Key details
Dr Renginee G Pillay
Senior Lecturer in Law
Dr Renginee G. Pillay holds an LLB from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an LLM in International Business Law from University College London, and a PhD in Law from the University of Kent. She also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (Distinction) from the College of Law (now the University of Law) in London, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice from the University of Surrey. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Renginee is the author of the monograph 'The Changing Nature of Corporate Social Responsibility: CSR and Development - The Case of Mauritius' published by Routledge as part of the Routledge Research in Corporate Law series in 2015.
Her main research interests lie in the areas of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Governance and Business and Human Rights. She is particularly interested in the socio-legal dimensions of these concepts in relation to company law as well as law and development from a critical perspective.
Prior to joining Greenwich, Renginee was at the University of Essex and, before that, at the University of Surrey. She has also taught and researched at the Sorbonne-Assas International Law School (Universit茅 Paris II Panth茅on-Assas, Mauritius Campus); the Los Andes University (Colombia); Universit茅 Paris Descartes (France); the University of Kent and the University of Buckingham.
Responsibilities within the university
- Senior Lecturer in Law
- LLB Senior Status Programme Leader
- Module Leader for Law of Torts (UG, Corporate Social Responsibility (PG) and Business, Human Rights and the Environment (PG)
- 秋葵视频/ Norton Rose Fulbright/Disney Competition Law Mentorship Coordinator
- GOLD Mentor
- Organising Committee Member, SHIFT Conference 2022
Awards
- Research Scholarship from the Kent Law School, University of Kent 2003-2005
- Visiting Fellowship in Company Law and Corporate Social Responsibility 2015 - Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London
Recognition
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Society of Legal Scholars Council Representative for the 秋葵视频
- Convenor of the ‘Interrogating the Corporation’ stream at the annual Socio-Legal Studies Association
- Academic Advisory Committee Member of the Global Corporate Governance Institute
- External Reviewer for the Mauritius Tertiary Education Commission
- External Examiner, Sunderland School of Law, University of Sunderland 2012 – 2015
Research / Scholarly interests
Corporate Law, Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Sustainability, Corporate Accountability, Law and Development.
My current research looks at the interplay between the roles of social movements, and legal and extra-legal strategies to foster corporate accountability. In this respect, my aim is to map the territory by identifying what can be labelled 'post-voluntarist' strands ranging from legal (such as indirect private litigation and 'foreign direct liability') to extra-legal ones (for example, ethical shareholder activism) as well as an amalgamation of the two (the UN Principles on Business and Human Rights, for instance).
I am also interested in contextualised empirical understandings of CSR, corporate governance and corporate sustainability and development, which take into account the local realities of developing countries in particular.
Key funded projects
2017-2019:
Research Project funded by the Mauritius Research Council (拢5000+), led by colleagues at the University of Mauritius entitled 'Corporate Social Responsibility, Law and Development in Mauritius: Perspectives from Local Communities & Beneficiaries'. It is a follow-up empirical project based on my monograph, which aimed to provide an in-depth understanding of the impact of the implementation of the Mauritian CSR legislation on the beneficiaries of the CSR programmes.
I welcome approaches from prospective doctoral students in the areas above.
Recent publications
Monograph
'The Changing Nature of Corporate Social Responsibility: CSR and Development - The case of Mauritius' (Routledge Research in Corporate Law Series, Routledge, 2015).
Peer-reviewed publications
Book Chapters:
- R.G. Pillay, T. Soobaroyen, J.Mahadeo and N.Pariag-Maraye, 'The inclusion of sustainability in corporate law and governance in Mauritius: enlightenment or resistance' in B. Sjafjell and C. Bruner (eds), Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability (2019)
- P.Ireland and R.G. Pillay, 'Corporate Social Responsibility in a Neoliberal Age' in P. Utting and J. Carlos Marques (eds), Corporate Social Responsibility and Regulatory Governance: towards inclusive development? (Palgrave Macmillan, UNRISD 2010)
Journal Articles:
- R.G. Pillay, 'Legislating Corporate Philanthropy: The New Corporate Accountability' (2012) 12 (1) Contemporary Issues in Law Journal 75-104
- P. Lund-Thomsen and R.G. Pillay, 'CSR in Industrial Clusters - An Overview of the Literature' (2012) 12 (4) Corporate Governance Journal, Special Issue on 'A New Era of Development: The Changing Role and Responsibilities of Business in Developing Countries' 568-578
Book Review:
- R.G. Pillay, 'Book Review of Legal Approaches and Corporate Social Responsibility by A Okoye' (2017) 51(4) The Law Teacher 525
Other Publications:
- R.G. Pillay, 'The limits to self-regulation and voluntarism: from corporate social responsibility to corporate accountability' (2014) 99 Amicus Curiae 10-13
Presentations
- Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference, 27-29 March 2018, Bristol Law School, University of Bristol, UK
Paper presented: 'Corporate Social Responsibility, Law and Development: Perspective from Local Communities and Beneficiaries' Approach' (WORKING PAPER) - Cambridge Handbook on Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Corporate Sustainability Symposium, 12-14 March 2018, Faculty of Law, Department of Private Law, University of Oslo (Invited Speaker)
Paper presented: 'The inclusion of sustainability in corporate law and governance in Mauritius: enlightenment or resistance', lead author, co-authored with T. Soobaroyen, J.Mahadeo and N.Pariag-Maraye - International Corporate Governance and Law Forum on 'Multinational enterprises, corporate groups and supply chains in a globalised world: Regulatory challenges and approaches, and the future role of company law and corporate governance', 3-4 November 2017, Bucerius Law School, Hamburg, Germany (Invited Speaker)
Paper presented: 'Accountability of Transnational Corporate Groups: The Role of Corporate Governance' - African Union Law Network Inaugural Workshop, 30 June 2017, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK (Invited Speaker)
Paper presented: 'Harmonization of international business laws in the African Union: A Role for Corporate Social Responsibility' - Critical Law and Corporate Social Responsibility Network Conference on 'Critical Law and Corporate Crime', 7 June 2017, Canterbury Christchurch University, Canterbury, UK (Invited Speaker)
Paper presented: Review of Legal Approaches and Corporate Social Responsibility - 'Critical Legal Perspectives and Corporate Social Responsibility' Conference (Co-Organiser with Dr Adaeze Okoye, Canterbury Christchurch University), 8 June 2016, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London, UK
Paper presented: Corporate Social Responsibility and Development: Whither Company Law? - Small States Centre Inaugural Conference, 7 September 2015, Queen Mary University, London, UK (Invited Speaker)
Paper presented: 'Predatory Capital and The Irresponsible State:
A Critical Decoding of Mandatory CSR at the 'Gateway to Africa'', co-authored with David Quentin (Queen Mary University, London) (WORKING PAPER) - UK Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, September 2015, University of York, UK (Invited to chair the CSR Session)
Paper presented: 'The New Constitutionalism and CSR' - Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference, 31 March-2 April 2015, Warwick Law School, University of Warwick, UK
Paper presented: 'Corporate Social Responsibility and Development: A Socio-Legal Approach' (WORKING PAPER)