Dr Dominic Dagbanja

Dr Dominic Dagbanja is a Solicitor who practises in the area of Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution.

Dr Dominic Dagbanja is admitted as a lawyer both in Ghana and Australia. He received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Law (International Law, with a particular focus on International Investment Law and Investment Treaty Arbitration) from The University of Auckland; Master of Laws in Government Procurement Law from The George Washington University; Master of Laws in Transnational Business Practice from University of the Pacific; Juris Doctor from The University of Western Australia; Bachelor of Laws from University of Ghana; and Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with Linguistics from University of Ghana. He holds the Qualifying Certificate and Certificate of Enrolment as a Barrister and Solicitor from Ghana School of Law and Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from The College of Law (Australia) Ltd.

Dr Dagbanja practised law at the law firm of Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa and Ankomah in Ghana where he worked in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution and Commercial Law Departments. As an Associate at the firm, Dr Dagbanja drafted affidavits, pleadings, tenancy agreements, correspondences, legal advice and opinions, motions, written addresses, loan agreements, share sale and purchase agreements and share option agreements; assisted partners in performing due diligence work which included the determination of tax compliance; and appeared in court for clients. He subsequently joined the Attorney-General’s Department and Ministry of Justice of Ghana where he practised both in the Civil Division and Prosecution Division as an Assistant State Attorney.

Dr Dagbanja also served as a Senior Legal Officer at the Public Procurement Authority of Ghana where he advised state procurement entities on matters of public procurement law and policy and disputes with private tenderers. He carried out legal research, interpreted the provisions of the Public Procurement Act and related legislation, tender documents and tender evaluation reports and provided legal advice and opinion on a variety of procurement issues including suspension of procurement proceedings, the merits or otherwise of complaints, and domestic mechanisms for settling procurement disputes in Ghana.

A legal scholar with high research quality and impactful outcomes of international recognition and standing, Dr Dominic Dagbanja is an Associate Professor of Law at Curtin University Law School where he teaches and researches in Corporate Law, and International Economic Law.

He has served as an International Investment Policy Consultant to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat on investment treaty law and arbitration and public health and sustainable development in the African Protocol on Investment. Associate Professor Dagbanja has published extensively in reputable peer-review international law journals including in Cambridge Law Review, Journal of International Economic Law, Journal of World Investment and Trade, Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal and Transnational Legal Theory.

He is the author of The Investment Treaty Regime and Public Interest Regulation in Africa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022). He previously served as a Senior Lecturer in Law at The University of Western Australia where he introduced International Investment Law unit, a first of its kind in Western Australian legal education. He received The University of Western Australia Law School Early-Career Research Award Special Commendation and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and Society of International Economic Law Award for Research on Investment and Development.

Membership and Board Positions

• Member, American Society of International Law
• Member, Ghana Bar Association
• Member, Law Society of Western Australia
• Affiliated Expert, Asia Pacific Foreign Direct Investment Network
• Member, Academic Forum on Investor-State Dispute Settlement
• Board Member, Centre for Alternative Politics & Security, West Africa
• Editorial Board Member, Journal of World Investment and Trade
• Editorial Board Member, Brills Comparative Law in Global Perspective Series