Dr Shamini Ragavan SFHEA Ph.D, LL.M, LL.B (Hons), C.L.P.

Dr Shamini Ragavan

Dubai Campus
Deputy Programme Director of the LL.M in International Commercial Law (Dubai)
Deputy Director of Foundation for Social Sciences, Business and Law

Contact details

Address
University of Birmingham Dubai
Dubai International Academic City
PO Box 341799
Dubai, UAE

Dr Ragavan is a Senior Fellow of the Advance HE. Prior to joining Birmingham University Dubai, she worked in five countries in a legal career spanning more than eighteen years as a Barrister in Malaysia, a Solicitor in England, Lecturer in Law and International Student Tutor, and later, as a Consultant for Newcastle Law School.

Qualifications

  •  PhD, Newcastle University, UK, March 2015.
  •  Qualified Lawyers’ Transfer Test (Solicitor) BPP Law School, London, UK, July 2003.
  •  Masters in Law (International Trade), Recipient of International Taught, Postgraduate Scholarship, Pass with Merit, Newcastle University, UK, 2003.
  •  Certificate in Legal Practice, (Advocate and Solicitor) University Malaya, Malaysia, November 2000.
  •  Bachelor of Laws, University of London, UK, 1998, Top student in first year law study – Awarded full scholarship for second year of academic study.

 

  •  Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom (2015)

Biography

Dr K Ragavan is a Senior Fellow of the Advance HE. Prior to joining Birmingham University Dubai, she worked in five countries in a legal career spanning more than eighteen years as a Barrister in Malaysia, a Solicitor in England, Lecturer in Law and International Student Tutor, and later, as a Consultant for Newcastle Law School.

She was also a Visiting Lecturer for the School of Marine Sciences and the Module Leader for the MSc International Business Law to Marine Engineers in Dubai and Singapore. She is known for designing and setting up academic programmes for undergraduate and postgraduate students, namely the International Student Intensive Guidance and Development programme (ISIGP) and mentoring programme that received many commendations from Newcastle University in significantly increasing student passes and quality of results achieved in their study whilst reducing attrition rates, leading to awards of exemplary practice by the UK Internal Subject Review panels and the Newcastle University Faculty of Teaching and Learning. Based on this contribution to the field of knowledge in the UK, she was appointed Reviewer for several top UK academic journals including Studies in Higher Education and the Journal of Innovation in Education and Teaching International.

She is appointed a Distinguished Associate of the Institute of Educational Leadership of the University of Malaya, Malaysia. She was also appointed Fellow of the National Institute of Teaching Ethics and Professionalism in US and Legal Ethics, UK. She has led workshops and given talks by invitation at many institutions in the UK, including leading workshops for new lecturers on effective teaching pedagogy for international students, Assessment and Feedback Issues for Teaching International Students in Law at the University of Warwick, UK, workshop funded by the European Network on Clinical Legal Education for developing ethically sensitive clinicians, to name a few. She also sat on University panels for implementing Internationalisation and Mentoring at Newcastle University and have been consulted by departments within the University on setting up academic programmes for International students. She has published research articles in legal education, law of evidence and ethics, and has taught on many undergraduate and postgraduate law modules including Law of Evidence, Law of Contract, Public Law, Legal Institutions and Methods, Criminal Law, Law of Tort, International Business Law and various academic skills development modules earning her two nominations for the Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Teacher’s Award and Contribution to Outstanding Feedback respectively.

Teaching

  • A Critical Introduction to the Law and Legal Skills

Research

Dr Ragavan's research mainly focuses on empirical work documenting the design of curriculum, setting up and running academic programmes with the objective of enhancing learning for the students. The key objective is to seek best practices through various platforms.

Other teaching-led-research involves understanding the rules of evidence within the English court structure and leading to proposing changes to the civil and criminal rules of standards of proof in serious civil cases and to a large degree, incorporating a comparative approach.

My research mainly focuses on empirical work documenting the design of curriculum, setting up and running academic programmes with the objective of enhancing learning for the students. The key objective is to seek best practices through various platforms. My other teaching-led-research involves understanding the rules of evidence within the English court structure and leading to proposing changes to the civil and criminal rules of standards of proof in serious civil cases and to a large degree, incorporating a comparative approach.

Other activities

Distinguished Associate (2014 - present) Institute of Educational Leadership, University of Malaya, Malaysia.

Visiting Professor (April 2014) Qatar University, College of Law

Visiting Lecturer (July 2010) Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

Fellow of the National Institute of Teaching Ethics and Professionalism (2013, 2014)

Summer (8-10 July, 2014 in London) and Fall (15-17 November, 2013 in Georgia, Atlanta) Workshops funded by the National Institute for Teaching Ethics and Professionalism (NIFTEP), Georgia State University, College of Law, Atlanta, US and Legal Ethics, UK with co-sponsorship by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism.

Reviewer for Academic Journals

  •   Journal of Studies in Higher Education (2012-present);
  •   Journal of Innovation in Education and Teaching International (2014-present);
  •   Enhanced Learning in the Social Sciences journal with the Higher Education Academy Journals (ELiSS) (2014-present);
  •   Occasional reviewer for the Oxford Journal of Commonwealth Law, The Law Teacher Journal.
  •   Roll of Solicitor of England and Wales
  •   Advocate and Solicitor of the Malaysian Bar Council

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Ragavan, S 2014, 'An Intermediate Standard of Proof in Serious Civil Cases in England and Wales', The Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 81-100. <https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/nilq65&div=9&g_sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals>

Ragavan, S 2014, 'Developing Ethical Values through a Mentoring Scheme', Legal Ethics, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 401-423. https://doi.org/10.5235/1460728X.17.3.401

Ragavan, S 2014, 'Peer Mentoring for International Students in a UK Law School: Lessons from a Pilot Case Study', Innovations in Education and Teaching International, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 292-302. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2013.785254

Ragavan, S 2013, 'The Compellability Rule in England and Wales: Support for the Spouse of the Defendant', Journal of Criminal Law, vol. 77, no. 4, pp. 310-324.

Ragavan, S 2012, 'Acquiring Skills for a Globalised World through a Peer Mentoring Scheme: A UK Law School Experience', The Law Teacher, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 15-37.

Ragavan, S 2009, 'The Role of an International Student Tutor in a UK Law School: A Case Study', The Law Teacher, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 246-268.

View all publications in research portal