Prof. Dr. Clara Burbano-Herrera's Bio
Clara Burbano Herrera is a Professor of International Human Rights Law at the Faculty of Law & Criminology (2019–present) and a Guest Professor at the University of Geneva (2017–present) and the University of Pretoria (2015–present). Before that, she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) at Ghent University (2010-2014, 2016-2017), and a Professor at the Law Faculty of the University of Los Andes, Colombia (2001–2004). Clara has been teaching at Harvard University (2015) and the University of Malta (2007-2008).
Besides, Clara has been a Fulbright Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University (2014–2016), a Visiting Scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (in 2016, 2017 and 2020), the American University Washington College of Law (2010), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (2010-2011), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (2008-2009) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (2011).
Clara holds a PhD from Ghent University (2009), a Postgraduate Degree on Constitutional Law from the National University of Colombia (2004), an LLM in Fundamental Rights from the University Carlos III of Madrid (2003) and a Master of Law from the University of Los Andes (2001).
Dr Burbano Herrera has broad research interests in international human rights law, constitutional law and comparative human rights systems, with a geographical focus on Latin America, Africa and Europe. She has expertise on sexual and reproductive health rights, rights of detainees, human rights defenders, and urgent measures before international human rights adjudicators.
With her research Clara has been awarded the Dutch Prince Bernhard Price for Innovative Research (2008).
Clara is Editor-in-Chief of the Inter-American & European Human Rights Journal and co-founder and executive member of the Inter-American Human Rights Network.
Prof. Dr. Clara Burbano-Herrera's Education
University Degrees
- Doctor in Law, Ghent University, Belgium, 2009 (Ghent University does not award grades)
- Postgraduate in Constitutional Law, National University of Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia, 2004 (summa cum laude and first of the class)
- LL.M. in Fundamental Rights, University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain, 2003 (magna cum laude)
- Licentiate in Law/Master of Laws, University of Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, 2001 (magna cum laude)
Additional (inter)national (human rights) courses taken
- Intensive Course on Socio-Economic Rights: Sexual and Reproductive Rights Litigation, Harvard University, Boston, USA, October 2014
- Global School Course on Health Rights Litigation, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, USA, September 2013
- Intensive Course on Health and Human Rights: Concepts, Implementation, and Impact, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, USA, June 2013
- Sexual Minority Rights Course, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa, February 2012
- International Human Rights Academy, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa, October 2005
- Summer Course on The Protection of the Children’s Rights, University of Extremadura, Caceres Spain, 2003
- Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Washington College of Law, American University, Washington, USA, 2001
Prof. Dr. Clara Burbano-Herrera's Scientific honors, awards and fellowship/grants
Scientific Prizes
- Prins Bernhard Prize 2008, Foundation “The Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Institute”, for innovative research to encourage young, promising scientists, awarded in The Hague, The Netherlands, on January 2009 by Prince Carlos de Bourbon the Parme, grandson of the late Prince Bernhard.
- Prize for Academic Merit and High Personal Qualities during the Law Studies awarded by the Lucía Patiño Osorio Foundation, Bogota, Colombia, 2000.
- Prize for Academic Merit and High Personal Qualities during the Law Studies awarded by the Lucía Patiño Osorio Foundation, Bogota, Colombia, 1999.
Scientific Scholarships / Scientific Grants
- Fulbright Scholarship for Research at Harvard University from Fulbright / Belgium (Augustus 2014 – Augustus 2015)
- Nominated by the Belgian Fulbright Committee for the Frank Boas Scholarship for Graduate or Postdoctoral Studies at Harvard University (December 2013)
- Scientific Travel Grant for Research at Harvard University (August 2014-July 2015), from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium (2014)
- Scientific Grant (renewal) for Postdoctoral Research at Ghent University, from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium (2012 – 2015)
- Scholarship for participation in the “Global School Course on Health Rights Litigation” from the Program on the Health Rights of Women and Children, Harvard University, Boston, USA (September 2013)
- Scientific Grant for Post-doctoral Research at Ghent University, from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium (2009 – 2012)
- Scientific Travel Grant for Research at the University of Pretoria (March-April 2012) Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium (2012)
- Scholarship for the “International Human Rights Course” from the International Human Rights Academy (IHRA), Cape Town, South Africa (2005)
- Scholarship for the “Protection of the Children’s Rights Course” from the University of Extremadura (Spain), Extremadura, Spain (2003)
- Partial Scholarship for the LLM in Fundamental Rights in the University Carlos III of Madrid (Spain), from the Banco Santander, Spain (2003)
- Travel Grant to attend the Summer Human Rights Course at American University (May–June 2001) from Justice Program USAID/MSD Washington DC, USA (2001)
- Research Scholarship of Colciencias (comparable research foundation as Research Foundation Flanders) in the ambit of the Programme ‘Formation for young Researchers’, Bogota, Colombia (2001)
Prof. Dr. Clara Burbano-Herrera's Sideline activities/memberships
Membership of (inter)national scholarly committees
- Member of the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) on Economic and Social Rights” with the “Law and Society Association” (LSA) (2014 – present)
- Executive Committee Member of the International Network “The Inter-American Human Rights System: Assessing its Development and Impact”, a Research Network of 7 universities from Latin America, North America and Europe, London, UK (2014 – 2016)
- Co-founder and Member of the “Latin American & European Human Rights Network (LAEHR)”, a Research Network of 16 universities from Latin America, North America and Europe, Europe/Latin America (2005 – 2010)
Membership of editorial boards of scientific journals
- Member of the Scientific Committee of the Law journal ‘State of Law’ (Derecho del Estado), Externado University of Colombia, Bogota, Colombia (2014 – present)
- Member of the Scientific Committee of the Online Law Journal “Revista Virtual Via Inveniendi ‘Camino del Hallazgo y el Juicio’”, Research Center Francisco de Vitoria – Santo Tomás University, Bogotá, Colombia (2007 – present)
- Co-founder and Executive Editor “Inter-American & European Human Rights Journal/Revista Interamericana & Europea de Derechos Humanos”, Intersentia Publishers, Antwerp/Oxford (2006 – present)
Activities as peer reviewer
- Occasional peer reviewer for various international publishing houses/international academic journals (2000 – present)
- External reviewer in the ambit of the award of the ‘Prize for Development Cooperation’ (‘Prijs voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking’), awarded by the Belgian Federal Ministry of Development Affairs with regard to Master theses, Brussels – Belgium (2009)
