Professor David Kinley
People_

Professor David Kinley

BA (Sheff Hallam) MA (Sheff) PhD (Camb)
Professor of Human Rights Law
Professor David Kinley

Professor David Kinley holds the Chair in Human Rights Law at the University of Sydney Law School. He is also an Academic Expert Member of Doughty Street Chambers in London, a member of the Australian Council for Human Rights, a member of the Human Rights Council of Australia and a board member of Cisarua, an Afghan refugee-led education centre located in Bogor, Indonesia.

David was born and brought up in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the 1960s and 70s. At universities in England he studied an eclectic mix of business, economics, philosophy, law and human rights, culminating in a PhD from Cambridge in 1990. He then moved to Australia to take up a lectureship at the Australian National University and thereafter a pair of research positions with the Australian Law Reform Commission and the Australian Human Rights Commission. In 2000 he was appointed Professor and Founding Director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law at Monash University, following which he took up the post of Inaugural Chair of Human Rights Law at the University of Sydney in 2005 to the present day.

David is also on the Faculty of Oxford/George Washington Universities’ International Human Rights Law Summer School and has previously held teaching positions at Cambridge University, ANU, University of New South Wales and Paris 1 (La Sorbonne). He was a Senior Fulbright Scholar in 2004 (Washington College of Law, American University) and the Herbert Smith Visiting Fellow at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge in 2008. He has also held visiting positions at the universities of Edinburgh, Geneva, Pretoria, Queen’s University Belfast, Sciences Po, Paris, The Max Planck Institute for Procedural Law, Luxembourg, and the South Pacific (Vanuatu), and has been invited to lecture at leading universities and law schools worldwide, including Antwerp, Berkeley, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Columbia, Copenhagen, Duke, Fordham, Geneva, Georgetown, George Washington, Harvard, Hong Kong University, Hertie School of Governance, Humboldt, the LSE, the Max Planck Institute, McGill, NYU, New Delhi, Nottingham, Osgoode Hall, Oxford, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, Sheffield, La Sorbonne, Stanford, Tilburg, Toronto, Trinity College Dublin, Tulane, Tsinghua, UCLA, Virginia and Yale. He has written and edited twelve books and more than 100 articles, book chapters, reports and papers.

David has worked for 25 years as a consultant and adviser on international and domestic human rights law in (or with agencies from) China, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Bangladesh, Thailand, Iraq, Nepal, Laos, the Pacific Islands, and Myanmar. He has worked for wide range of international organizations, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Bank, the European Union, the Ford Foundation, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the UNDP, AusAID, the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, as well as a number of transnational corporations and NGOs.

His particular expertise is in human rights and the global economy, focusing on the respective roles and responsibilities of corporations and states. He is internationally recognized as a leader in the field, having published widely in the area and been asked to advise the United Nations, the UK Parliament, the US Congress and the Australian Government on the topic.

Recent publications include Civilising Globalisation: Human Rights and the Global Economy (CUP, 2009), Principled Engagement: Promoting Human Rights in Repressive States (Edward Elgar, 2013, with Morten Pedersen), The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OUP, 2014, with Ben Saul and Jacqui Mowbray) which won the American Society of International Law Book Prize in 2015, and Necessary Evil: How to Fix Finance by Saving Human Rights(OUP, 2018), a Top Ten International Affairs Summer Reading List book in 2019 and winner of the Axiom International Business Book Award in 2020. He is also a co-author (with Kym Sheehan) of the Financial Services Human Rights Benchmark.

His most recent publications includeThe Liberty Paradox: Living with the Responsibilities of Freedom(JHUP, 2024) andIn a Rain of Dust: Death, Deceit, and the Lawyer who Busted Big Asbestos(JHUP, 2025) which narrates the extraordinary story behind the iconic House of Lords’ case of Lubbe v Cape Plc in 2000 on corporate liability for asbestos poisoning of thousands of South African asbestos miners, their families, and the communities they lived in. Currently, he is working on a new book documenting the extraordinary consequences of Britain’s accidental apology for the Irish Famine 150 years after the event.

  • International and domestic human rights law
  • Corporations and human rights
  • Economic, social and cultural rights
  • Human rights and global finance

Publications

Books

  • Kinley, D. (2025). In a Rain of Dust: Death, Deceit, and the Lawyer Who Busted Big Asbestos. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. [More Information]
  • Kinley, D. (2024). The Liberty Paradox: Living with the Responsibilities of Freedom. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Kinley, D. (2018). Necessary Evil: how to fix finance by saving human rights. New York: Oxford University Press. [More Information]

Edited Books

  • Kinley, D., Sadurski, W., Walton, K. (2013). Human Rights: Old Problems, New Possibilities. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing. [More Information]
  • Pedersen, M., Kinley, D. (2013). Principled Engagement: Negotiating Human Rights in Repressive States. Farnham, United Kingdom: Ashgate.
  • Kinley, D. (2009). Human Rights and Corporations. Farnham: Ashgate. [More Information]

Book Chapters

  • Kinley, D. (2018). The politics of human rights and finance. In Tom Campbell, Kylie Bourne (Eds.), Political and Legal Approaches to Human Rights, (pp. 155-167). Abingdon: Routledge. [More Information]
  • Kinley, D. (2015). Development, the Rule of Law and Business. In Jeffrey Jowell, Christopher Thomas, Jan van Zyl Smit (Eds.), Rule of Law Symposium 2014: The Importance of the Rule of Law in Promoting Development, (pp. 60-69). Singapore: Academy Publishing: Singapore Academy of Law.
  • Kinley, D. (2015). Finding and Filling the Democratic Deficit in Human Rights. In Murray Hunt, Hayley J. Hooper, Paul Yowell (Eds.), Parliaments and Human Rights: Redressing the Democratic Deficit, (pp. 29-37). Oxford: Hart Publishing. [More Information]

Journals

  • Bronitt, S., Kinley, D. (2017). The Limits of Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights: A Right to Live Free from Corruption? Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy, 42, 228-246.
  • Kinley, D. (2016). Book Review - Diane A. Desierto, Public Policy in International Economic Law: The ICESCR in Trade, Investment and Finance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. Pp. 448. £ 70.00. ISBN: 9780198716938. Journal of World Investment and Trade, 17(5), 861-863.
  • Meyersfeld, B., Kinley, D. (2015). Banks and Human Rights: A South African Experiment. SUR - International Journal on Human Rights, 12(22), 189-205. [More Information]

Report

  • Sheehan, K., Kinley, D. (2021). Financial Services and Human Rights Benchmark: Summary reports for 22 ASX-listed Financial Services Entities. [More Information]
  • Sheehan, K., Kinley, D. (2021). The 2020 Financial Services Human Rights Benchmark Report, A Study of the Human Rights Performance of 22 ASX-listed Financial Services Entities. [More Information]
  • Sheehan, K., Kinley, D. (2021). The Financial Services Human Rights Benchmark, Methodology Report. [More Information]

Other

  • Kinley, D., Rice, S. (2021), Submission (No.91) to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry on the Religious Discrimination Bill 2021 and Related Bills.
  • Kinley, D. (2018), Submission to Australian Royal Commission on Banking and Financial Services - Community Expectations: Putting People Before Profit Means Taking Human Rights Seriously.
  • Sheehan, K., Kinley, D. (2018), Submission to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking and Financial Services Sector - Community Expectations: Putting People Before Profit Means Taking Human Rights Seriously.

2025

  • Kinley, D. (2025). In a Rain of Dust: Death, Deceit, and the Lawyer Who Busted Big Asbestos. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. [More Information]

2024

  • Kinley, D. (2024). The Liberty Paradox: Living with the Responsibilities of Freedom. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

2021

  • Sheehan, K., Kinley, D. (2021). Financial Services and Human Rights Benchmark: Summary reports for 22 ASX-listed Financial Services Entities. [More Information]
  • Kinley, D., Rice, S. (2021), Submission (No.91) to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry on the Religious Discrimination Bill 2021 and Related Bills.
  • Sheehan, K., Kinley, D. (2021). The 2020 Financial Services Human Rights Benchmark Report, A Study of the Human Rights Performance of 22 ASX-listed Financial Services Entities. [More Information]

2018

  • Kinley, D. (2018). Necessary Evil: how to fix finance by saving human rights. New York: Oxford University Press. [More Information]
  • Kinley, D. (2018), Submission to Australian Royal Commission on Banking and Financial Services - Community Expectations: Putting People Before Profit Means Taking Human Rights Seriously.
  • Sheehan, K., Kinley, D. (2018), Submission to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking and Financial Services Sector - Community Expectations: Putting People Before Profit Means Taking Human Rights Seriously.

2017

  • Bronitt, S., Kinley, D. (2017). The Limits of Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights: A Right to Live Free from Corruption? Australian Journal of Legal Philosophy, 42, 228-246.

2016

  • Kinley, D. (2016). Book Review - Diane A. Desierto, Public Policy in International Economic Law: The ICESCR in Trade, Investment and Finance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. Pp. 448. £ 70.00. ISBN: 9780198716938. Journal of World Investment and Trade, 17(5), 861-863.
  • Meyersfeld, B., Kinley, D. (2016), Can human rights actors speak the language of finance?. [More Information]

2015

  • Meyersfeld, B., Kinley, D. (2015). Banks and Human Rights: A South African Experiment. SUR - International Journal on Human Rights, 12(22), 189-205. [More Information]
  • Augenstein, D., Kinley, D. (2015). Beyond the 100 Acre Wood: in which international human rights law finds new ways to tame global corporate power. The International Journal of Human Rights, 19(6), 828-848. [More Information]
  • Kinley, D. (2015). Book Review - WALKING A TIGHTROPE: Defending Human Rights in China. Asian Insights, no. 6. By Gert Holmgaard Nielsen. Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2014. xxxii, 277 pp. (B&W photos.) £18.99, paper. ISBN 978-87-7694-131-4. Pacific Affairs, 88(4), 900-902.

2014

  • Kinley, D. (2014), A New Right to Freedom from Corruption, presented to the Australian Human Rights Commission (April 2014).
  • Kinley, D. (2014). Finding Freedom: Human Rights in the Political Economy. Journal of International Trade Law, 5, 329-338.
  • Saul, B., Kinley, D., Mowbray, J. (2014). The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Commentary, Cases, and Materials. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2013

  • Kinley, D. (2013). Civilising Globalisation: Human Rights and the Global Economy (Chinese Edition translated by Sun Shiyan). Beijing, China: China University of Political Science and Law Press.
  • Kinley, D. (2013). Development as a Vehicle for Principled Engagement on Human Rights: The Implications of "New Aid"? In Morten B. Pedersen, David Kinley (Eds.), Principled Engagement: Negotiating Human Rights in Repressive States, (pp. 199-225). Farnham, United Kingdom: Ashgate. [More Information]
  • Kinley, D. (2013). Finding Freedom in China: Human Rights in the Political Economy. SUR - International Journal on Human Rights, 10(19), 142-154. [More Information]

2012

  • Kinley, D. (2012). Bendable Rules: The Development Implications of Human Rights Pluralism. In B Tamanaha, C Sage and M Woolcock (Eds.), Legal Pluralism and Development: Scholars and Practitioners in Dialogue, (pp. 50-65). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
  • Kinley, D., Murray, O. (2012). Corporations that Kill: Prosecuting Blackwater. In Simon Bronitt, Miriam Gani and Saskia Hufnagel (Eds.), Shooting to Kill: Socio-Legal Perspectives on the Use of Lethal Force, (pp. 293-316). Oxford and Portland: Hart Publishing. [More Information]
  • Kinley, D., Ernst, C. (2012). Exile on Main Street: Australia's Legislative Agenda for Human Rights. European Human Rights Law Review, (1), 58-70.

2011

  • Murray, O., Kinley, D., Pitts, C. (2011). Exaggerated Rumours of the Death of an Alien Tort? Corporations, Human Rights and the Remarkable case of Kiobel. Melbourne Journal of International Law, 12(1), 57-94.
  • Dowell-Jones, M., Kinley, D. (2011). Minding the Gap: Global Finance and Human Rights. Ethics and International Affairs, 25(2), 183-210. [More Information]
  • Kinley, D., Saul, B. (2011). Review of Human Rights Education and Training in the Criminal Justice System in Nepal. Nepal Law Review.

2010

  • Kinley, D. (2010). After the Fall - Poverty, Politics and Human Rights, Post-GFC. In Christina Binder, Harald Eberhard, Konrad Lachmayer, Gregor Ribarov & Thallinger (Eds.), Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Rights: Proceedings ofthe 5th Vienna Workshop on International Constitutional Law, (pp. 23-31). Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft.

2009

  • Kinley, D. (2009). 'No soul to be damned, no body to be kicked' .. but corporations have reputations to lose. Keeping Good Companies, 61(11), 654-658.
  • Kinley, D. (2009). Civilising Globalisation: Human Rights and the Global Economy. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
  • Kinley, D. (2009), Civilising the global economy.

2008

  • Kinley, D., Nolan, J. (2008). Human Rights, Corporations and the Global Economy: An International Law Perspective. In A G Scherer and G Palazzo (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Global Corporate Citizenship, (pp. 343-373). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Kinley, D., Nguyen, T. (2008). Viet Nam, Human Rights and Trade: Implications of Viet Nam's Accession to the WTO. Dialogue on Globalization, 39(May 2008), 3-44.

2007

  • Kinley, D., Nolan, J., Zerial, N. (2007). 'The Norms are Dead. Long Live the Norms!' The Politics Behind the UN Human Rights Norms for Corporations. In D. McBarnet, A. Voiculescu & T. Campbell (Eds.), The New Corporate Accountability: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law, (pp. 459-475). UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Kinley, D., Wilson, T. (2007). Engaging a pariah: Human rights training in Burma/Myanmar. Human Rights Quarterly, 29(2), 368-402. [More Information]
  • Kinley, D. (2007). Human Rights Fundamentalisms. Sydney Law Review, 29(4), 545-575.

2006

  • Kinley, D. (2006). Human Rights and the World Bank: Practice, Politics and Law. In Ana Palacio, Caroline Sage & Michael Woolcock (Eds.), The World Bank Legal Review: Law, Equity, and Development Volume 2, (pp. 353-383). Washington, D.C.: Martinus Nijhoff.
  • Kinley, D. (2006). Human Rights and the World Bank: Practice, Politics and Law. In K C Raj, D K Srivastava (Eds.), Human Rights and Development: Challenges for Governance Reform in Asia. LexisNexis.
  • Kinley, D. (2006), Short review - International Trade and Human Rights: Foundations and Conceptual Issues. Edited by Frederick M. Abbott, Christine Breining-Kaufmann, and Thomas Cottier. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006. Pp. 384. $80.00.

2005

  • Kinley, D. (2005). Corporate Social Responsibility and International Human Rights Law. In R Mullerat (Eds.), Corporate Social Responsibility: The Corporate Governance of the 21st Century, (pp. 205-214). The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Kinley, D., Thai, C. (2005). Human Rights and the Global Economy. (Quyen Con Nguoi Va Nen Kinh Te Toan Cau.). In D Kinley & C Thai (Eds.), International Human Rights Law, (pp. 385-410). Hanoi, Vietnam: Publishing House of Political Theory.
  • Kinley, D., Thai, C. (2005). International Human Rights Law. Hanoi, Vietnam: Publishing House of Political Theory.

2004

  • Kinley, D., Tadaki, J. (2004). From Talk to Walk: The Emergence of Human Rights Responsibilities for Corporations at International Law. Virginia Journal of International Law, 44(4), 931-1023.
  • Kinley, D. (2004). Lawyers, Corporations and International Human Rights Law. Company Lawyer, 25(10), 298-302.
  • Kinley, D., Martin, P. (2004). The Institutional Mediation of Human Rights in Australia. In Paul Boreham, Geoffrey Stokes, Richard Hall (Eds.), The Politics of Australian Society: Political Issues for the New Century (2nd edition), (pp. 180-200). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education.

2003

  • Kinley, D. (2003). Globalisation and The Law. Legaldate, 15(4), 1-3.
  • Kinley, D., McBeth, A. (2003). Human Rights, Trade and Multinational Corporations. In R Sullivan (Eds.), Business and Human Rights: Dilemmas and Solutions, (pp. 52-68). UK: Greenleaf Publishing Limited.

2002

  • Kinley, D. (2002). After Johannesburg: Can human Rights be Privatised Too? Alternative Law Journal, 27(6), 292-293.
  • Kinley, D., Bottomley, S. (2002). Commercial Law and Human Rights. UK: Ashgate.
  • Kinley, D. (2002). Human Rights as Legally Binding or Merely Relevant? In D Kinley & S Bottomley (Eds.), Commercial Law and Human Rights, (pp. 25-45). UK: Ashgate.

2001

  • Kinley, D. (2001). Human Rights in International and Australian Law. Australian Yearbook of International Law.

1998

  • Kinley, D. (1998). Human Rights in Australian Law: Principles, Practice and Potential. Sydney, NSW: The Federation Press.

1995

  • Bronitt, S., Kinley, D., Burns, F. (1995). Principles of European Community Law: Commentary and Materials. Sydney, NSW: Law Book Company, The.

1993

  • Kinley, D. (1993). The European Convention on Human Rights: Compliance without Incorporation. Aldershot, UK: Dartmouth Publishing Company.

Selected Grants

2022

  • Developing Human Rights Benchmarks for the Financial Service Industry - Testing indicators from an Australian project in Switzerland, Kinley D, Baumannn-Pauly D, Sheehan K, Office of Global Engagement/Partnership Collaboration Awards

2013

  • An Inquisitorial Model of Criminal Law and Procedure in Common Law Countries , Bakken T, Kinley D, DVC Research/International Research Collaboration Award (IRCA)
  • Human rights and the environmental impact of mining in Africa, Viljoen F, Hansungule M, Manirakiza P, Nyaletsossi Voule C, Thuo J, Kinley D, Australian Aid/Research Grants Program FPRx333 SCHx934

In the media

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