Staff profile

Dr Obiajunwa Ama


Senior Lecturer in Law

Subject

Law

College

College of Business, Law and Social Sciences

Department

Derby Law School

Research centre

Social, Cultural and Legal Research Centre

ORCiD ID

0000-0001-6549-452

Campus

One Friar Gate Square, Derby Campus

Email

o.ama@derby.ac.uk

About

I joined University of Derby in February 2023 from the University of Hertfordshire, where I functioned as a Lecturer in law across the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, such as the leadership of LLM Corporate governance and Company law. I have undertaken diverse duties in Higher Education in the form of curriculum and module development and engagement in research activities. My peer-reviewed articles and other research outputs, which includes ‘African Continental Free Trade Area: Promises and Perils’, in Tom Mortimer & Chrispas Nyombi “Rebalancing International Investment Agreements in Favour of Host States” (Wildly, Simmonds & Hill Publishing, 2018), have been published in reputable journals such as International Company and Commercial Law Review.

I regularly attend and participate at conferences where I present my research outputs. These includes SOAS Arbitration in Africa Conference, Kigali Rwanda (2018), University of Derby Law School Conference on Global Governance and International Law (2022) and Canterbury Christ Church University International Law in Context Conference (2018). Similarly, I deliver talks to distinguished audiences, mentor aspiring PhD researchers and provide advisory services to public bodies and private entities.

Teaching responsibilities

I have taught and possess expertise across a broad range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules. These includes: 

Professional interests

I have active interest and an expert in the interaction between law and regulation of business. In essence, with capitalism being the prominent form of business expeditions, I engage in researching how the nuances and seemingly conflict of achieving private entrepreneurial objectives and promotion of sustainable developmental goals can be resolved. Similarly, I painstakingly engage in producing International Investment protection proposals and policies that can be deployed by States to regulate the activities of Multinational Corporations. As a corollary, I possess an abiding interest in the resolution of International Investment disputes, via either Investment arbitration or Court system, and the protection of  States and investor interests through the development of progressive investment polices and innovative treaty-making.

Research interests

My research interests are within the realm of International Investment law, business and corporate law. This means that research subjects relating to investor-state dispute settlement, Investment and commercial arbitration, The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and its Investment Protocol, Business and foreign investment protection, capitalism, climate change and environmental preservation as well as multinational business and promotion of sustainable development, are primarily accommodated and within my areas of expertise. 

Membership of professional bodies

Member of Society of Legal Scholars

Qualifications

Recent conferences

Experience in industry

I deliver talks and information at different forums within the United Kingdom and International jurisdictions. I discuss issues and provide expert opinion on contemporary legal subjects within my areas of competence. 

Recent publications

'Investor-state arbitration and African states : a proposal for a Pan-African investment court' [2020] British Library - https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.848577 

'Investor-state arbitration and African states: Advancing the proposal for a Pan-African Investment Court' [2018] 29(2) International Company and Commercial Law Review 95-109

‘African Continental Free Trade Area: Promises and Perils’, in Tom Mortimer & Chrispas Nyombi “Rebalancing International Investment Agreements in Favour of Host States” (Wildly, Simmonds & Hill Publishing, 2018)

'International business and human rights: time for hard law' [2016] 27(10) International Company and Commercial Law Review 343-350

'Debunking Rule 21 of the Takeover Code 2013' [2016] SSRN - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4222187