< People

PROF. MARA MALAGODI
Assistant Professor

Tel

Fax

Email

Office

(852) 3943 1047

(852) 2994 2505

mmalagodi@cuhk.edu.hk

Room 520
Faculty of Law
6/F, Lee Shau Kee Building
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sha Tin, NT, Hong Kong SAR

Mara Malagodi is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, Chinese University of Hong Kong. She joined CUHK in August 2019.

Dr. Malagodi is a comparative constitutional lawyer and socio-legal scholar with a linguistically-informed specialism in South Asian law and politics (in particular Nepal, India, and Pakistan), human rights law, gender and law, legal history, and law and film. She is a non-practicing barrister in England and Wales, and an award-winning documentary filmmaker.

Dr. Malagodi holds her Doctorate (2009), MA in South Asia Area Studies, and BA (Hons) in Nepali & Politics from the University of London (SOAS). She completed the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) at the City Law School, obtained her Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) from the then College of Law and her BA in International Relations & Diplomacy from the University of Trieste.

Dr. Malagodi is a scholar of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, which called her to the Bar of England and Wales in 2016 and awarded her the Quatercentenary Scholarship and Blackstone Entrance Exhibition to support her professional legal training.

In 2014 Dr. Malagodi was selected for the UCL Documentary Film Summer School at the Escuela de Cine y TV in Cuba where she co-directed the short documentary film ‘Walking through Havana’ (2014). Her film won the award for Best Short Doc at the 2015 Raindance Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Student Doc at the 2015 Sheffield International Documentary Festival and for Best Short Doc at the 2015 Shuffle Film Festival.

Before joining CUHK, Dr. Malagodi was a Senior Lecturer at the City Law School, University of London (2015-2019), a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science (2012-2015,) and a Senior Teaching Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies (2008-2012). She is on the expert roster of iProbono and ROLE UK, has worked as an external consultant for various United Nations agencies, and has been teaching at the Diplomatic Academy of the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

She tweets as @RestlessMafalda and can be reached on LinkdIn here

EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

  • Call to the Bar of England & Wales (2016), The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple
  • B.P.T.C. (Bar Professional Training Course), City Law School, London
  • G.D.L. (Graduate Diploma in Law), College of Law, London
  • Ph.D. South Asian Studies (Law), University of London (SOAS)
  • M.A.South Asian Area Studies, University of London (SOAS)
  • B.A. (Hons) Nepali & Politics, University of London (SOAS)
  • B.A. + M.A. equivalent(Laurea) International Relations, University of Trieste

PUBLICATIONS

Monographs

Edited Books

  • Gender, Sexuality, and Constitutionalism in Asia, W. Chang, K. Loper, M. Malagodi, and R. Rubio-Marín (eds.), Oxford: Hart Publishing (forthcoming 2021)
  • Asian Comparative Constitutional Law, Volume I: Constitution-Making, S. Bui and M. Malagodi (eds.), Oxford: Hart Publishing (forthcoming 2022)
  • Asian Comparative Constitutional Law, Volume II: Constitutional Amendments, S. Bui and M. Malagodi (eds.), Oxford: Hart Publishing (forthcoming 2023)
  • Asian Comparative Constitutional Law, Volume III: Constitutional Structure, S. Bui, M. Malagodi, and C. Roberts (eds.), Oxford: Hart Publishing (forthcoming 2024)
  • Asian Comparative Constitutional Law, Volume VI: Constitution-Making, R. Abeyratne, S. Bui, and M. Malagodi (eds.), Oxford: Hart Publishing (forthcoming 2025)

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Book Chapters

  • ‘Gender, Sexuality, and Constitutionalism in Nepal’ in Gender, Sexuality, and Constitutionalism in Asia, W. Chang, K. Loper, M. Malagodi, and R. Rubio-Marín (eds.), Oxford: Hart Publishing (forthcoming 2021).
  • ‘Nepal’s Heroic Judge: Former Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha’, Towering Judges, R. Abeyratne and I. Porrat (eds.), Cambridge: CUP. (Forthcoming 2021)
  • ‘Ivor Jennings, the Law and the Constitution’, in Leading Works in Public Law, P. O’Brien and B. Young (eds.), London: Routledge. (Forthcoming 2021)
  • ‘Nepal’ in Oxford Handbook of Constitutional Law in Asia, D. Law, H. Lau, and A. Schwartz (eds.), Oxford: OUP. (Forthcoming 2021)
  • ‘Constitutional History and Constitutional Migration: Nepal’ in Constitutionalism in Context, D. Law (ed.), Cambridge: CUP. (Forthcoming 2021)
  • ‘Godot Has Arrived! Federal Restructuring in Nepal’ in Dealing with Territorial Cleavages in Constitutional Transitions, S. Choudhry and G. Anderson (eds.), Oxford: OUP, 161-180. (2019)
  • ‘Constituent Assembly Failure in Pakistan and Nepal’ in Perspectives on Constituent Assemblies, J. Elster, R. Gargarella, V. Naresh and B. Rasch (eds.), Cambridge: CUP, 79-108. (2018)
  • ‘Sir Ivor Jennings and the 1959 Constitution of Nepal’ in Constitution-Making in Asia, H. Kumarasingham (ed.), London: Routledge, 154-172. (2016)
  • ‘The Locus of Sovereign Authority in Nepal’ in Unstable Constitutionalism – Law & Politics in South Asia, M. Tushnet and M. Khosla (eds.), Cambridge: CUP, 45-85. (2015)
  • ‘Protection of Religious Rights in India’ in The Protection of Religious Rights: Law & Practice, J. Dingemans QC et al. (eds.), Oxford: OUP, 177-194. (2013)
  • ‘Constitutional Developments in a Himalayan Kingdom: The Experience of Nepal’ in Comparative Constitutionalism in South Asia, S. Khilnani et al. (eds.), Delhi: OUP, 87-115. (2013)
  • ‘Constitutional Change and the Quest for Legal Inclusion in Nepal’ in Rights in Divided Societies, C. Harvey and A. Schwartz (eds.), Oxford: Hart Publishing, 169-195. (2012)

Policy Reports

Internet Publications

Selected Presentations

  • Invited: ‘Limiting Constituent Power? Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendments and Time-Bound Constitution Making in Nepal’, Workshop on The Law and Politics of Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendments in Asia, CUHK LAW, Hong Kong, 19-20 November 2020
  • Invited: Roundtable on ‘International Aspects of Constitution-Making’ hosted by Z. Elkins and D. Horowitz, American Political Science Association (APSA), 9-13 September 2020
  • Co-Organiser with W. Chang (NTU), K. Loper (HKU) and R. Rubio-Marín (EUI/Sevilla) of international project on Gender and Constitutionalism in Asia. ‘Nepal’, National Chao Tung University, Taiwan, 9-10 December 2019.
  • With D. Vitale (Warwick) ‘Lost in Transformation: Social Rights under a Contradictory Constitution’, 8th Asian Constitutional Law Forum, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 6-7 December 2019.
  • With A. Powell (City) ‘A Rose by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet: Third Gender and Constitutional Identity in Nepal ’, 8th Asian Constitutional Law Forum, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 6-7 December 2019.
  • Invited and fully funded, iProbono/ROLE UK Panel: ‘The Constitutionalisation of Social Rights in Nepal’, 8th Asia Pro Bono Conference, Kathmandu, 14-15 September 2019.
  • Invited: ‘Nepal’s Heroic Judge: Former Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha’. Towering Judicial Figures, CUHK, Hong Kong, 25-26 January 2019.
  • Co-Organiser with W. Chang (NTU), K. Loper (HKU) and R. Rubio-Marín (EUI/Sevilla) of international project on Gender and Constitutionalism in Asia. ‘Nepal’, HKU, Hong Kong, 16-17 January 2019.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Constitutionalising Women’s Rights in Nepal’s New Constitution’. The Conference on the Constitution of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal, 11-13 August 2018.
  • Exclusionary Constitutionalism Panel (Convenor: S. Suteu): With L. McDonagh ‘Invoking the Nation in Partitioned Lands: Exclusionary Constitutionalism in Ireland and the Indian Subcontinent’. ICON•S Conference, HKU, Hong Kong, 25-27 June 2018.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Protection of Minorities in Nepal’. Constitutional Protection of Minorities, University of Trento, Law School, Italy, 4-5 May 2018.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Cow Protection and Constitutional Nationalism in Nepal’. Nationalisms in South Asia, University of Lund, Swedish South Asian Studies Network, Sweden, 14-15 April 2018.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Nepal’. Oxford Handbook of Constitutional Law in Asia, HKU Faculty of Law, Hong Kong, 16-17 March 2018.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Constitutional Identity in Nepal’. Constitutionalism in Context, HKU Faculty of Law, Hong Kong, 11-12 June 2017.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Litigating Equality in Nepal’s Supreme Court’. Constitutional Rights in South Asia, Columbia University, Law School, USA, 7 April 2017.
  • Co-organiser with Luke McDonagh, Modern Law Review workshop: ‘Dominion Status and the Royal Prerogative in Pakistan’ Dominion Status at the Twilight of the British Empire, City, University of London, 10 June 2016.
  • Invited: ‘Is Nepal Facing a Protracted Crisis?’ Protracted Crises, British Academy, London, 3 June 2016.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘The Untimely Demise of Constituent Assemblies in South Asia: Pakistan and Nepal’. Perspectives on Constituent Assemblies, Columbia University, USA, 1-2 April 2016.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Holy Cows, Hinduism, and Constitutional Identity in Nepal’. Animals in Comparative Constitutional Law, Harvard University, Law School, USA, 18-19 February 2016.
  • Invited: ‘“Men of Their Times” and the Royal Prerogative at the Twilight of the British Empire: Ivor Jennings, D.N. Pritt, and the Dissolution of Pakistan’s First Constituent Assembly’. Liberalisms within and beyond Empire, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 18-19 December 2015.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Nepal’s New Federal Arrangements’. Territorial Cleavages in Constitutional Transitions, EU Committee of the Regions, Brussels 29-30 September 2015.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Constitutional Nationalism and Religion in India and Nepal’. Balancing Religious Accommodation & Human Rights in Constitutional Frameworks, University of Bielefeld, 15-17 July 2015.
  • Unstable Constitutionalism in South Asia Panel (Convenor: M. Tushnet): ‘The Locus of Sovereign Authority in Nepal’. ICON•S Conference, NYU School of Law, 1-3 July 2015.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘The ‘Oriental Jennings’: Constitutional Migration and the Cold War in South Asia’. Constitutionalism, Religious Freedom and Human Rights, Volkswagen Stiftung, Hannover, 3-6 June 2015.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Regulating the Royal Prerogative in Nepal’. Monarchy and Politics, University of Munich, Germany, 28 August 2014.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Waiting for Godot: Federal Restructuring in Nepal’. Dealing with Territorial Cleavages in Constitutional Transitions, NYU School of Law and UNDPA, Zaragoza, 28-29 March 2014.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Territorial Governance, Conflict, and Identity in Nepal’. Central-Local Relations in Asia and Beyond, National University of Singapore, Law School, Singapore 28-29 June 2013.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘The Architecture of Power in Nepal: Constitutionalism, Sovereignty, and the Nation’. Constitutional Instability in South Asia, Harvard University, Law School, India, 26 May 2013.
  • Invited: ‘Kathmandu’s Journey: Sir Ivor Jennings in Nepal (28 March-24 April 1958)’. Social Science Baha Lecture Series, Yala Maya Kendra, Patan, Nepal, 26 July 2012.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Legal Equality between Recognition and Redistribution in India & Nepal’. Inequality and Affirmative Action: Nepal in Global Debates, British Academy, Nepal, 18-20 July 2012.
  • Panel Convener on Ivor Jennings in South Asia: ‘Kathmandu Journey – Sir Ivor Jennings in Nepal and the Drafting of the 1959 Constitution’. Legal Histories of the British Empire, National University of Singapore, 5-7 July 2012.
  • British Academy Travel Grant, ‘Media Coverage of the Drafting of Nepal’s Interim Constitution’. Creating Public Meaning in Nepal’s Democratic Transition, Patan, 4-5 September 2011.
  • Invited Speaker for Keynote Session under British Academy grant to bring rising Nepal scholar to plenary session: ‘Constituent Power, Identity Politics and Constitutional Expectations in Post-1990 Nepal’. British Association of South Asian Studies Annual Conference, Southampton, 11-13 April 2011.
  • ‘Constitutionalising Nepal’s Hindu Monarchy: Rationale and Impact’. WG Hart Legal Workshop 2010 Comparative Perspectives on Constitutions: Theory and Practice, IALS, London, 29 June-1 July 2010.
  • ‘The End of a National Monarchy: Nepal’s Constitutional Transition from Hindu Kingdom to Secular Federal Republic’. ASEAN Conference Nation & Charisma, LSE, London, 13-15 April 2010.
  • Panel Convener: ‘Constitution-Making in Nepal’. British Association of South Asian StudiesAnnual Conference, Edinburgh, 30 March-1 April 2009.
  • EWC Travel Grant: ‘Nepal’s Nationalist Language Policy during the 1990 Constitutional Experience’. East-West Center International Graduate Conference, University of Hawaii, USA, 12-14 February 2009.
  • Invited and fully funded: ‘Rejecting the Minority Approach in Nepal’s 1990 Constitution-Making’ MIDEA Workshop Constitutionalism and Diversity in Nepal, Nepal, 22-24 August 2007.