Professor Anthony Diala Elected to the International Academy of Comparative Law
The Director of the Centre for Legal Integration in Africa, Professor Anthony Diala, was elected an Associate Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law (IACL) in November 2024.
The IACL was founded in 1924 in The Hague, Netherlands as the global body for the promotion of comparative legal studies. It works through publications of blogs, reports and prestigious journals, as well as organisation of symposia such as thematic congresses and the quadrennial International Congress of Comparative Law.
Members of the IACL are distinguished scholars who are nominated by their peers in recognition of their contributions to comparative law. All new members are elected by fellow members of the Academy. The IACL holds a General Congress every four years.
Prof Diala said: “I am delighted by my election because African customary law has yet to gain significant recognition in the Global North, where legal theories remain Eurocentric. Moreover, knowledge of comparative Indigenous law is crucial in an era of unprecedented migration, technological innovation, and the use of social media. I am eager to continue my research and teaching in this field within the Centre for Legal Integration in Africa.”
Prof. Diala’s research and teaching in the Department of Private Law focus on comparative indigenous law and human rights. He convenes a new interdisciplinary Master of Laws (LLM) in Legal Pluralism and Family Law, as well as Legal and Cultural Pluralism, an LLM module. Also, he co-convenes a rebranded undergraduate module, Legal and Religious Pluralism. All these courses adopt a strong, comparative law approach.
Outside the University, Prof. Diala promotes comparative legal research in his role as editor of the African Journal of Legal Studies and his service on the Advisory Committee on Matrimonial Property (Project 100E) of the South African Law Reform Commission. In 2024, he completed a National Research Foundation of South Africa funded research on ‘Ascertaining the foundational values of indigenous laws in South Africa’, involving field surveys in the Limpopo and Eastern Cape provinces.
From 2022 to 2023, he taught Law and Society in Africa as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Culture, Politics and Society at the University of Turin. In 2023, he taught Comparative Human Rights in the Faculty of Law at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, while an International Fellow of the Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies. He writes regularly about comparative indigenous law in The Conversation.
The Director of the Centre for Legal Integration in Africa, Professor Anthony Diala, was elected an Associate Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law (IACL) in November 2024.The IACL was founded in 1924 in The Hague, Netherlands as the global body for the promotion of comparative legal studies. It works through publications of blogs, reports and prestigious journals, as well as organisation of symposia such as thematic congresses and the quadrennial International Congress of Comparative Law.
Members of the IACL are distinguished scholars who are nominated by their peers in recognition of their contributions to comparative law. All new members are elected by fellow members of the Academy. The IACL holds a General Congress every four years.
Prof Diala said: “I am delighted by my election because African customary law has yet to gain significant recognition in the Global North, where legal theories remain Eurocentric. Moreover, knowledge of comparative Indigenous law is crucial in an era of unprecedented migration, technological innovation, and the use of social media. I am eager to continue my research and teaching in this field within the Centre for Legal Integration in Africa.”
Prof. Diala’s research and teaching in the Department of Private Law focus on comparative indigenous law and human rights. He convenes a new interdisciplinary Master of Laws (LLM) in Legal Pluralism and Family Law, as well as Legal and Cultural Pluralism, an LLM module. Also, he co-convenes a rebranded undergraduate module, Legal and Religious Pluralism. All these courses adopt a strong, comparative law approach.
Outside the University, Prof. Diala promotes comparative legal research in his role as editor of the African Journal of Legal Studies and his service on the Advisory Committee on Matrimonial Property (Project 100E) of the South African Law Reform Commission. In 2024, he completed a National Research Foundation of South Africa funded research on ‘Ascertaining the foundational values of indigenous laws in South Africa’, involving field surveys in the Limpopo and Eastern Cape provinces.
From 2022 to 2023, he taught Law and Society in Africa as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Culture, Politics and Society at the University of Turin. In 2023, he taught Comparative Human Rights in the Faculty of Law at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, while an International Fellow of the Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies. He writes regularly about comparative indigenous law in The Conversation.
