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Dr Jashim Chowdhury

Biography Dr. M Jashim Ali Chowdhury joined the Hull Law School as a Lecturer in August 2022. At the University of Hull, he teaches Public and European Law , Public International Law, Comparative Law and Administrative Law and Human Rights Protection modules. He also coordinates the Hull Law School's newly initiated Law Review. His research interest includes International Human Rights Law, Public International Law, Comparative Public Law, and South Asian Constitutionalism. Within the School and Faculty level, he works as a Dignity and Respect Adviser, an EDI Champion, and an Impact Lead for the REF 2029 cycle.

Prior to Hull, Dr Chowdhury served in Bangladesh as an Associate Professor (University of Chittagong), Assistant Professor and Senior Lecturer (Northern University Bangladesh) and Lecturer in Law (The University of Information Technology and Sciences (UITS) and Metropolitan University).

He has completed his LL.B. (Honours) and LL.M. from the University of Chittagong with First Class First position in both exams. He also holds an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law with Distinction from Tulane University, Louisiana, USA. He was awarded his PhD in Law by the King’s College London, UK in 2022. Dr. Chowdhury was nominated for Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Gold Medal (2007) for outstanding results in LL.B. (Honours) and LL.M. at the University of Chittagong. Later, he was awarded the prestigious Fulbright (2014) and Commonwealth (2017) scholarships by the US and UK governments, respectively.

Dr Chowdhury has researched and written extensively on constitutional and personal law issues. His articles have been published in the Bangladesh Journal of Law, Chittagong University Journal of Law, Dhaka University Law Journal, Northern University Journal, BRAC University Journal, Metropolitan University Journal, Jagannath University Journal, Jahangirnagar University Law Journal, Rajshahi University Law Journal, Islamic University Journal (Bangladesh), Indian Journal of Constitutional Law, Comparative and Administrative Law Quarterly (India), GLAT Law Review (Tulane, USA), the Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law (Canada) and the Asian Yearbook of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law (Netherlands). Dr. Chowdhury has contributed chapters in books published by BILIA (Bangladesh), Chittagong University (Bangladesh), Rutledge (UK), Hart (UK) Springer (Singapore) and Cambridge University Press (USA). His forthcoming book titled "Fifty Years of Bangladesh Parliament: A Critical Evaluation" is being published by the Brill Nijhoff (2025). He has authored four more books - "An Introduction to the Constitutional Law of Bangladesh", "The Law of Evidence: An Easy Reader" (In Bangla), "A Textbook on Muslim Personal Law" and "Comparative Constitutional Law: Issues, Debates and Stories from the US, UK and Indian Jurisdictions". He has contributed over a hundred legal opinion pieces in Bangladesh’s leading national dailies, national and international blogs, student-edited journals, periodicals, etc.

Dr. Chowdhury participated in and presented papers at seminars and conferences in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, India, China, Hong Kong, Kuwait and Bangladesh. Before joining the University of Hull, he established and pioneered the Society for Critical Legal Studies (SCLS), a study and research circle widely known across the Bangladeshi legal academia.
Research Interests South Asian Constitutionalism, Public Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, International Human Rights Law, Public International Law
Teaching and Learning Teaching:

Introduction to Law and its Study (LL.B. 1st Year)
Public and European Law (LL.B. 1st Year)
Comparative Law (LL.B. 2nd Year)
Public International Law (LL.B. 2nd Year and LL.M.)
Administrative Law and Human Rights Protection (LL.B. 2nd
Year)

Teaching Philosophy:

"As a teacher of future legal practitioners, judges, politicians, thinkers and reformers, my goals are to (1) increase my pupils’ general stock of legal knowledge; (2) develop their ability to analyse the background rationale of laws and to critique those; (3) ingrain capability of independent thinking; and 4) ingrain a more profound conviction to ethics of law and the legal profession in them. I strive to realise these through teaching practices that align with several inclusive learning, teaching and assessment pedagogy.

I understand the student learning processes within Dianne Lorillard's (2002) “Conversational Framework” and the six learning types identified therein. The first two of my four teaching goals fit one or either of these six learning types. First, the knowledge enhancement goal relies on acquisitional learning. My lectures, readings and podcasts (suitable to the pupils’ level of studies) are designed to develop an adequate understanding of the black letter laws and their operational settings. Second, the analytical and critical reasoning capabilities are achieved through the combination of investigative, collaborative and discursive learning types realised through smaller group works within the class, tutorials and sometimes at the pre reading stages. I usually like to arrange short debate sessions with my lectures by placing critical questions on the table.

The last two of my professional goals are related to a teaching pedagogy informed by Peter Kugel (1993)’s four-stage professional development thesis. Kugel argues that professors initially evolve from asserting command over their classes (Stage 1) through the pursuit of acquiring subject matter expertise (Stage 2) and knowledge transfer skill (Stage 3) to creating a new set of independent thinkers (Stage 4). My motivation to evolve from a “skilled and able instructor” to a “facilitator of autonomous thinking” requires me to ensure that my students actively engage in what Entwistle (2009) calls the “Teaching for Understanding”. Mine is a learning-by-doing approach process that draws from the popular worldwide movement of “clinical legal education” (Madhloom & McFaul, 2022). Clinical legal education pedagogy requires the students to learn the complexities and uncertainties encountered in legal practice (Marson et al., 2005) directly from the stakeholders - the justice seekers and administrators.

Since December 2016, I have been sponsoring a student-run critical legal studies society (Chowdhury SCLS, 2023). This practical and productive learning type is executed through court visits, short internships and community visits. Reports from there form a substantial percentage of my assessment processes. I intend to explore the possibility of expanding that type of work at the University of Hull.

How do I assess that my goals are being met and my students are achieving what I expect within the module and beyond? First of all, I make sure that my lectures and tutorials are constructively aligned (Loughlin et al., 2021) with the declared aims and objectives of the module and the critical essay. However, my assessment process is continuous rather than a one-off one. Apart from the critical essay, I frequently use the ungraded retrieval practice quizzes at the end and beginning of my lectures. I also use graded presentations and viva voce examinations for a particular share of the grade. I plan to introduce graded multiple-choice questions in one of my modules in the next trimester. I also offer direct personal-level supervision and consultation meetings for critical essay writing. It aligns with the UoH’s priorities for “Inclusive Assessment Practices” (UoH TEA, 2020) and allows me to continuously support and facilitate the student's progress and address the obstacles preventing them from reaching expected module competencies.

I take care that the learning materials and modes of teaching are inclusive and assessable to students of all ethnic and linguistic demographics. In appropriate cases, I coordinate with the University support services and the library to ensure that the differently able students access the reading materials in appropriate formats. However, the telling part of my teaching practice has been what Jivraj (2020) calls an “Anti-racist legal pedagogy”. It is prominent in my public law module, which invites my students to see the constitutions as their indigenous historical products rather than merely euro centric templates exported by the colonial superpowers. I encourage the students to pick up a designated feature of the constitutional systems of Asian, Eastern and Latin American countries and consider how those could inform the UK’s public law. In doing this, I support the UoH’s commitment to the 3D Pedagogy Framework (Gabriel, 2019) and ALDinHE Manifesto for Learning Development (2018) which emphasise the need for equitable access and diversity of perspectives in higher education."
PhD Supervision Availability Yes
PhD Topics Dr Chowdhury welcomes PhD proposals focusing on comparative constitutionalism, judicial review, judicial activism, comparative legislative studies, South Asian constitutional laws, history and politics, public international law (especially from the perspective of the global south), internationalisation of constitutional law and constitutionalisation of international law, international human rights law, cultural pluralism and global human rights and international organisations (particularly the international judicial bodies).