Ridwanul Hoque
| Ridwanul Hoque | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bangladesh |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Bangladeshi |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Judicial Activism in Bangladesh: A Golden Mean Approach (2011) Expert witness on Bangladeshi citizenship law before SIAC (UK) |
| 🏅 Awards | Commonwealth Scholarship (SOAS) Fulbright Scholarship (Cornell Law School, 2013–14) Endeavour Research Fellowship (Melbourne, 2014–15) |
Ridwanul Hoque is a Bangladeshi legal scholar specialising in constitutional law, public law, and citizenship studies. He is Professor of Law in the Department of Law at the University of Dhaka and a University Professorial Fellow at the College of Indigenous Futures, Arts and Society at Charles Darwin University, Australia.[1][2] He has held an IASH-Alwaleed Research Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh[1] and has previously served as Associate Dean at Kent Institute Australia.[3] He is widely regarded as a leading authority on Bangladeshi and South Asian constitutional law, and has provided expert legal evidence before courts in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.[1][4]
Education
Hoque studied law at three universities across three countries. He obtained his LLB (Honours) and a first LLM from the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh.[5] He then attended the University of Cambridge, where he completed an LLM in international commercial law.[6] He subsequently pursued doctoral research in the United Kingdom as a Commonwealth Scholar at the SOAS University of London, where he earned his PhD in comparative public law, with a dissertation on judicial activism.[6][5]
Academic career
University of Chittagong and University of Dhaka
Hoque began his academic career in the Department of Law at the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh, before joining the Department of Law at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh's leading public university, where he rose to the rank of full Professor.[1][5] His teaching and research at Dhaka spanned constitutional law and theory, comparative constitutionalism, judicial activism, citizenship law, human rights of vulnerable groups, and Islamic family law.[7] He has been widely consulted by government ministries and international organisations on issues of international labour migration, human trafficking, and children's rights.[6][1]
Visiting and international fellowships
Hoque has held a series of distinguished visiting research and teaching fellowships at institutions worldwide. He was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Cornell Law School in 2013–14[6] and an Endeavour Research Fellow at the Melbourne Law School Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies in 2014–15.[6] He has also held visiting positions at La Trobe Law School, Australia, and National Law University, Delhi.[1] He was appointed IASH-Alwaleed Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh, where his research examined mass denationalisation in India (through the NRC process) and Myanmar (the Rohingya citizenship crisis), and their implications under international law.[1]
Charles Darwin University
Hoque is a University Professorial Fellow at the College of Indigenous Futures, Arts and Society at Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Australia.[2] His research at CDU has included projects on citizenship deprivation as an anti-terrorism tool in Australia and the United Kingdom, and constitutional foundings in South Asia.[2]
Kent Institute Australia
Hoque served as Associate Dean at Kent Institute Australia.[3] During this period, he maintained his scholarly output on Bangladeshi and South Asian constitutional law.
Research
Areas of expertise
Hoque's published scholarship addresses constitutional law and theory, comparative constitutionalism in South Asia, judicial activism and judicial behaviour, citizenship law and statelessness, human rights of vulnerable groups, migration law, human trafficking, and Islamic family law.[7][2]
Expert witness work
Hoque has served as an expert witness on questions of Bangladeshi law in multiple jurisdictions. He has appeared as an expert in several cases before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in the United Kingdom, in proceedings concerning citizenship-deprivation orders issued by the Secretary of State for the Home Department.[1] In one notable 2021 SIAC case involving British-Bangladeshi nationals who had travelled to Syria, the Commission described Hoque as a "safer guide" to the issues than the Secretary of State's own expert witness.[4] He has also written expert reports for courts in the United States and Australia on matters including Bangladeshi citizenship law, statelessness, and torts.[1]
Works
Books
Hoque's first monograph, Judicial Activism in Bangladesh: A Golden Mean Approach (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011), is based on his doctoral thesis at SOAS and is the first book-length study of judicial activism in Bangladesh.[8] It constructs judicial activism as a "golden-mean" adjudicative technology — a middle position between excessive judicial assertion and unacceptable judicial passivity that may leave injustices unredressed.[9] The book argues that judicial balancing should be grounded in the domestic conditions, needs, and fundamental values of a given society.[9] It was reviewed in the International Journal of Constitutional Law and received a foreword from Professor Werner Menski of SOAS.[8]
Hoque co-edited Constitutional Foundings in South Asia (Hart Publishing / Bloomsbury, 2021) with Professor Kevin Y.L. Tan of the National University of Singapore.[10] Part of the Constitutionalism in Asia series, it is the first work to examine South Asian constitutional foundings in comparative breadth and depth, covering the first modern constitutions of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.[10] Hoque contributed the chapter on the founding and making of Bangladesh's constitution.[11]
He co-edited A History of the Constitution of Bangladesh: The Founding, Development, and Way Ahead (Routledge, 2022) with Rokeya Chowdhury.[12] The volume was the subject of a virtual roundtable hosted by the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore in May 2024.[3]
Selected articles and book chapters
- 'The Politics of Unconstitutional Amendments in Bangladesh' in Rehan Abeyratne and Ngoc Son Bui (eds), The Politics of Unconstitutional Amendments in Asia (Routledge, 2022)[13]
- 'The Founding and Making of Bangladesh's Constitution' in Kevin Y.L. Tan and Ridwanul Hoque (eds), Constitutional Foundings in South Asia (Hart Publishing, 2021)[11]
- 'Bangladesh at a Constitutional Crossroads: Reform or Overhaul?' (National Law School of India Review Online, 2025)[13]
- 'Bangladesh: A Year of Unprecedented Constitutional Upheaval' (Supreme Court Observer, 2026)[12]
- Articles on Bangladesh's legal responses to COVID-19, Verfassungsblog (2020)[14]
Bangladesh constitutional reform commentary (2024–2026)
Following the July Revolution of 2024 — the student-led uprising that culminated in the resignation and flight of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024 — Hoque became a prominent public commentator on Bangladesh's constitutional transition.[13] An interim government under Professor Muhammad Yunus was installed on 8 August 2024 and established a Constitution Reform Commission (CRC) in October 2024; the CRC submitted its report in January 2025.[13]
Hoque published an extensive critical analysis, "Bangladesh at a Constitutional Crossroads: Reform or Overhaul?" (2025), examining the CRC's proposals, which included a shift to a bicameral parliament, limits on the Prime Minister's authority, and the revival of a non-party caretaker government system.[13] He argued that the future of major constitutional reforms remained uncertain given political parties' reluctance to accept sweeping changes.[13]
He subsequently wrote "Bangladesh: A Year of Unprecedented Constitutional Upheaval" (Supreme Court Observer, February 2026), analysing developments including the issuance of the July Charter in November 2025 and the exclusion of the Awami League from the February 2026 elections.[12]
In February 2026, Hoque publicly criticised the newly convened Constitution Reform Council — formed after the elections — as possessing "no legal basis at all," characterising the move as "complete political chaos" and arguing that the elected parliament already held the authority to implement constitutional reforms.[15]
Honours and fellowships
| Award / Fellowship | Institution | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth Scholarship (PhD) | SOAS University of London | — |
| Fulbright Visiting Scholarship | Cornell Law School | 2013–2014 |
| Endeavour Research Fellowship | Melbourne Law School | 2014–2015 |
| IASH-Alwaleed Research Fellowship | University of Edinburgh | c. 2020–2022 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Professor Ridwanul Hoque". Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Ridwanul Hoque". ResearchGate / Charles Darwin University. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Book Discussion on A History of the Constitution of Bangladesh (event flyer)" (PDF). Centre for Asian Legal Studies, National University of Singapore. 2024. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "UK court restores citizenship to three British-Bangladeshis who travelled to Syria". Middle East Eye. 2021-03-19. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hoque, Ridwanul (2011). Judicial Activism in Bangladesh: A Golden Mean Approach. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 9781443827331. Search this book on
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Hoque, Ridwanul". Global Citizenship Observatory (GLOBALCIT), European University Institute. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Dr. Ridwanul Hoque". Academia.edu / University of Dhaka. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Judicial Activism in Bangladesh: A Golden Mean Approach". Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Judicial Activism in Bangladesh: A Golden Mean Approach". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Constitutional Foundings in South Asia". National University of Singapore Faculty of Law. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Constitutional foundings in South Asia". Berkeley Law Library. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Hoque, Ridwanul (2026-02-12). "Bangladesh: A year of unprecedented constitutional upheaval". Supreme Court Observer. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Hoque, Ridwanul (2025-08-07). "Bangladesh at a Constitutional Crossroads: Reform or Overhaul?". National Law School of India Review Online. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ Hoque, Ridwanul. "Author page". Verfassungsblog. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ Staff reporter (2026-02-17). "Ex-DU law Prof Ridwanul Hoque slams Constitution Reform Council as 'weird'". The Business Standard. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
External links
- Profile at IASH, University of Edinburgh
- Profile at GlobalCit, European University Institute
- Research profile at Charles Darwin University / ResearchGate
- Author page at Bloomsbury Publishing
- Articles on Verfassungsblog
- Google Scholar profile
- Academia.edu page, University of Dhaka
This article "Ridwanul Hoque" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Ridwanul Hoque. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
