Zeinab Shekoft

Associate

Email: zshekoft@sepehrlawfirm.com

Education

  • The College for the Study of Islamic Civilisations, London (2014)
    • MA in Islamic Cultures (Distinction, GPA: 85 out of 100)
    • Awarded the Islamic College Scholarship
    • Dissertation: Islamic Family Law and the International Human Rights Law- a Consideration of the Plausibility of a Progressive Interpretation of Shari’a
  • Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran (2008)
    • LLM in International Human Rights Law (Distinction;GPA: 17.61 out of 20)
    • Receipt of Graduate Brilliance Scholarship (merit-based)
    • Dissertation (47,000 words): Capital Punishment in Islamic Jurisprudence and Human Rights Law: an Examination of the Theoretical Possibility of Abolition in Iran
    • Subjects included: Civil and Political Rights, Islam and International Human Rights System, State and Human rights, International and Regional Mechanism of Protection of Human Rights, etc.
  • Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran (2005)
    • LLB Law (first Class; GPA: 17.50 out of 20)
    • Receipt of Undergraduate Brilliance Scholarship (merit-based)
    • Awarded the title of ‘Brilliant Talent’ by the Iranian Ministry of Sciences (for achieving the nation-wide rank of 27 among nearly 0.5 million applicants in the very competitive Konkour exam- the public universities admittance exam.

Practice Areas

  • Construction,
  • commercial contracts,
  • Letter of credits & guarantees

Experience

  • Oil Industries Engineering and Construction (OIEC), (from 2014), Senior legal expert
  • Iranian Lawyers House(Aug 2008 to Aug 2009), Legal advisor
  • UNESCO Chair for Peace, Democracy and Human Rights at ShahidBeheshti University, (Nov 2005 to Aug 2008)
    • Executive Board of various workshops and conferences
    • Editor, Researcher and translator on different themes, including Child’s Rights, Public Law and Education
  • Iranian Official Gazette (Oct 2007 to Apr 2008), Legal expert
  • Iranian Islamic Human Rights Commission, (Oct 2005 to May 2006), Researcher and Translator

Languages

  • Persian,
  • English,
  • Arabic,
  • French
Zeinab Shekoftm Sepehr International Legal and Financial Consultancy Services

Research & Publication

  • ‘Islamic Family Law and the International Human Rights Law- A Consideration of the Plausibility of a Progressive Interpretation of Shari’a
  • ‘Capital Punishment in Islamic Jurisprudence and Human Rights Law: an Examination of the Theoretical Possibility of Abolition in Iran’
  • ‘Islamic Intellectuals and Capital Punishment- Possibility of abolition of Capital Punishment in Islamic Penal Law’
  • ‘Beccaria and Death Penalty’
  • ‘The role of religious elites in the evolution of religious practice in a gender-oriented Society’
  • ‘Islamic Family law and Reform- Risks and Potentials
  • ‘How Does Transnational Migration Translate into State Citizenship and National Identification?’

Certificates

  • Participating in the Leadership Program, London- 16 to 20 Sep 2013
  • Certificate of intermediate level of proficiency in Arabic from Bourguiba Institute of Modern Languages, Tunisia- Aug 2013
  • Certificate of advanced level of English from the Language Centre of Oxford University, Oxford, UK- Dec 2011

Conferences

  • Britain’s Symposium on Empirical Studies of Religion, University College London (21 Jun 2014)
    • Presented paper on ‘Islamic Intellectuals and Capital Punishment- Possibility of abolition of Capital Punishment in Islamic Penal Law’ (paper to be published in a forthcoming book)
  • The Third Conference of the British Academy International Partnerships Project, London (16 to 17 Dec 2013)
    • Religion in Public Life: British and Iranian Experiences
  • Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter (13 to 14 Dec 2013)
    • Responsibility, Autonomy and Truth in the Public Sphere: Christian and Islamic Approaches
  • Criminology and Crimes, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran (20 Dec 2010)
    • Presented paper on ‘Beccaria and Death Penalty’
  • Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran (25 to 30 Apr 2007)
    • Democracy in Iran
  • Tenth South Asian Teaching Session on International Humanitarian Law, Nalsar University, organized jointly by the International Committee of Red Cross, Hyderabad, India(11 to 18 Apr 2007)

Negar Ghiabi