Dr Bharat Malkani

Publication

• Date
• Type

Research

Recent research projects: 

"The use of law to tackle racial injustices"
My research on law's relationship with the struggle for racial justice has led to two publications:
'Racial justice and the limits of law' (Bristol University Press, forthcoming 2024)
'The pursuit of racial justice through legal action' (The Baring Foundation 2021)

"Reforming British law and policy on the global death penalty"
This inter-disciplinary project considers how UK law, policy, and practice has historically and contermporaneously shaped the use of the death penalty worldwide. It was funded by the British Academy "Tackling the UK's International Challenges" programme, and my co-researchers were Dr Lizzie Seal (University of Sussex); Dr Lynsey Black (Maynooth University); Dr Florence Seemungal (University of the West Indies); and Dr Roger Ball (University of Sussex). Outputs included

• A guest-edited Special Issue of the journal Punishment & Society
• A journal article which explores how the history of colonialism continues to shape British law, policy, and practice on the use of the death penalty today
• A briefing document for policy-makers, NGOs, and lawyers on how to most effectively advance abolition abroad

Impact and public engagement:

• Assisted lawyers at Doughty Street Chambers who successfully challenged the UK Home Secretary's decision to offer assistance to US prosecutors in a potential capital case (see Elgizouli v SSHD [2020] UKSC 10)
• Submitted written and oral evidence to the Australian Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, on Australia's advocacy for abolition of the death penalty (2015)
• Provided written evidence, by invitation, to the Drafting Committee of General Comment No.36, UN Human Rights Committee (July 2015)
• Contributed, by invitation, to an Expert Group Roundtable on Foreign Nationals Facing the Death Penalty, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations, Geneva (16-17 June 2015)
• Citation by the UK Supreme Court in R(SG) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2015] UKSC 16 (citing my 2013 Public Law article on the role of human rights treaties in the English legal system)
• Submitted written evidence to he Justice Select Committee inquiry into the effectiveness of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (December 2014, with Cardiff Law School Innocence Project)
• Provided written evidence to the Joint Committee on the Draft Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Bill (June 2013)
• Deliver training sessions to lawyers and students through the charity Amicus ALJ, which provides legal assistance to people facing the death penalty in the United States of America (ongoing, since 2013)

I also regularly contribute to online publications, so that my research is accessible to a wider, non-academic audience. Recent publications include:

• Why the fight for racial justice in the US requires abolition of the death penalty, The Conversation, 23 June 2020
• The High Court of England and Wales: Facilitator of the death penalty abroad?, Oxford Human Rights Hub, 14 Feburary 2019
• Complicity with the death penalty: just how out of step are Javid's actions with British policy?, LSE British Politics and Policy, 31 July 2018
• British readiness to allow death penalty for IS 'Beatles' suspects shows need to strengthen the law, The Conversation, 24 July 2018
• The Death Penalty for Foreign Nationals and Migrant Workers Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog, 24 June 2015
• Why is the US Supreme Court reviewing the lethal injection? BBC News, 11 May 2015
• It's time to stop sending children to die behind bars The Guardian, 27 March 2015
• The death penalty for non-lethal crimes is wrong Newsweek, 27 February 2015
• 50 years since the last execution, can the UK help end the death penalty worldwide? The Conversation, 13 August 2014
• '12 Years a Slave': What a story about slavery can teach us about today's death penalty The Huffington Post, 3 January 2014
• Warren Lee Hill and the ghosts of death penalty past, present and future The Huffington Post, 18 July 2013
• Is complicity with the death penalty illegal? UK Human Rights Blog, 17 July 2013
• The Government's shameful treatment of Lindsay Sandiford The Huffington Post, 25 May 2013

Ongoing contributions to the reseach community:

• Journal of Law and Society: member of Editorial Board
• International Academic Network for the Abolition of Capital Punishment: member
• Amicus ALJ: member

Teaching

Courses currently taught: 2023-24

• Miscarriages of Justice: The Cardiff Innocence Project LLB

Courses previously taught:

• Criminal Law LLB
• Human Rights Law LLB
• Human Rights and Criminal Justice LLB
• Public International Law LLB
• Human Rights and Criminal Justice LLM
• Sentencing and Penal Policy LLM
• International Human Rights Law LLM
• The Death Penalty in Law and Practice LLM

Biography

I joined Cardiff law department in 2017 as a Senior Lecturer, and was promoted to Reader in 2022. Before this, I was lecturer in the law school at the University of Birmingham (2008-2017). At Birmingham, I set up the Birmingham Law School Pro Bono Group, and my interest in clinical legal education has continued at Cardiff where I work closely with the Cardiff University Innocence Project. 

My research and teaching interests have evolved over the course of my career. I began with an interest in the relationship between international human rights law and domestic legal systems, because this topic was central to the work I had been involved with prior to joining academia, when I worked with the American Bar Association Juvenile Justice Center in Washington DC on efforts to abolish the death penalty for offenders under the age of 18. Over the years, I have developed interests in racial injustices and miscarriages of justice. 

Supervisions

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:

• Racial justice
• Capital punishment
• Miscarriages of justice
• Human rights and criminal justice