Joe Isanga

Professor Joseph Isanga (LL.M., Doctor of Juridical Sciences, University of Notre Dame) joined University of Idaho College of Law in 2023. As a professor, he has many years of experience, having previously taught at the University of Tulsa College of Law, Southern University Law Center, Concordia University School of Law, and Ave Maria School of Law. He is the recipient of the Outstanding Upper-Class Professor Award (University of Tulsa College of Law, Tulsa, OK, 2022-2023). He served as a scholar at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Notre Dame Law School. He received his bachelor’s (first-class and top-of-class) degree in laws from Makerere University School of Law in Uganda, a diploma in post-graduate bar course from Law Development Centre in Uganda, and a Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Sciences from University of Notre Dame Law School, both summa cum laude. He has taught Torts, Corporate Law, Agency and Partnerships, Contracts, Sale of Goods, Secured Transactions, Professional Responsibility, International Law, International Human Rights, International Business Transactions, Bankruptcy, and Jurisprudence, among other courses. He is the author of a treatise –-Oklahoma Personal Injury— (2024 Edition, Matthew Bender & Company, Inc., a member of the LexisNexis Group) and numerous book chapters and scholarly articles. His scholarship and published works focus on international law and human rights. His studies examine cutting-edge issues in international law as well as rule of law in developing countries, with a specific focus on Africa. He has a passion for gardening, taking walks, travelling, and grilling.

• International Law
• International Human Rights
• Rule of Law

• Outstanding Upper-Class Professor Award 2022-2023 – University of Tulsa College of Law;
• Outstanding Visiting Professor Award 2021-2022 – University of Tulsa College of Law;
• Fellowships - University of Notre Dame Center for Civil and Human Rights and Kellogg Institute for International Studies(Keough School of Global Affairs).

BOOKS:

• Oklahoma Personal Injury, 2024 Edition, Matthew Bender & Company, Inc., a member of the LexisNexis Group.

• Implementing International Human Rights in National Legislation: A Case Study of Law and Religion in Uganda (Lambert Academic Publishing, 2013)

BOOK CHAPTERS:

• Pembangunan, dan Hak-Hak Asasi Manusia: Perspektif Afrika dan Katolik, in KATA BERSAMA (Gadjah Mada University Press, 2019)

• Rethinking the Rule of Law as Antidote to African Development Challenges, a book chapter in Legitimacy, Legal Development & Change: Law & Modernization Reconsidered (Ashgate Publishing Ltd, UK, 2012)

• Response to Philip Blosser, a book chapter in St. Paul, The Natural Law, and Contemporary Legal Theory (eds. Jane Adolphe, Robert Fastiggi, and Michael Vacca, Lexington Books, 2012)

• The Role of International Actors in Promoting Rule of Law in Uganda, in GLOBALIZING JUSTICE: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSNATIONAL LAW AND THE CROSS-BORDER MIGRATION OF LEGAL NORMS (ed. David Linnan, Sunny Publishers, 2010)

• African Perspectives on Theory and Application of a Common Word, in MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING: THEORY AND APPLICATION OF “A COMMON WORD” (eds. Waleed El-Ansary, David Linnan) (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)

ARTICLES:

• The Intolerably Slow Implementation of African Women’s Rights and Its Impact on African Economic Development, 31 MICH. ST. INT’L. REV. 191 (2023)

• The U.S. Withdraws: Impact on the U.S. and International Rule of Law, 32 FLA. J. INT’L. 215 (2020-2021)

• Resurgent Cold War and U.N. Security Council Reform Opportunities, 47 DENV. J. INT’L L. & POL’Y 73 (2018-2019)

• Philippines v. China Aftermath: Rule of Law and Legitimacy Under Assault, 45 SYRACUSE J. INT’L L. & COM. 147 (2018)

• African Judicial Review, The Use of Comparative African Jurisprudence, and the Judicialization of Politics, 49 GEO. WASH. INT’L L. REV. 749 (2017) (lead article)

• Rule of Law and African Development, 42 N.C. J. INT’L L. 730 (2017)

• The Constitutive Act of the African Union, African Courts and the Protection of Human Rights: New Dispensation? 11 SANTA CLARA J. INT’L L. 267 (2013)

• The International Criminal Court Ten Years Later: Appraisal and Prospects, 21 CARDOZO J. INT’L & COMP. L. 235 (2012)

• Surging Intercountry Adoptions in Africa: Paltry Domestication of International Standards, 27 BYU J. PUB. L. 229 (2012)

• Foundations of Human Rights and Development: A Critique of African Human Rights Instruments, 11 AVE MARIA L. REV. 123 (2012)

• Triadic Contest for Africa-U.S.A., the European Union, and China: Implications for International Human Rights and Democracy, 3 NORTHWESTERN INTERDISCIPLINARY L. REV. 175 (2010)

• Mulieris Dignitatem, Ephesians 5 and Domestic Violence: Grounding International Women’s Human Rights, 8 AVE MARIA L. REV. 405 (2010)

• Countering Persistent Contemporary Sea Piracy: Expanding Jurisdictional Regimes, 59 AM. U. L. REV. 1267 (2009-2010)

• African Courts and Separation of Powers: Comparative Study of Judicial Review in Uganda & South Africa, 2 NW. INTERDISC. L. REV. 69-102 (2009)

• Kenya’s Kadhi’s Court: An International Human Rights Perspective, INT’L COMMISSION OF JURISTS (Kenya Section) (2009-2010)

• Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights: The Emergence of a Rule of Customary International Law from United Nations Resolutions, 37 DENV. J. INT’L L. & POL’Y 233-256 (2008-2009)