Dr Onyoja Momoh

Biography

Onyója is a lecturer in Private International Law at the University of Aberdeen, with a focus on family law. She read BA(Hons) Economics & Law at the University of Leicester, and was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 2010 (Gray's Inn). She is consistently ranked as a leading junior in the Legal 500 UK for children law.  

As recipient of the Elphinstone PhD scholarship in 2014, her doctoral research focused on "Domestic and family violence in the context of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction", supervised by Dr Katarina Trimmings and Professor Paul Beaumont and culminating in a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of Private International Law. Prior to this, her LLM thesis with distinction examined the best interests of the child in Hague return proceedings. Between 2019-21, she worked as post-doctoral research fellow on the major collaborative EU-funded POAM project where she co-wrote the Best Practice Guide and authored a chapter in the book Domestic Violence and Parental Child Abduction.

Onyoja has presented at various conferences, institutions and training workshops around the world; as well as an expert in proceedings, before the UK House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee, and the HCCH. She is a JSIL International Advisor, Fellow of IFRA-Nigeria (The French Institute for Research in Africa) and inaugural chair of the Nigeria Group on Private International Law (NGPIL).

In recent years, Onyoja's research and advocacy initiatives have focused on the conflict of laws/private international law (family law) in Africa, with a particular interest in Nigeria, and the sub-saharan region.

Prizes and Awards

• Legal 500 UK, Leading Junior for Children Law (since 2017)
• Rising Star - Barrister/Advocate of the Year finalist, Women in Law Awards 2020
• International Grant Award, 2020 (Bar Council Scholarships Trust and Family Law Bar Association)
• Elphinstone Scholarship (PhD) 2014-2018
• Gray’s inn Junior Award 2009
• Winner of the Frances Oldham QC Prize for best second year performance (by a student intending to become a barrister) 2008

Research Overview

• Private international law (family law)
• International family law (Nigeria/Africa) - parental child abduction, inter-country adoption and the recognition of foreign adoption orders, recognition and enforcement of cross-border protection of children, child trafficking and human rights
• Children's rights and child protection
• Gender based violence, gender equality
• Domestic and family violence

Past Research

• PhD Research, Domestic and Family Violence in the Context of the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (funded by the Elphinstone Scholarship, 2014-2018)
• EU-funded POAM Project: The ‘POAM’ Project explores the intersection between domestic violence and parental child abduction. A major collaborative research project led by the UK (Dr Katarina Trimmings), and a core consortium including Croatia (Professor Mirela Zupan), Germany (Professor Anatol Dutta) and Italy (Professor Costanza Honorati), and three national points of contact, Spain, Serbia, and Slovenia (2019-2021)

Collaborations

1. HCCH and the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Justice/ Ministry of Women Affairs - the value and feasibility of HCCH membership and/or HCCH Conventions (especially the children conventions: the 1980 Child Abduction, 1993 Inter-country Adoption, 1996 Child Protection and 2007 Maintenance) see Abuja Mission 2021
2. Research proposal: Addressing child trafficking as a means to inter country adoption in Nigeria and the implementation of the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Inter-country Adoption (University of Aberdeen, Nigerian Institute of Advance Legal Studies; University of Lagos)

Teaching Responsibilities

• Private International Law
• International Family Law Honours
• Family Law Honours
• Children Law
• Alternative Methods of Dispute Resolution
• Introduction to English Legal System (2021/22)

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

• School of Law Ethics Officer
• Personal Tutor
• Joint Course Co-ordinator Private International Law (2022/23)
• Law Level 2 Coordinator 
• Law School Liaison with AUSA
• SQE 1 Working Group (2021/22)
• Course Co-ordinator Negotiation Skills
• Employment, Entrepreneurship and Co-Curricular Committee (2021/22)