Bandar Shanneik

Academic Research

My research explores how legal systems make decisions, interpret norms and respond to social and technological change.

Drawing on both professional legal practice and academic inquiry, I work across the fields of artificial intelligence and law, comparative legal studies, migration law and family recognition. A recurring theme in my work is the interaction between formal legal rules, institutional structures and human decision-making.

Current affiliation

Research Fellow,SOAS University of London

RELI-GENE

Affiliated with the RELI-GENE project — an ERC Consolidator Grant project led by Prof. Yafa Shanneik.

As a Research Fellow at SOAS University of London, I contribute to the ERC-funded RELI-GENE project, which explores the relationship between religion, gender, and family relations in transnational settings. My research examines the legal treatment of cross-border family relationships under German, English, and UAE law, with a particular focus on recognition, migration, and the interaction between religious norms and state legal systems.

Selected Publications

  • 2027
    Who Counts as a Family in Europe: Polygamous Refugees and the Boundaries of Recognition — Journal of Law and Society (in prep.)
  • 2026
    Forced Divorce: Syrian Refugees and the Act to Combat Child Marriage in Germany — Politics of Marriage and Gender: Global Issues in Local Contexts (Rutgers University Press) (in print)
  • 2022
    Der Immobilienerwerb in den Vereinigten — immo aktuell 4(6), 316-320