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CAP Visiting Researchers and Scholars Biographies

Mary Welstead, CAP Fellow and Graduate Program Coordinator and a visiting professor at the University of Buckingham in the UK, has a long standing interest in all aspects of family law. She obtained her PhD in law degree from Trinity College Cambridge UK, and has written extensively in the field of family law. In addition to her current appointments, she has held visiting appointments at McGill University in Montreal, the University of Cambridge UK, and the University of Warwick UK. She has lectured on family law to lawyers and the judiciary in Malaysia and Sri Lanka, and from 2003 -2008 helped to set up the new university, SSST, in Sarajevo. Her major research interests in the field of family law relate to law in a multi-cultural society, technological reproduction and surrogacy, post divorce family financial provision, and most recently, the issue of forced marriage in the UK where the removal of children by their families to be forcibly married abroad has become a serious problem for the UK government. New legislation was enacted in 2008 to deal with the issue and further legislation is planned for 2013. Mary is a member of the International Society of Family Law. Contact details: mwelstead@law.harvard.edu A selection of recent publications: ‘Vulnerable adults: The inherent jurisdiction and the right to marry: Re SA (vulnerable adult with capacity: marriage)’ Denning Law Journal (2007) ‘Anonymity and Adoption - A Clash of Rights’, Denning Law Journal (2008) ‘Forced marriage - bifurcated values in the UK’, Denning Law Journal (2009) ‘The virtue of virginity’, New Law Journal (January 2009) 'Who are my family?’ in Atkin, B. (ed.), The International Survey of Family Law 2007 edition (Jordans, Bristol UK ) When did you last see your father? Disputes relating to paternal contact, in Atkin, B. (ed.), The International Survey of Family Law 2008 edition (Jordans, Bristol UK) Family Law (3rd ed) (OUP) March 2010 ‘The Family the law forgot’, in Atkin. B. (ed) The International Survey of Family Law 2009 edition (Jordans, Bristol, UK) ‘This child is my child; this child is your child; this child was made for you and me; Surrogacy in the UK’, in Atkin. B. (ed) The International Survey of Family Law 2010 edition (Jordans, Bristol, UK) ‘I want to go home; please let me go home: international relocation’, in Atkin, B (ed.), International Survey of Family Law, 2011 edition, Jordans, Bristol, UK ‘For to the one who has, more will be given, and he [she] will have an abundance…’ [2011] Family Law ‘Divorce in England and Wales- Time for Reform’, Denning Law Journal (2012) ‘The criminalisation of consensual sexual relationships between adult siblings and human rights - Stübing v. Germany - European Court of Human Rights, 13 April 2012 (application no. 43547/08), International Family Law October 2012 The following individuals have served or are currently serving as CAP-affiliated Visiting Researchers or Scholars:
Ayako Harada has been engaged in research on children and family law issues involving child abuse and neglect, child custody, and adoption. She served as a CAP-affiliated Visiting Scholar from February 2008 to March 2009. While she was at Harvard, she focused on American adoption policies and practices. She earned her doctoral degree (LL.D) from Kyoto University in 2007. In 2008, she published a book entitled “America’s Struggle with Child Abuse Crisis: Prevention Efforts and Family Welfare Policies” (written in Japanese). Currently she is a Research Associate at Waseda University Institute of Comparative Law, Tokyo, Japan.
Indian Army Colonel Mukul Saxena was a CAP-affiliated Visiting Researcher in 2005-06. While at Harvard, he was engaged in research on the impact of localized conflict/emergency settings on children with particular reference to their treatment under stringent national security laws. His other research interests in the field of child rights include the freedom of expression and right to manifest religious belief. In 2007, he published an article in Symposium on Law and Religion titled, “The French Headscarf and the Right to Manifest Religious Belief” (The University of Detroit Law Review, 2007). Mukul is a graduate of the National Defence Academy, Kharakwasla, India and completed an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex, UK. He is presently commanding an Indian Army Infantry Battalion in Kashmir and is a Ph.D. fellow at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. He is also a consultant with the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, New Delhi and is presently leading a study for the Commission on substance abuse among children in Northeast India. He has also been actively involved human rights advocacy in the Indian Army.
Liping Wang is a Law Professor at Shandong University School of Law in P. R. China. She is also a member of Chinese People's Political Consulative Conference in Shandong Province, the president of Family Law Association of Shandong Province and a member of Gender & Law Research Center in the Chinese Association of Social Science. Her research and teaching interests include human rights, civil law and issues related to women, children, family and labor. Liping Graduated from Shandong University in 1986 with B.A in Law, from Xiamen University in 1989 with M.A in Civil Law, and from Shandong University in 2004 with Ph. D in Jurisprudence. She was a 2006-2007 Fulbright Research Visiting Scholar in CAP at Harvard Law School. Her publications include: On the Protection of Privacy in the Information Age (Shandong People's Press,2008), Study on the Parenthood Law (Law Press, 2004) , A Jurisprudential Study of Family Law (Shandong People's Press, 2003) , Children's Rights (Shandong People's Press, 2002), as well as numerous law review articles in China (for example, “A Comparative Study on Child Custody Between The U. S. and China”, Legal Forum Vol. 2, 2008 ). She was very active in participating in the legislations relating to family law, women law and children law. She has won Distinguished Women Worker of Shandong Province Award and Excellent Young Professor in Teaching of Shandong University Award for her outstanding work. For more information about her, please visit http://www.law.sdu.edu.cn/teachers/wangliping.htm.

Child Advocacy Program

Last modified: October 02, 2012