Upendra D. Acharya

Dr. Upendra D. Acharya Assistant Professor of Law uacharya@lawschool.gonzaga.edu (509) 313-3719

Biographical Information

Dr. Upendra D. Acharya holds an S.J.D. (Doctorate of Juridical Science) from the University of Wisconsin Law School, Madison, Wisconsin; an LL. M. from the University of Utah College of Law; an M.C. L. (Master of Comparative Law) from the University of Delhi, India; and an LL.B. from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.  He has written numerous articles on international law, Constitutional law, administrative law, and comparative law and presented papers and delivered lectures in national and international conferences in the North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Middle East.  Prof. Acharya has represented landmark cases in the Supreme Court of Nepal, including daughters’ right to inherent property, and the Godabary Marble Case that resulted in the enactment of an Environmental Protection Act in Nepal. He also has worked toward eradicating bonded labor systems in far western areas of Nepal.

Teaching Areas

• International Law
• Human Rights
• International Environmental Law
• International Business Transactions
• Contracts
• Administrative Law
• Comparative Law
• Political Economy of Law and Development

Prof. Acharya:

• Taught for five years at Tribhuvan University Law School in Kathmandu, Nepal.
• Served as a legal counsel to a tribal government in the United States.
• Consulted to and involved in various NGOs, ITC/UNCTAD/GATT, and OXFAM/Nepal.

Prof. Acharya has served as a pro tem judge on the Tribal Appeals Court.

Publications and Presentations

Publications:

• International Lawlessness, International Politics and Terrorism: A Conundrum of International Law and U.S. Foregin Policy (special issue--Denver Journal of International Law and Policy), April 2012
• ICJ's Kosovo Decision: Economical Reasoning of Law and Question of Legitimacy of the Court (Chicago-Kent Journal of International Law and Comparative Law), Spring 2012
• War on Terror or Terror Wars: Problem in Defining Terrorism 37 of Denver Journal of International Law and Policy. 053 (2009) (SSRN)
• Is Development a Lost Paradise? Trade, Environment and Development: A Triadic Dream of International Law, Alberta Law Review (2007) (SSRN)
• Locus Standi in Administrative Law: A Study Of Nepal and India, published in Justice: Collection of Research Articles on Law, Justice and Legal System (Shesh Raj Shiwakoti ed.), 2007
• Constitutionalism and Democracy in Nepal: What Went Wrong 189 (Constitutionalism and Democratic Transitions: Lessons from South Africa, Veronica Federico and Carlo Fusaro eds., 2006) (SSRN)

• Interviewed on Somali Piracy, broadcasted by Radio Australia, November, 2011
• Presented a paper on Humanitarian Aid and Assistance: It's Role in Constraining the Resurgence of Piracy at the Global Maritime Security and Anti-Piracy conference in GuJarat, India, 26 & 27 November, 2011
• Featured speaker on the topic Dodd-Frank Act: A shift in US Foreign Policy through Economic Legislation at the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and consumer Act symposium, Gonzaga University school of law, 2011
• Interviewed by Estado Sau Paulo, one of the largest newspapers in Brazil on the issue of terrorism for a story that was published as part of a special edition remembering the tenth anniversary of 9-11, September 2011
• Taught as an invited visiting professor at Direito GV, a private law school in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He taught Political Economy of Law and Development, August 2011
• Spoke on the topic of Human Rights in China and South Asia to faculty and law students at Direito GV, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, August 2011
• Spoke as a guest lecturer at the China University of Political Science in Beijing, China. He spoke on the topic Trade and Environment: An Odd Couple Getting Together, July 2011
• Delivered a keynote speech at the Children's Justice Conference on The Rights of the Child and Why the U.S. Should Ratify the Convention in Seattle. Currently only two countries--the USA and Somolia--have not ratified the Convention, May 2011
• Presented at a CLE program, From Needs to Rights: Implementation of the Conventions of the Rights of the Child in South Asia, sponsored by the World Peace Through Law Section of the Washington State Bar Association, 2011
• Presented a paper on ICJ's Advisory Opinion on Kosovo: Is It A Cogent legal Analysis or A Judicial Endorsement of Political Might? at a conference on International Justice: Maintaining International Peace and Security in Beirut, Lebanon in December, 2010
• Completed a solicited review of drafts of book and peer reviewed articles
• Presented Defining Terrorism and Lingering International Politics: International Law as a Quiet Observer, 8th Annual International Conference on Politics and International Affairs in Athens, Greece, June 2010
• Climate Change and Human Rights Issues: Challenges to Transnational Governance, paper presentation at a conference Challenges to Transnational Governance sponsored by the American Bar Association International Law Section, International Law Student Association, and New York State Bar Association at Fordham Law School
• Right to Development: Conspiracy in International Law, presented at the University of Tokyo's International Conference of Asian Society of International Law 2009
• Ethics, Human Rights and Health Care: Role of Ethics Committee, as part of medical continuing education program in Great Falls, MT 2009
• International Criminal Court: Its Relevance and Legitimacy to the UNA (United Nations Association) -USA, Spokane Chapter, May 11, 2009
• International Water Law and Sustainable Development: Challenges to Transboundary Allocation, International Law Weekend-West, American Branch of International Law Association, Willamette University College of Law, March 6-7 2009
• Participated in panel discussion, Stopping Genocide, annual conference of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, George Mason University, VA 2009
• International Human Rights Law in State Courts of the United States, Appellate Judges' Spring Program of the State of Washington at Lake Chelan, WA, April 7, 2009
• Right to Development from Nepal to Native American Nations: A Post-Modernist Approach, Cornell University Law School, November 14, 2008
• Presented a paper at the 2008 Sutton Colloquium titled War on Terror or Terror Wars? The Problem of Defining Terrorism, University of Denver Sturm College of Law, October 25, 2008
• Delivered a guest lecture, Third World Perspective of Jurisprudence and Constitution Making, the Faculty of Law, Tribhuvan University, Katmandu, Nepal, July 21, 2008
• Delivered a guest lecture at the Journalism Department, Tribhuvan University on Media, Democracy, and Law, Katmandu, Nepal, July 15, 2008 
• Lectured on Legal Education in the US and Beyond at the Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Chongqing, China, July 2, 2008. 
• Presented a paper titled WTO and Least Developed Countries at the Symposium on International Trade: Law or Politics?, hosted by the Gonzaga Journal of International Law, February 28-29, 2008
• Indigenous People, Biotechnology and Human Rights, presentation at a conference on human rights and development organized by the International Law Society of Lewis and Clark Law School, Portland, OR, April 2007
• Trade, Environment, and Development: A Triadic Dream of International Law, presentation at symposium organized by University of Idaho School of Law, the University of Alberta Law School and the CUNY-Queens College of Law, March 1-3, 2007
• The US, China and Nepal: Challenges to WTO Obligations on Trade and Agriculture, presentation at international conference on WTO Dislocations and Solutions in Chongquin and Beijing, China, December 2006
• Participated in a panel discussion on can the U.N., or Anyone Else, Stop Genocide & Crimes Against Humanity?, at the University of Montana School of Law, 2006
• Paper on Constitutionalism and Democratic Transition: Nepal and South African Perspective, International Conference, Florence, Italy, December 5, 2005
• Special Speaker on Right to Health Care as a Human Right, Benefits Hospital, Great Falls, MT, December 20, 2005
• Guest Speaker on Democracy, Terrorism and Failed State, International Affairs Program, University of Montana, Missoula, March 2004

Social & Professional Memberships

• Member of the American Branch of International Law Association Committee on the Teaching of International Law
• Member of the American Branch of International Law Association on the Human Rights Committee
• Listed as a national legal expert on Nepal and India for the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) at the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs
• Since 2008 has served on the Board  of Directors of the International Trade Alliance (ITA), Greater Spokane's primary source for expertise in doing business in the global marketplace
• Advisor to the World Affairs Council, Spokane chapter
• Member, American Society of International Law
• Member, Asian Society of International Law
• Faculty Advisor, Gonzaga Journal of International Law

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