in law. Ayesha’s teaching interests are broadly in the area of Public International Law, International Human Rights Law, Islamic Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, Gender and the Law and Family Law.
At postgraduate level, Ayesha presently teaches International Organisations and Development module and Research Design Module. At the undergraduate level she teaches Islamic Law module and Public law module. Ayesha also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in teaching ‘Human Rights Law’, from Columbia University, USA.
Career overview
Prior to joining Coventry University, Ayesha was a Law lecturer at Brunel University and University of Hull. She has also held full-time and part-time lectureships at Faculty of Law, University of Peshawar, Pakistan and University of Warwick, UK. In 2017-2019 Ayesha was appointed as national consultant for the ‘Family and Child Law, research project, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Private International Law, Hamburg, Germany. In 2002, Ayesha received the prestigious Warwick Postgraduate Research Fellowship Award to pursue her doctoral study. She has twice been the recipient of International Research Fellowship Award, Center for Human Rights, Columbia University (2000 and 2002).
- 2011-2017: Lecturer, Brunel Law School, Brunel London University.
- November 2016: Post-doctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Private International Law, Hamburg, Germany.
- 2008-2011: Lecturer in Law, Law School, University of Hull.
- 2005-2007: Part-Time Lecturer, School of Law, University of Warwick.
- 2002-2005: Warwick Post-Graduate Research Fellow, School of Law, University of Warwick.
- 1996- 2005: Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Peshawar, Pakistan.
Research
Ayesha's research interests are in the areas of International Human Rights Law, Islamic Family Law, Gender and the Law and Public International Law. Her monograph titled, Silent Voices, Untold Stories Women Domestic Workers and their Struggle for Empowerment has been published by the Oxford University Press. Ayesha has recently co-edited a book, International Law and Islam, Historical Explorations, Brill 2018. Ayesha has published articles in peer reviewed journals, book chapters in edited collections. Ayesha has received external research grants as Principal investigator and Co-Investigator from the UKCLE, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Private International Law, Philip Reckett Foundation, Asia Foundation, International Labor Organization, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Higher Education, Commission, Pakistan.
In 2016-2017, Ayesha was awarded research fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and Private International law.
Ayesha leads the publication of the Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (AYHRHL) and organizes the annual international (AYHRHL) conference.
External activities
- Co-Editor in Chief of the Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law(AYBHRHL),
- Associate Editor of the Manchester Journal of Transnational Islamic Law and State Practice,
- Editor LUMS Law Journal and former Editor in Chief of the Journal of Islamic State Practices in International Law.
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Memberships
- Society of Legal Scholars
- Socio-legal Studies Association
- Association of Law Teachers
Publications and press
Books
- Shahid, A. (2010) Silent Voices, Untold Stories: Women Domestic Workers in Pakistan and their Struggle for Empowerment, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-547730-6. 246 pages.
- De La Rasilla, I. and Shahid, A. (2018) International Law and Islam: Historical Explorations, Brill Publishers.
- Rehman, J. and Shahid, A. (2016-2022) (ed) Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. Volumes I, II, III, IV, V, VI. Brill Publishers.
Chapters in Books
- Shahid A and Khan, I. (2019) “Country Report on Establishing Child filiation in Pakistan” in N,Yassari et al, Filiation and Protection of Parentless Children: Towards a Social Definition of the Family in Muslim Jurisdictions. Asser Press.
- Shahid, A. (Dec 2018) “An Exploration of the ‘Global’ History of International Law: Some Perspectives from within the Islamic Legal Traditions”, in Ignacio De La Rasilla and Ayesha Shahid, International Law and Islam: Historical Explorations, Brill Publishers.
- Shahid, A. Khan, I.(2017) “The Application of the Best Interest of the Child Principle in Custody and Guardianship Cases in Pakistan” in N. Yassari et al, Parental Care and the Best Interests of the Child in Muslim Countries. TMC Asser Press, pp169-204.
- Shahid, A. (2015) “Migrant Filipino Domestic Workers in Pakistan; Agency, Rights and the Limits of the Law” in Siobhan Mullally, Care, Migration and Human Rights: Law and Practice, Routledge, pp150-170.
- Rehman, J and Shahid, A. (2010) ‘Sharia and Application of Human Rights Norms of Equality and Non Discrimination in the Family: A Case Study of Family Law in Pakistan'. In: Hatem Elliesie (Ed.) Menschenrechte und Islam / Islam and Human Rights (Jubilee Edition of the German Association of Arabic and Islamic Law) Peter, Lang Publishing Group, New York, Berlin, Oxford. Pp361-386
Journal Articles
- Shaheen Sardar Ali, Justin Jones & Ayesha Shahid,(2020) “To register or not to register? Reflections on Muslim marriage practices in Britain” Jahrbuch islamisches Recht (Yearbook Islamic Law), C.H. Beck Munich publishers.(Accepted for publication)
- Shahid, A.(2019)"Trafficking of Women in the UAE: A Critical Assessment of the UAE’s Obligations under International, Regional and Domestic Legal Frameworks" (in preparation)
- Shahid, A. (2018) "Post-Divorce Maintenance Rights for Muslim Women in Pakistan and Iran: Making the Case for Law Reform" Muslim World Journal of Human Rights (MWJHR). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mwjhr-2018-0004
- Shahid, A. (2013) “Post-Divorce Maintenance for Muslim Women in Pakistan and Bangladesh: A Comparative Perspective” International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family. Issue 2, pp197-215.
- Shahid, A. (2010) " For the Sake of Justice: Protecting Divorced Women’s Rights in Pakistan by Re-Examining the Sharia Principle of Mutat (Post-Divorce Maintenance)”, Journal of Islamic State Practices in International Law, Volume 6, Issue 1.
- Shahid, A. (2009) "The Socio-Legal Implications of Women’s Work in the Informal Sector: A Case Study of Women Domestic Workers in Pakistan, (1) Law, Social Justice & Global Development Journal (LGD).
For full details of Ayesha’s publications, please refer to her pure profile page.
