Dr Sara Razai

Sara is an expert on empirical research on the judiciary in the Middle East, her research has fed into policy-making and she has provided different actors and stakeholders with policy recommendations and programmatic responses at national and international levels. 

Her doctoral thesis conducted under Professor Cheryl Thomas was to understand how institutional, functional and behavioural characteristics influence judicial role perceptions in the Arab Middle East. As part of her research, Sara conducted three studies where she surveyed, interviewed and profiled over 180 judges.

The survey, thought to be the first of Arab judges, investigated judicial role conceptions, judges' attitudes to law, politics and international norms on the judiciary. Her doctoral research was supported by UCL Law and UCL-Yale research awards.

What is Sara doing now?

Sara is the Director of the Institut d'Études sur le Droit et la Justice dans les Sociétés Arabes  in Paris. In 2020, she joined the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law where she is working on the research project Special Processes for the Reassessment and Removal of Judges in the Context of Constitutional Transitions funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council.