Dr Samia Bano

Samia teaches Family Law, Law, Multiculturalism and Rights, Criminal Justice, Race and Rights, and Research Methods in Law on the undergraduate and postgraduate programs of study in the Department of Law, Gender and Media.

Before joining SOAS Samia taught at the University of Reading, School of Law where she was appointed Deputy Director of Research.

Samia has led the SOAS School of Law Admissions team and worked with Central Admissions on recruitment, access, inclusivity, and widening participation. Samia’s research administration include committee memberships of the Department Research Committee (DRC) and the School Research Ethics Committee.

Samia’s research interests include the practice of Muslim family law in the UK and Europe, multiculturalism, citizenship, Islamic jurisprudence and human rights, and issues concerning the rights of Muslim women and gender equality. Her research examines the nature of Muslim family law and women’s rights within pluralised legal systems, and the tensions that exist within this relationship, in terms of rights, identity, and legal citizenship. Samia’s work points to the complex realities of Muslim identity and engagement with Sharia law and establishes the necessity of ensuring that assertions about the practice and acceptance of Sharia law are rooted in the lived realities of those who participate in it

Samia has published widely in this field and her work is a national point of reference with extensive media reporting. She is a recognised expert within her field of expertise and is regularly invited to speak at numerous events and conferences, and has taught in other institutions.

Samia has also worked as a researcher on several social and policy projects and acts as an advisor for some working groups. She is an editorial board member for the feminist journal Feminist Legal Studies and the journal Mediation, Theory and Practice. She is currently completing her new book monograph on Cultural Expertise and English Family Law and her new research project is investigating the rise of Muslim legal services and the practice of Muslim family practices in the UK.

Samia has also worked as a researcher on several social and policy projects and acts as an advisor for some working groups. She is an editorial board member for the feminist journal Feminist Legal Studies and the journal Mediation, Theory and Practice. She is currently completing her new book monograph on Cultural Expertise and English Family Law and her new research project is investigating the rise of Muslim legal services and the practice of Muslim family practices in the UK.

Samia is happy to supervise doctoral candidates wishing to work on family law, Muslim family law, comparative law, law and society and feminist and critical legal theories

Muslim Family Law in UK and Europe, Family Law, Multiculturalism, Citizenship, Islamic jurisprudence and human rights, Feminist and Critical Social and Political theories; Issues concerning the rights of Muslim women and gender equality.