Dr Josephine Ndagire is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Public and Comparative Law at the School of Law, Makerere University. Her research focuses on governance and accountability systems in international and criminal law, with expertise in transitional justice, human rights, organised crime, and the legal implications of emerging technologies.

Alongside her academic work, she sits on the Board of Penal Reform International (London, United Kingdom), the Council of the International Society for Human Rights (Bonn, Germany), and the International Advisory Board on Gender and Justice at Bristol University Press (Bristol, United Kingdom). At Makerere University, she convenes the Faculty Colloquia Series.

She previously served as Expert Member of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Africa at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Banjul, The Gambia); Head of the Training Department at the International Nuremberg Principles Academy (Nuremberg, Germany); Director of Legal Services at the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (Kampala, Uganda); and Researcher, later Senior Researcher, at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law (Freiburg, Germany). She also held earlier positions with the International Association of Women Judges (Washington, DC) and the Wellesley Centers for Women (Massachusetts, United States).

Her research has been published by leading academic presses, including Rowman & Littlefield, Duncker & Humblot Berlin, and Oxford University Press/Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law, as well as in leading human rights, justice, and genocide studies journals.

Dr Ndagire has consulted for the Judicial Service Commission (Uganda), UN Women, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (Kampala), and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), among others, on transitional justice, criminal justice reform, gender-responsive law, and institutional accountability.

She holds a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) from Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia), a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Indiana), and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Makerere University (Kampala, Uganda).