Clara Sandoval Villalba

Prof Clara Sandoval Villalba is an Honorary Professor at the Essex Law School, University of Essex. She is a qualified lawyer, a member of the Human Rights Centre, and Co-Director of the Essex Transitional Justice Network. Her work focuses on the Inter-American System of Human Rights, Transitional Justice, and the Right to Reparation. She is actively involved in research, teaching at the Geneva Academy's Master in Transitional Justice, and leading projects on victims' participation and reparation in transitional settings.

Clara co-authored notable works such as Reparations for Victims of Armed Conflicts (CUP, 2020) and Doctrine, Practice, and Advocacy in the Inter-American Human Rights System (OUP, 2019). Her research projects include AHRC GCRF and ESRC-funded initiatives in Colombia, Guatemala, and Peru, analyzing reparation programs, victims' participation, and accountability mechanisms.

Her recent publications address virtual hearings during the pandemic, gender-sensitive reparations, and the interplay between supranational bodies and state implementation of reparation orders. Clara has advised the ICC on reparation awards and contributed to UN Guidance Notes on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence. She is also engaged in human rights litigation and capacity-building with organizations like REDRESS.

Clara supervises PhD students in Human Rights and Law, including Paulina Jimenez Fregoso and Maria Delia Sanchez Del Angel, who explored intersectionality and victims' participation in transitional justice. She has secured grants from AHRC, ESRC, and the British Council for research on land restitution, structural inequalities, and transitional justice mechanisms.

For academic inquiries, she can be reached via email at csando@essex.ac.uk by appointment at the Colchester Campus, University of Essex.