Yong Zhou
Research PartnerResearch Interests
International human rights law, minority and indigenous peoples' rights, implementation of law, anthropological/sociological studies of law, environmental law, natural resources law, energy law, law and sustainable development, Sami law in Nordic countries, Chinese law in global context.
Research Areas
Nordic countries, China
Profile
Yong Zhou holds four law degrees from Norway ( PhD, University of Oslo), UK (LLM, University of Nottingham), and China (LLB, East China University of Politics and Law; Master of Law, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences). Since 1989, he has done research, teaching and program administration at the Institute of Nationality Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Faculty of Law, University of Oslo; Sami Centre, University of Tromsø; Lauterpacht Centre for International Law & Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge with focus on international human rights law, minorities and indigenous peoples´ rights, sustainable development governance. He was employed as Associate Professor (1996 - 2003) at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He is Guest Professor at Minzu University of China (Beijing), and Adjunct professor at the East China University of Politics and Law (Shanghai), and the South-Central China University of Nationalities (Wuhan).
Yong Zhou was an invited speaker by the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) at the UN Forum on the Beijing-Oslo Recommendations for the Protection of Linguistic Minorities´ Rights in the Palais des Nations, Geneva; and the WuZelin Ethno-Culture Memorial Lecturer on Indigenous Peoples´ Self-Determined Development at Tsinghua University (Beijing, 2019) in China.
He acted as an independent expert for NOVIB and the Norwegian Ethic Council to evaluate several projects including the Dutch-China Legal Aid program. During 2003 - 2015, he worked as a researcher as well as program director of the China-Norwegian research/teaching cooperation on law and ethnic affairs funded by the NORAD at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo. He is a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), IUCN (2020 - 2025).