Sujit Choudhry

UC Berkeley and sexual harassment lawsuit In June 2014, Choudhry became Dean of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Choudhry denied sexually harassing Sorrell, but acknowledged giving hugs and kisses without sexual intent. The university's office for the prevention of harassment and discrimination concluded that Choudhry's behavior had violated campus sexual harassment policies, and also said sexual intent was not required to demonstrate a violation. and against the Regents of the University of California for their failure to respond effectively to her complaint against Choudhry. Choudhry thereafter went on an indefinite leave of absence from his position as dean, but continued to remain a member of faculty. His return to the Berkeley campus in September 2016 as a member of faculty was met by a student protest. The lawsuit resulted in settlement agreements, under which Choudhry agreed to pay a total of $50,000 to Sorrell's attorneys, a contribution that his lawyer William Taylor called "relatively minimal." Choudhry also agreed to pay $50,000 to charities of Sorrell's choice. The university terminated the disciplinary process, and Choudhry was permitted to remain a member of the faculty "in good standing", until he "voluntarily" resigned the following year. Choudhry sued Berkeley, alleging racial discrimination, but dropped the complaint following the settlement.

In 2021, Choudhry represented Canadian author Joel Bakan in a lawsuit against Twitter, claiming Twitter's refusal to publish a paid tweet promoting Bakan's documentary The Corporation violated Bakan's free speech rights; Choudhry also sued the Canadian government for failing to issue regulations that protect constitutional freedom of speech on technology platforms. In 2023, the Ontario Superior Court ruled against Twitter's attempt to have the case thrown out.

In 2021, Choudhry represented seven families in a citizenship case challenging the constitutionality of a 2009 change in the Canadian Citizenship Act. He argued that the law unconstitutionally cut off birthright citizenship to children born abroad to Canadian parents who were also born outside Canada, effectively making the children stateless persons.

Choudhry also participated in the Public Order Emergency Commission hearing of Trudeau's actions in October 2022. He cross-examined the Prime Minister about his decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. Choudhry questioned Trudeau on whether he properly disclosed information about deliberations leading to the decision.

Scholarship Choudhry is an author of the books The Migration of Constitutional Ideas, Dilemmas of Solidarity, Constitutional Design for Divided Societies, Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, Constitution-Making, Territory and Power in Constitutional Transitions and Security Sector Reform in Constitutional Transitions.

Choudhry co-authored a report titled "Semi-Presidentialism and Inclusive Governance in Ukraine" with Thomas Sedelius and Julia Kyrychenko which was presented in April 2018 before Ukrainian constitutional experts in Kyiv. He is the Director of the Center for Constitutional Transitions.

Academic service Choudhry was also a recipient of the Trudeau Fellowship and the South Asian Bar Associations of Southern California (SABA-SC) and Northern California (SABA-NC) each awarded him the "Trailblazer Award".

In 2010, the Trudeau Foundation awarded Choudhry a Trudeau Fellowship. The South Asian Bar Association of Toronto named Choudhry Practitioner of the Year in 2011. In 2015, the South Asian Bar Associations of Southern California (SABA-SC) and Northern California (SABA-NC) each awarded Choudhry the "Trailblazer Award".

Choudhry is the Director of the Center for Constitutional Transitions. The Center for Constitutional Transitions partnered with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) on preparing a set of thematic research reports on constitutional design for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) post Arab Spring. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has cited Choudhry's work in its reports.

Selected publications

Sujit Choudhry (2019) Security Sector Reform and Constitutional Transitions (Oxford University Press). George Anderson & Sujit Choudhry (2019) Territory and Power in Constitutional Transitions (Oxford University Press). Sujit Choudhry, Michaela Hailbronner & Mattias Kumm (2024) Global Canons in an Age of Contestation: Debating Foundational Texts of Constitutional Democracy and Human Rights (Oxford University Press).