Visiting Faculty Spotlight: Former Judge Advocate General of the Indian Army Teaches at STL

In May 2017, Peking University School of Transnational Law (STL) welcomed to its visiting faculty Major General Nilendra Kumar, a distinguished professor from India, who taught a new course on “Crimes Against Children and Children’s Rights”. The seminar-style course was offered as an elective in STL’s upper-level English-language J.D. curriculum.

Major General Kumar was the Judge Advocate General of the Indian Army from 2001 through 2009. Before that, he served as a Judge Advocate and was responsible for monitoring litigation on behalf of the Indian Army. Upon his retirement from the Army, he served until 2015 as Director (Dean) and Professor of Law at Amity Law School, Noida. Professor Kumar currently works with Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi (Save the Children Movement) as an advocate for children’s rights and universal access to education. He was awarded India’s Vishisht Seva Medal in 2004 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2005 for rendering distinguished service of a high order. He is the author or editor of twelve books and several scholarly articles on military law, security law and human rights. He is a graduate of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy, and holds a law degree from Lucknow University.

Professor Kumar’s work with Nobel Prize winner Satyarthi and the Save the Children Movement provided rich content for his course at STL, which introduced students to different legal mechanisms for protecting children from violence, abuse, and exploitation (trafficking, child labor) and safeguarding their fundamental right to subsistence, growth and development. The seminar deepened students’ understanding of the critical challenges children face around the world and the important role of law and lawyering in helping to overcome those challenges.

Professor Kumar is one of several prominent visiting scholars and practitioners from around the world who teach at STL every year.