Prf Natalia Szablewska

Professional biography

I hold the Chair in Law and Society at The OU and am the university's Lead for Tackling Inequalities Research Theme on the Open Societal Challenges (OSC) Programme.  

I am a legal and social scientist with over 20 years of experience spanning the public sector, governmental and non-governmental organisations and academia in five countries. I have held visiting professorships/fellowships and adjunct positions in France, Slovenia, the UK, Germany, Canada, Cambodia, Australia and New Zealand. I served in an advisory capacity to the New Zealand government on the development of modern slavery in supply/value chain legislation, currently am Chair of the Business and Human Rights Committee for Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) and Member of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Business and Human Rights. 

My academic experience comprises working at the University College London/UCL School of Public Policy (England), Aberystwyth University Dept of Int’l Politics (Wales) and law (and criminology/justice) schools in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Outside the academic context, I worked for the British House of Commons, the Welsh Government (Llywodraeth Cymru), the Solicitors Regulation Authority (England & Wales) and a human rights litigation organisation in Moscow (Russian Justice Initiative). 

For the past 15 years, I have worked closely with Cambodian academics, initially being involved in the development of the first in Cambodia Master’s Programme in Human Rights at Mekong Cambodian University and since 2016 have held an Inaugural Adjunct Professorship at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh at the first academic human rights centre (CSHL). 

Qualifications: PhD in Law (Wales), GradCertAP (in Higher Education)(Australia), DipIHL(Switzerland), LLB(Hons)(England), BScEcon(Hons)First Class (in Int'l Politics with Law)(Wales)

Research interests

My research interests encompass a wide range of areas and centre on themes at the intersection of law, public policy and ethics, with a particular focus on law as a tool for social behaviour change. To that end, my research has covered the theoretical and practical aspects of transitional justice in post-conflict societies, focusing on gender (in)equalities and economic and social rights; the application of human rights principles in stakeholder management; a human rights-based approach to the ‘social good’; the ethicality of social engineering to affect social change; and multispecies justice.

My work has contributed to discourses in public international law, including international humanitarian law, international criminal law and state responsibility, and tort law, with high-impact research into (forced) migration, human trafficking and modern slavery. It has provided evidence-based insights for business and public health fields informing policy and legislative developments in various countries and internationally.  

In my research, I have used doctrinal, qualitative and quantitative approaches and various methods including critical discourse analysis and systematic review (I am an accredited reviewer for the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Evidence Synthesis Journal in evidence synthesis and healthcare research). My research is inter/transdisciplinary, cross-cultural and policy-oriented.

To attest to the interdisciplinary nature of my work, I have published across law, social sciences, business, communication studies and public health with leading journals and publishers. I have an extensive and diverse research portfolio with over 100 outputs for various audiences and presented – including as a keynote – at over 80 conferences/webinars/masterclasses worldwide. 

I have been awarded multiple nationally and internationally competitive research grants across a number of disciplines, including under the Australia-Germany Joint Research Cooperation Scheme (Universities Australia and The German Academic Exchange Service/DAAD), Australian Academy of the Humanities (in Asian studies) and Cambridge University International Law Fund.

I have acted as an expert assessor/reviewer/examiner across different disciplines for leading journals, conferences, publication prizes, funding bodies and accreditation bodies in Australia, the UK, Poland, Cyprus and for the European Research Council (ERC).

Teaching interests

I have been involved in teaching over 20 modules at undergraduate and postgraduate levels internationally and across schools of law, criminology and public policy, and as a guest lecturer on programmes in public health, gender, international politics, conflict studies and international marketing.

My teaching in law has covered tort law, public international law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law, constitutional law, public law, contract law, business and employment law, business and human rights, Australian legal system, EU law, socio-legal research methods, and mooting.

I have used innovative strategies for teaching & learning, including online gaming and animations. In addition to having a degree in teaching in higher education, I have also completed specialist training in online education and have extensive experience in delivering blended learning via various learning management systems (LMSs).

I have judged at and coached student teams for various national and international mooting and negotiations competitions, including the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, Jean-Pictet International Competition, Telders International Law Moot Court Competition, Australian Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Mooting Competition, and Asia Cup International Law Moot Court.

I have led to the successful completion and examined Theses (including PhDs) of over two dozen research students and acted as Mentor Supervisor to colleagues.

Impact and engagement

Over the last decade, my research and practice focus has been predominantly on human trafficking, modern slavery and the wider business and human rights agenda, including the intersections between corporate action and the environment for ethical sustainability transition. I served on New Zealand's Modern Slavery Leadership Advisory Group (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) and am currently the Chair of Business and Human Rights Committee (100+ members) for Australian Lawyers for Human Rights and a Member of the International Law Association Committee on Business and Human Rights. Some prior appointments in this area include being a Stakeholder Selection Committee Member and Civil Society Observer at the UN General Assembly High-level Meeting on the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons (2017), and I acted on the OECD Peer Review Panel (2021) for the Australian National Contact Point/AusNCP under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. I'm also a member of The OU's Centre for Social and Sustainable Enterprise (CSSE) and the Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association (BR2R). 

I have made 30 written and oral submissions to parliaments (Australia, New Zealand, the UK), the UN and the OECD, and acted as an expert before government committees and parliamentary inquiries (Australia). My scholarly and professional publications have attracted citations and mentions in varied outlets, including parliamentary commissions' and other inter/non-governmental organisations' reports, policy briefs and science magazines.

My commentaries have been featured in various national and international media outlets, including New Zealand national TV, CNN, The Guardian, Radio New Zealand (RNZ), ABC Radio (Australia) and LawyersWeekly, and in a documentary series on 'Modern Slavery, Food and Fashion Fail' (Australia, 2019).

External collaborations

2024-2030, Member of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Business and Human Rights 

Since 2024, Foreign Member of Expert Panel, National Science Centre (government funding body for fundamental research) (Poland)

2023-2027, External Examiner, LLB and Postgraduate Taught Master's programmes, Aberystwyth University (Wales)

2022-2023, Visiting Professor, Institut des Sciences Juridique et Philosophique de la Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France)  

Since 2022, External Evaluation Committee Member, Cyprus Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education (various programmes/universities) (Cyprus)

Since 2022, Executive Management Committee Member, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR)

2021-2024, Member of Modern Slavery Leadership Advisory Group to the New Zealand Government, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)

Since 2020, Associate Member, Centre for Research on Modern Slavery (CReMS), Business School, University of Auckland (New Zealand)

Since 2019, Chair, Business and Human Rights Committee of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) 

Since 2019, Adjunct Fellow, Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative (HADRI), School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University (Australia)

2019, Visiting Scholar, Centre for Social Psychology, University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Since 2016, Adjunct Professor, Centre for the Study of Humanitarian Law (CSHL), Royal University of Law and Economics (Cambodia)

2015, Visiting Scholar, Centre for Conflict Studies, Philipps Universität Marburg (Germany)

2015, Visiting Scholar, Department of Women & Gender Studies, Lethbridge University (Canada)

Since 2009, Editorial Board, Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies (JIHLS, Brill)

Selected Former Appointments:

Editorial Board, International Journal of Refugee Law (OUP)

Advisory Council, International Society of Public Law, Australia and New Zealand Chapter

Board Member, Australian Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Committee

Member, Migrant and Refugee Health Research Centre, National Institute for Public Health and Mental Health Research (New Zealand)

Member, IWD Committee of UN Women National Committee Australia

Legal Sector Working Group Member, Gold Coast City Council (Australia)

International links

I have collaborated on projects and led numerous international research teams, and my current projects involve colleagues and researchers based in New Zealand, Australia, Poland, Cambodia and Kazakhstan.