Legesse Mengie

Dr Legesse Mengie

Full time

Adelaide Law School

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

Legesse is a constitutional law and public international law researcher. His research interests include comparative constitutional law, international trade law, and international investment law. He has published widely on these areas, taught courses at different universities in Ethiopia and Australia, and managed projects and services. Currently, he is a casual academic at the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia. His academic roles include teaching (at Adelaide Law School and UniSA Justice & Society) and research at the Institute for International Trade at The University of Adelaide.
In 2022, Legesse was a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford (Centre for Socio-Legal Studies). He recently completed his PhD in law at the University of Adelaide, Australia. Prior to joining the University of Adelaide, he was an Assistant Professor at Jimma University (2016-2018) and Ethiopian Civil Service University (2018-2020) and taught courses at Ambo University, Haramaya University and Hawassa University as a visiting academic. He was also vice director of Jimma University Legal Aid Centre and editor of Jimma University Law Journal.
Legesse has held various prestigious scholarships including Adelaide Scholarship International, Netherlands Government Scholarship, Open Society Foundation London Civil Society Scholar Award, Central European University Scholarship and UN International Law Fellowship. He holds LLB (Haramaya University), LLM in Comparative Constitutional Law (Central European University), LLM in International and European Public Law (Erasmus University Rotterdam), and PhD in Law (the University of Adelaide). He is a member of national, regional, and international law societies including Ethiopian Lawyers Association, the African Network of Constitutional Lawyers, International Association of Constitutional Law, and ICON-S (International Society of Public Law).

  • Appointments
    Date Position Institution name
    2024 - ongoing Sessional Academic/Seminar Leader Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide, and Justice & Society, University of South Australia
    2024 - ongoing Casual Researcher Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide
    2020 - 2024 Higher Degree by Research Student (PhD, Law) University of Adelaide
    2018 - 2020 Assistant Professor in Law Ethiopian Civil Service University
    2016 - 2018 Assistant Professor in Law Jimma University

  • Education
    Date Institution name Country Title
    2020 - 2024 University of Adelaide Australia PhD in Law
    2015 - 2016 Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands LLM, International Law
    2009 - 2010 Central European University Hungary LLM, Comparative Constitutional Law
    2004 - 2008 Haramaya University Ethiopia LLB

  • Research Interests
    Comparative Law Constitutional Law International Law Law and Society Legal Institutions

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2023 Mengie, L. (2023). The House of Federation of Ethiopia: Unfit for Federalism. Review of Constitutional Studies, 27(2), 129-160.
    2021 Mengie, L. T. (2021). COVID-19 and elections in Ethiopia: exploring constitutional interpretation by the House of the Federation as an exit strategy. Law, Democracy and Development, 25.
    DOI
    2019 Mengie, L. T. (2019). The Global Financial Regulatory System and the Rule of Law: An Appraisal of the Regulatory Process under Basel III. Law, Democracy & Development, 23.
    2017 Mengie, L. T. (2017). Restrictions on Rural Land Transaction in Ethiopia: The Case of the Regional States of Amhara, Oromia, and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples. Mekelle University Law Journal, 5.
    2016 Mengie, L. T. (2016). Market Integration through WTO Law and Questions of Democracy: The Case of Ethiopia’s Accession to the WTO. Global Trade and Customs Journal, Vol. 11(3).
    2016 Mengie, L. T. (2016). Global Trade Governance: WTO Accountability to Local Stakeholders. Global Trade and Customs Journal, 11(7).
    2016 Mengie, L. T. (2016). Urban Land Acquisition and Social Justice in Ethiopia. Haramaya Law Review, 4(1).
    2015 Mengie, L. T. (2015). ETHNIC FEDERALISM AND CONFLICT IN ETHIOPIA: WHAT LESSONS CAN OTHER JURISDICTIONS DRAW?. African Journal of International and Comparative Law, 23(3), 462-475.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS7
    2014 Mengie, L. T. (2014). The Ethiopian Urban Land Lease Holding Law: Tenure Security and Property Rights. Jimma University Journal of Law, Vol.6.
    2011 Mengie, L. T. (2011). Equal and Effective Protection for Ethiopian Urban Indigents: Constitutionality of the Existing Urban Land Tenure System and Access to Land. Jimma University Journal of Law, Vol. 3.
    - Mengie, L. T. (n.d.). Federalism as an Instrument for Unity and the Protection of Minorities: A Comparative Overview: Ethiopia, India and the US. Mizan Law Review, 10(2), 265.
    DOI

  • Conference Papers
    Year Citation
    2023 Mengie, L. (2023). Access to Constitutional Justice: The Case of Non-Judicial Constitutional Review. In Comparative Constitutional Law. Sydney.
    2022 Mengie, L. T. (2022). The House of Federation of Ethiopia: Political and Adjudicative Roles in the Same Hands. In Constitutional Transformations. World Congress of Constitutional Law, Johannesburg.
    2022 Mengie, L. T. (2022). Open Access to Constitutional Justice: Institutional Design as an Impediment. In Access to Justice. Oxford.
    2021 Mengie, L. (2021). COVID-19, Elections and Constitutional Review in Ethiopia. In The Future of Public Law. Online.

  • Internet Publications
    Year Citation
    2024 Mengie, L. (2024). Due Diligence Legislation and Policies: Australia’s Transparency-Based Approach to Addressing Risks of Modern Slavery in Supply Chains, Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide, Policy Brief 27. https://iit.adelaide.edu.au/news/list/2024/10/09/due-diligence-legislation-and-policies.
    DOI

Civil Society Scholar Award (Open Society Foundation London) 2022   

Adelaide Scholarship International 2020

UN Regional Courses in International Law Fellowship 2017 

Netherlands Masters Fellowship 2015 

Central European University Scholarship 2009

University of South Australia 

Law Government and Citizenship

Constitutional Law 

Legal Analytics and Research

Administrative Law 

University of Adelaide

Australian Constitutional Law

Administrative Law

Principles of Public Law 

Jimma University 

Constitutional Law

Federalism

International Trade Law

International Investment Law

Ethiopian Civil Service University 

Comparative Constitutional Law

Subnational Constitutions and Local Government

Connect With Me
External Profiles