Marija Jovanovic

Marija is a human rights lawyer whose research focuses on modern slavery and human trafficking, business and human rights, labour rights, migration and refugee law, and regional human rights systems. She holds a DPhil, MPhil and Magister Juris from the University of Oxford, as well as a law degree from Serbia.

Marija is a Research Fellow in Business and Human Rights at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights and Co-Investigator, on behalf of the Bonavero Institute, for the AHRC-funded Policy and Evidence Centre on Modern Slavery and Human Rights. Prior to joining Oxford, she held a Senior Lectureship at Essex Law School, a Research Fellowship at the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore, and a Lectureship in Law in Serbia.

Marija is the author of State Responsibility for 'Modern Slavery' in Human Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2023). Her current research examines labour exploitation, with a particular focus on how states address it through domestic legal frameworks and supply chain regulation. She also researches the compatibility of UK immigration legislation with international human rights obligations, the experiences of survivors of modern slavery in UK prisons, and UK policy responses to child criminal exploitation, sex trafficking, and violence against women and girls.

Marija's scholarship aims to advance both the theory and practice of human rights law through policy-oriented, impact-driven research. Alongside her academic work, she has acted as a legal consultant for leading international organisations and civil society organisations working in the field of human rights.