DR. KIM ROCHA COUTO

Faculties 5 Core Faculty Members
Associate Professor

DR. KIM ROCHA COUTO

Contact: +91-832-2463915 (R)
+919326111591 (M)

Associate Professor

She is Associate Professor and Head of the Department (HOD)at VM Salgaocar College of Law. She has to her credit over two decades of teaching experience at her Alma Mater V.M. Salgaocar College of Law .

She holds a Ph.D. in Law and her research is on the topic “Enhancing Access to Justice in Goa through Lok Adalats : A Critical Legal Study.”

She is a faculty member for the Post –Graduation (Masters) Programme in Law at the Goa University since 2005, and has been a Research Guide for more than fifty students till date.

She is presently a member of the Board of Studies (BOS) in Law at the Goa University.

She is the Director of the ‘Child Rights Clinic’ of the College which believes in empowering children to defend their rights and facilitates access to justice for them. Under her charge, the Child Rights Clinic won the prestigious Herbert Smith Freehills Award for Community Engagement in India, for which she was felicitated by the Management of the College on 4th October 2019.

She is a Member of the Preliminary Assessment Committee, constituted under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, for the State of Goa, by the Director, Women and Child Development, Government of Goa.

She is the Programme Coordinator for the first-ever Clinical Student Exchange Programme between the University of New South Wales,Sydney Australia and VM
Salgaocar College of Law, Miramar,Goa on the Child Rights Clinical Comparative Development Program held in November 2019 and January 2020 respectively, to provide a unique cross cultural learning experience to students at both institutions .

She is the recipient of the “Dedicated Teacher Award” instituted by the Inner Wheel Club of Panaji,Goa and was felicitated at a function held on the occasion of Teacher’s Day, on 5th September 2018.

She is the Chairperson of the Internal Complaints Committee constituted under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

She was a Resource Person on the topic ‘Juvenile Justice Act’ at the Faculty Development Programme recently organized by Karnataka State Law University on 20 th August 2020.

She participated and presented a paper on the topic ‘Addressing Environmental Disputes in India through ADR methods: Awaiting the Green Signal,’ at the Two Day National Webinar organized by the Centre for Environmental Law, Education, Research and Advocacy (CEERA) by NLSIU-CEERA,Bengaluru.

She was a Resource Person at the International Partner Workshop at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia from 16th October to 21st October 2017, in which she highlighted the role of the Child Rights Clinic and other clinics of the College in Community Capacity Building, in her presentation on “Institutional Social Responsibility : A Commitment at VM Salgaocar College of Law, Miramar, Goa”.

She was invited to share her views for the Regional Consultation on “Law Review of Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition, Redressal) and Womens’ Property Rights” at GNLU, Ahmedabad organized by the National Commission for Women on 2nd February 2019.

She has also actively participated in the National level Consultation with Child Rights Centres in India on Child Protection organized by Child Resource Center (HCM RIPA_ Jaipur, Rajasthan on October 30th and 31st 2018.

She was an Expert Resource Person for a One Day Training Programme on Women’s Rights sponsored by NHRC, New Delhi on 6th March 2019at VM Salgaocar
College of Law on the topic “Contextual and Practical Perspectives with regard to Sexual Harassment at Workplace against Women in India”.

She graduated in Arts from St. Xavier’s College, Mapusa, and secured a First Class First at the Goa University. Thereafter, she pursued her studies at Salgaocar College of Law, securing First Class First at all the three LL.B examinations conducted by the Goa University, for which she was awarded the ‘Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa Silver Jubilee Commemoration Prize’ and the ‘Bar Council of Maharashtra Sir Chimanlal Setalvad Golden Jubilee Memorial Prize, and others.

She practised Law for a few years and later completed her Masters in Law at the University of Pune, in Criminal`2 Law and Administrative Law. She subsequently did her LL.M. from Goa University, specializing in Human Rights and was the recipient of three Gold Medals – for topping at the Goa University and securing highest marks in Constitutional Law and Jurisprudence.

Research Interests

Her areas of interest are Human Rights of Women and Children and Alternative Dispute Resolution systems and in particular – the Lok Adalat or People’s Court systems and her research contributions in this field have been well–received.

Courses

Interpretation of Statutes
Human Rights
Legal Research Methodology

Important Publications

The Civil Law and Common Law Traditions : An Appraisal, in Civil Law Studies an Indian Perspective (ed.) by Anthony D’Souza and Carmo D’Souza, 2009, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK

Healthcare in India : Need for the ‘Right’ approach!”, a Chapter published in the book titled Human Rights, (ed.) by Dr. P.K. Pandey, (2012) APH Publishing Corporation, New Delhi.

She is the content Writer of modules on “Access to Justice”, as a part of the Project of UGC E-Pathshala, PG Course Study Material, which has been published on the UGC website inflibnet.ac.in, in August 2015