Dr. Rumana Islam

Dr. Rumana Islam

Professor

Department of Law
Faculty of Security & Strategic Studies (FSSS)

rumana.law@ du.ac.bd


BANGLADESH UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSIONALS
Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka-1216

Biography

Dr. Rumana Islam is a Professor of Law at the University of Dhaka. She served as the first female Commissioner of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) from May 2022 to August 2024. Professor Islam joined Dhaka University as a faculty in 2008 as an Assistant Professor. She was nominated as a Panel Arbitrator designated by the Government of Bangladesh to the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in April 2021 for a term of six years. She completed her LLB (Hons) and LL.M from the University of Dhaka with first class in both. She earned another LL.M (specialization in commercial law) from the University of Cambridge, UK with a Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Scholarship in 2006 and obtained her doctoral degree from the University of Warwick in 2015 with Commonwealth Scholarship. During her PhD, she also obtained Charles Wallace Bangladesh Trust Doctoral Bursary, in 2013. Her seminal work on the Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) standard has been published as a book titled “Fair and Equitable Treatment in International Investment Arbitration: Developing Countries in Context” (Springer, 2018). She has published journal articles on various issues at home and abroad. She has participated and presented papers in international roundtable discussions, seminars, symposiums, and conferences held in India, South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, the Netherlands, the USA, the UK, and China. She is also an alumnus of the Scholars Workshop (2011) of the Institute of Global Law and Policy (IGLP) at Harvard Law School. She has acted as the Assistant Director of Research (Law) (part-time) at Bangladesh Institute for Law and International Affairs (BILIA), the leading think tank of law in the country from September 2015 to September 2019. Her administrative experience includes serving as House Tutor (part-time) in Ruqayyah Hall, University of Dhaka for more than eight years and as a Subwarden at Cryfield Halls of Residence at the University of Warwick from September 2011 to March 2015. She also taught at the Warwick School of Law as a Seminar Tutor during 2011-2012. She served as a consultant in different research projects by the Faculty of Law, University of Dhaka; University Grants Commission (UGC), Ministry of Law, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), and UNDP. She is an affiliated expert of the Asia Pacific FDI network and a founding committee member of the South Asian Economic Law Network (SAELN). Her areas of interest include international investment law, developing countries in investment arbitration, commercial arbitration, and third-world approaches to international law.

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

Education
Honors, University of Dhaka
Masters, University of Dhaka
Masters, University of Cambridge
Ph.D, University of Warwick, UK

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

Journal Publication

1. Rumana Islam : Human Rights Obligations in FDI Operation: A Paradigm Shift in BITs, Dhaka University Law Journal , vol.35 , no.(1) , pp.pp. 31-52 , 2024 

2. Rumana Islam and Mohammad Golam Sarwar : "Climate Change Considerations through the Environment Protection Lens in Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS): Addressing the Challenges", Transnational Dispute Management (TDM) , vol.1 , 2024 

3. Rumana Islam : Features of the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Provisions under Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) of Bangladesh: An Overview, Dhaka University Law Journal (Part F) , pp.85-103 , 2020 .

4. Rumana Islam : “Does Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard in International Investment Treaties Create a Customary Rule of International Law “, Dhaka University Law Journal (Part F) (2019) , pp.27-45 , 2019 .

5. Rumana Islam : “Autonomy of the Arbitration Clause and Invalid Contracts: All is fair in Arbitration?”, Jahangirnagar University Journal of Law , vol.V , pp.141-154. , 2017 .

6. Rumana Islam : “Banker’s Reference and the Bank’s Duty of Confidentiality under Common Law Reappraised”, Jahangirnagar University Journal of Law , vol.IV , pp.81-94. , 2016 .

7. Rumana Islam : Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard in Arbitral Practice: Sustainable Development in Context, Bangladesh Journal of Law , vol.16 , no.1 , pp.21-68 , 2016 .

8. Rumana Islam : Interplay between Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard and other Investment Protection Standards, Bangladesh Journal of Law , vol.14 , no.1&2 , pp.117-142 , 2014 .

9. Rumana Islam : “Proportionality as a tool for balancing competing interests in investment disputes: Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard in Context,", Jahangirnagar University Journal of Law , vol.I , pp.119-139 , 2013 .

10. Rumana Islam : "Role of Good Faith in Interpreting Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard in Arbitral Practice", Bangladesh Journal of Law , vol.12 , no.1&2 , pp.107-134 , 2012 .

11. Rumana Islam : Unlawful Dividends and Scope of Unjust Enrichment: Issues and Controversies in English Law, Stamford Journal of Law , vol.1 , no.1 , pp.41-71 , 2008 .

12. Rumana Islam : ‘Misfeasance in Public Office and Liability of the Bank Regulator: Revisiting Three Rivers District Council’, Chittagong University Law Journal , vol.X , pp.37-54 , 2005 .

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

Books

1. Shahnaz Huda and Rumana Islam Social and Legal Implications of Withdrawing the CEDAW Reservations on the Bangladesh Legal System and Social Norms. UNDP, 2019 

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

2. Rumana Islam The Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard in International Investment Arbitration: Developing Countries in Context. Springer, 2018

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

Awards

1. Charles Wallace Bangladesh Trust Doctoral Bursary, UK (2013),

2. Commonwealth Scholarships in the UK for PhD, 2010

3. Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Bursary for LL.M (2005-2006)

4. Justice Amiruddin Ahmed Memorial Gold Medal, 2002 for securing first class first position in LL.M, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

5. Dr. Alim Al-Razi Gold Medal, 2002 for obtaining highest marks in LL.M, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

Courses

1. Public international law

2. international investment law

3. commercial arbitration

4. International Investment Arbitration

5. Company Law

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

Honors, University of Dhaka
Masters, University of Dhaka
Masters, University of Cambridge
Ph.D, University of Warwick, UK

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

1. Rumana Islam : Human Rights Obligations in FDI Operation: A Paradigm Shift in BITs, Dhaka University Law Journal , vol.35 , no.(1) , pp.pp. 31-52 , 2024 

2. Rumana Islam and Mohammad Golam Sarwar : "Climate Change Considerations through the Environment Protection Lens in Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS): Addressing the Challenges", Transnational Dispute Management (TDM) , vol.1 , 2024 

3. Rumana Islam : Features of the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Provisions under Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) of Bangladesh: An Overview, Dhaka University Law Journal (Part F) , pp.85-103 , 2020 .

4. Rumana Islam : “Does Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard in International Investment Treaties Create a Customary Rule of International Law “, Dhaka University Law Journal (Part F) (2019) , pp.27-45 , 2019 .

5. Rumana Islam : “Autonomy of the Arbitration Clause and Invalid Contracts: All is fair in Arbitration?”, Jahangirnagar University Journal of Law , vol.V , pp.141-154. , 2017 .

6. Rumana Islam : “Banker’s Reference and the Bank’s Duty of Confidentiality under Common Law Reappraised”, Jahangirnagar University Journal of Law , vol.IV , pp.81-94. , 2016 .

7. Rumana Islam : Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard in Arbitral Practice: Sustainable Development in Context, Bangladesh Journal of Law , vol.16 , no.1 , pp.21-68 , 2016 .

8. Rumana Islam : Interplay between Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard and other Investment Protection Standards, Bangladesh Journal of Law , vol.14 , no.1&2 , pp.117-142 , 2014 .

9. Rumana Islam : “Proportionality as a tool for balancing competing interests in investment disputes: Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard in Context,", Jahangirnagar University Journal of Law , vol.I , pp.119-139 , 2013 .

10. Rumana Islam : "Role of Good Faith in Interpreting Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard in Arbitral Practice", Bangladesh Journal of Law , vol.12 , no.1&2 , pp.107-134 , 2012 .

11. Rumana Islam : Unlawful Dividends and Scope of Unjust Enrichment: Issues and Controversies in English Law, Stamford Journal of Law , vol.1 , no.1 , pp.41-71 , 2008 .

12. Rumana Islam : ‘Misfeasance in Public Office and Liability of the Bank Regulator: Revisiting Three Rivers District Council’, Chittagong University Law Journal , vol.X , pp.37-54 , 2005 .

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

1. Shahnaz Huda and Rumana Islam Social and Legal Implications of Withdrawing the CEDAW Reservations on the Bangladesh Legal System and Social Norms. UNDP, 2019 

2. Rumana Islam The Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) Standard in International Investment Arbitration: Developing Countries in Context. Springer, 2018

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

Charles Wallace Bangladesh Trust Doctoral Bursary, UK (2013), Commonwealth Scholarships in the UK for PhD, 2010 Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Bursary for LL.M (2005-2006) Justice Amiruddin Ahmed Memorial Gold Medal, 2002 for securing first class first position in LL.M, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dr. Alim Al-Razi Gold Medal, 2002 for obtaining highest marks in LL.M, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025

Public international law international investment law commercial arbitration International Investment Arbitration Company Law

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2025