Menes Abinami Muzan

Menes Abinami Muzan

Birmingham Law School
Doctoral researcher

Contact details

Qualifications

  • LLM (SOAS, University of London)
  • BL (Nigerian Law School, Abuja)
  • LLB (Rivers State University, Port Harcourt)

Biography

Menes is a Doctoral Researcher in the Birmingham Law School. His research relates primarily to international, comparative, and transnational environmental law with reference to Nigeria. Before starting his Doctoral studies, he was a Lecturer I in the Department of Public law, Faculty of Law, University of Port Harcourt, and also worked as Research Editor for the UNIPORT Journal of Public Law, published under the auspices of the Department of Public Law. Menes is a member of several professional associations and learned societies. He is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Menes also served in other non-teaching capacities at the Faculty level University-wide, including as a member of the Faculty of Law Central Planning Committee for the National Universities Commission (NUC) resource verification and the Council of Legal Education (CLE) accreditation visits in January 2016 and March 2017, respectively. He was a member of the Faculty of Law Diploma Admissions Committee and was elected as a member of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNIPORT Branch Committee on the review of Students’ Handbook and Staff conditions of service in 2018.

In addition to his academic and administrative commitments, he has also engaged in other activities outside the University community, including serving as the Ward Supervisory Presiding Officer (ad hoc staff) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers State during the 2015 Nigerian general elections. Menes has published on a range of topics including on access and benefit sharing in Nigeria, biosafety regulation in Nigeria, public participation in environmental matters, and other aspects of environmental law scholarship in leading peer-reviewed journals.

 

 

Teaching

  • Supervising Tutor, Access to Birmingham (A2B) Scheme.
  • Supporting Invigilator, University of Birmingham Exams Office. 

Doctoral research

PhD title
 Ecological Restoration and Oil Spill Remediation Governance in Nigeria. 
Supervisors
Dr Walters Nsoh and Professor Aleksandra Cavoski

Research

The thesis will highlight the prospects and challenges of ecological restoration law concepts as both normative ideals and practical governance strategies for oil spill remediation and critically evaluates the character of current regulations and other governance mechanisms for the restoration of degraded ecosystems in the Nigeria.  

Source of Funding: Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Academic Staff Training and Development (AST&D) Intervention Fund.

Other activities

Membership of Professional Associations

  • Member, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)
  • Member, Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA)
  • Member, Society of Legal Scholars (SLS)
  • Member, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)
  • Member, Nigerian Association of Law Teachers (NALT)

Research profiles

  • ORCID
  • Publons
  • Scopus
  • Google Scholar

Publications

Book Chapter

  • U Etemire and M A Muzan ‘Public Participation and Socio-economic Justice in Eco-restoration Law and Governance: The UN Environment–Ogoniland Case Study’ in Afshin Akhtar-Khavari and Benjamin J Richardson (eds), Ecological Restoration Law: Concepts and Case Studies (Routledge, 2019) 192.

Journal Articles

  • M A Muzan ‘Institutional Mechanisms for Biosafety in Nigeria: An Appraisal of the Legal Regime under the National Biosafety Management Agency Act, 2015’ (2018) 14(1) Law, Environment and Development Journal 31. (Open access)
  • U Etemire and M A Muzan ‘Governance and Regulatory Strategies beyond the State: Stakeholder Participation and the Ecological Restoration of Ogoniland’ (2017) 26(2) Griffith Law Review 275. (Special Issue: ‘Ecological Restoration and the Law: Recovering Nature’s Past for the Future’)
  • M A Muzan ‘Some Insights on the Legal Measures for Access and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources in Nigeria’ (2017) 50(1) VRÜ Verfassung und Recht in Übersee 30.

Book Reviews

  • M A Muzan ‘Ecological Restoration in International Environmental law’ Anastasia Telesetsky, An Clique and Afshin Akthar-Khavari (eds), [Routledge, 2017] (2020) 4(1) Chinese Journal of Environmental Law 115.
  • M A Muzan ‘Compliance and Enforcement of Environmental Law (Volume IV, Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law)’ LeRoy C Paddock, David L Markell & Nicholas S Bryner (eds), [Edward Elgar, 2017] (2019) 8(1) Transnational Environmental Law 202.
  • M A Muzan ‘Law and Practice on Public Participation in Environmental Matters: The Nigerian Example in Transnational Comparative Perspective’ Uzuazo Etemire [Routledge, 2016] (2018) 27(3) Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law 348. (Special Issue: ‘Plastics Regulation’)

Conference Presentations

  • M A Muzan ‘The Evolution and Development of Ecological Restoration obligations in International Environmental Law: (1972 – 2022)’ IUCN-WCEL Oslo International Environmental Law Conference, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, Norway. 3-6 October 2022.
  • M A Muzan ‘The Evolution and Development of Ecological Restoration obligations in International Environmental Law: (1972 – 2022)’ Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) Annual Conference, Kings College London, UK. 6-9 September 2022.
  • M A Muzan ‘Incentivizing efficient ecosystem restoration in the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030: the role of governments, the private sector, communities, and international organizations.’ Forum for Global Challenges, Institute for Global Innovation, University of Birmingham, UK. 3-5 May 2022.
  • M A Muzan ‘Incentivizing efficient ecological restoration Law and Governance in Nigeria: Some conceptual and theoretical considerations.’ Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Annual Conference, York Law School, University of York, UK. 6-8 April 2022.