Two HBKU College of Law Professors Receive International Awards

At its recent Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, the American Society of International Law (ASIL) bestowed prestigious awards on two Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) College of Law professors for their new books: Professor Damilola Olawuyi, SAN, and Assistant Professor Ka Lok Yip.

ASIL’s Certificate of Merit for High Technical Craftsmanship and Utility to Practicing Lawyers and Scholars was presented to Professor Olawuyi, who also holds the UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development at HBKU. In announcing the selection, the jury observed that Dr. Olawuyi’s book, Environmental Law in Arab States (Oxford University Press 2022), “does a remarkable job demonstrating in precise detail the scope and depth of an understudied yet vitally important area of international law: the application of environmental law in nations that hold and produce the majority of the world’s oil.”

The Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict, which is an interest group of ASIL, presented Dr. Yip the 2023 Francis Lieber Prize (Book) for The Use of Force against Individuals in War under International Law – A Social Ontological Approach (Oxford University Press 2022). The Francis Lieber Prize is awarded to an author of a publication that the judges consider to be outstanding in the field of law and armed conflict.

Reflecting on the awards, HBKU College of Law Dean Susan L. Karamanian said: “Receiving an award from ASIL for academic scholarship in international law is a substantial professional accomplishment. The ASIL Certificate of Merit, which goes to only four books annually, is the leading book prize in international law. Winning this award reflects positively on Dr. Olawuyi and his dedication to high quality legal scholarship. Further, the award of the Francis Lieber Prize to Dr. Yip is equally indicative of her abilities and efforts, especially in her field of expertise, the complex subject of the international law of war.”

The faculty of HBKU Law regularly produces high level legal scholarship on contemporary problems relevant to Qatar, the Middle East, and beyond.