Prof. Paolo Davide Farah (PhD, PhD, LL.M, J.D.) works at West Virginia University (WV, USA) where he teaches climate change, energy and environmental law and policy. He is Principal Investigator at the University Institute of European Studies (IUSE) in Turin (Italy) and also Director of Research (Honorary Position) of gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (United Kingdom and USA) http://www.glawcal.org.uk .
Prof. Farah has previously taught public international law, international economic law, international business law, company law and international environmental and energy law at Edge Hill University Department of Law & Criminology in United Kingdom (2012-2014), at University of Milan and Turin in Italy (2003-2011), an Adjunct Professor (Docente a contratto) of WTO law at the Alma Mater of University of Bologne (2006-2011). Prof. Farah was also a Researcher at the Centre of Advanced Studies on Contemporary China (CASCC) in Turin (www.cascc.eu).
During the academic year 2011-2012, Prof. Paolo Farah spent one year as Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School. http://www.law.harvard.edu
He is Scientific Director and Program coordinator of the Summer School held at Peking University School of Government with two parallel curricula: “Summer Institute on Climate Change and Environmental Protection” (SICCEP) and “Summer Institute on Intellectual Property Rights and China” (IP-China). This program is organized by University of Turin Faculty of Law and University of Milan Faculty of Law in partnership with Lund University Faculty of Political Sciences in Sweden, University of Provence Aix Marseille I – CNRS Centre of Comparative Epistemology and Ergology in France, Catholic University of Milan Faculty of Law, University of Pavia Faculty of law and University of Eastern Piedmont Faculty of Economics in Italy. http://paolofarah.wordpress.com/summer-schools-in-china
International consultant and legal advisor for a project of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to assist and assess the accession of Belarus to the WTO (in particular the TRIPs agreement) and to verify whether the commitments taken by Belarus within the framework of the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation are in compliance with the future potential accession to the WTO.
Consultant for the European Commission in Brussels (2007 to now) and TAIEX-Technical Assistance Information Exchange of the European Commission (EU law implementation in new member States such as Cyprus and Slovak Republic).
He is the Vice-Coordinator of the project entitled “Evaluating Policies for Sustainable Energy Investments: towards an Integrated Approach on National and International Stage (EPSEI)” approved by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Programme. The Coordinator of the network is University of Turin Faculty of Law and The network includes 8 academic institutions and research centers in Europe, China (Tsinghua University and CRAES) and Russia. Since the beginning of his academic and professional career, Paolo Farah has submitted 9 projects to the EU commission and he had the responsibility to monitor the results of the research units and combine them in view of favouring interconnections and more interdisciplinary results of the projects. He has already been working with experts in economics, social sciences, philosophy, politics, international relations, environmental sciences and engineering.
He is also Scientific Director and Coordinator for the research project on “Current Trends of Chinese Law towards Non-Trade Concerns such as Sustainable Development and the Protection of Environment, Public Health, Food Safety, Cultural, Social and Economic Rights, Labour Rights and the Reduction of Poverty from the Perspective of International Law and WTO Law”. This project has been approved in April 2011 and funded for 2 years 2011-2012 by the China-EU School of Law (CESL) in Beijing. The funding will cover the organization of three conferences: the first one at University of Turin Faculty of Law and at the Center of Advanced Studies on Contemporary China (CASCC) in Turin, the second one at Tsinghua University School of Law in Beijing and the third one at Maastricht University Faculty of Law. The project co-funded also the publication of the book in three languages (English, Italian and Chinese).
He has studied for his J.D. (Italian Laurea and French Maitrise) in International and European Law at University Paris Ouest La Defense – Nanterre, Faculty of Law and at Catholic University of Milan, Faculty of Law. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M) in European Legal Studies from the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium and a joint doctoral degree (Double PhD) in International Law at the Centre d’Etudes et de Recherche Internationales et Communautaires (CERIC), University Paul Cézanne Aix Marseilles III (Aix-en-Provence) and at the Department of Public, Civil procedure, International and European law, University of Milan, Faculty of Law. He was a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of International Economic Law (IIEL) in Georgetown University Law Center in Washington DC. He spent one year at the Faculty of Law of Renmin University in Beijing for his thesis on “China’s Integration into the WTO and the Problem of Internal Barriers”.
He attended the high specialized summer courses at the Hague Academy of International Law during the Summer 2010. During his teaching and researching in Milan, he has been selected to be in-house resident at the Excellency College “Collegio di Milano”
At University of Milan he was co-responsible for the internships programme (in private companies, law firms, NGOs). Since January 2010 to June 2010, he has been Visiting Scholar at Tsinghua University Law School. In the Fall 2010, he was also Lecturer at China-EU School of Law (CESL – with the cooperation of CUPL – China University of Politics and Law in Beijing – Faculty of Law funded by the European Commission), Beijing Foreign Studies University, Law Department. During the Fall 2010, he taught a module on EU law in a multidisciplinary course organized by the European University Center at the Peking University, School of Government.
In 2009 and 2010, Paolo Farah was Co-Director and Member of the Faculty of the Franklin Pierce Law Center (FPLC) for the Pierce Law-Tsinghua University – University of Milan Intellectual Property Summer Institute in Beijing with a course entitled “European, American and Chinese Approaches to Intellectual Property and Competition Law: A Comparative Overview”. He had roles of joint coordination for the participation of University of Milan, Faculty of Law in other 4 summer programs in cooperation with US and Chinese Universities.
He has been Consultant (2007-2009) for the Italian Ministry of the Economic Development and Commerce and for the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) for the Development of the Relations between Italian and Chinese Provinces, in particular for Guangdong, Tangshan, Zhejiang. He has been awarded by the European Commission of a two years contract from April 2009 to March 2011 with the European Commission in Brussels and the EU Delegation in Beijing (EuropeAid/127024/L/ACT/CN_STF/08). He was principal investigator for a research project which aims primarily at investigating some of the most controversial issues raised by the Energy sector from the perspective of the law of the World Trade Organization; the Oil & Gas and the renewable energies in China; Anti-Monopoly Law in China.
He worked at the Legal Affairs Division of the WTO in Geneva, he was also an Associate of Baker & McKenzie Law Firm Milan Branch (2003-2005). Scientific Coordinator, responsible of the research group and consultant for the project 2007 on “The WTO and the Anti-dumping Law: European Union, China, Vietnam and India”, with a partnership between University of Milan, Assolombarda (Entrepreneurial Association of Lombardy Region – the largest regional Entrepreneurial Association of Confindustria – Italian National Association of Enterprises), ANCI – Associazione Nazionale Calzaturifici Italiani (Italian Association of Shoes Producers), Agenzia per la Cina , Baker & McKenzie Law Firm, funded by Finlombarda and the European Social Fund.
He has published articles in international law reviews, chapters in edited books and he recently published a book (in Italian) on Dumping and Antidumping (Il Sole 24 Ore, 2009).
He has been referee of manuscripts of monographs and articles for publishers and academic journals including Cambridge University Press on topics related to WTO Law, international trade law, EU law and Chinese law. Member of the Editorial committee of the international review “Research in Social Change (RSC)”, published by the Faculty of Applied Social Studies in Nova Gorica: peer reviewer of articles and comments on Chinese law and policy. He has presented his papers to several international conferences (Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’An, Chengdu, Suzhou, Paris, Essex, Geneva, Lugano, Bologne, Milan, Rome, Trento, Bratislava, Nicosia, Brussels, Aix-en-Provence, Washington DC). He is Italian mother tongue, he is fluent in English and French and he has a working knowledge of Chinese.