Interview with Muneera Al-Khalifa on Global Legal Research

Detected March 20th, 2026

Summary

The Library of Congress Law Blog features an interview with Muneera Al-Khalifa, a Scholar-in-Residence focusing on global legal research. The interview discusses her background, academic journey, and previous blog posts on topics including anti-domestic violence legislation and AI regulations in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

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This document is a blog post featuring an interview with Muneera Al-Khalifa, a Scholar-in-Residence at the Law Library of Congress. The interview covers her background in Bahrain and her academic pursuits in the United States, focusing on international arbitration, government contracts, and intellectual property.

Al-Khalifa's previous work, highlighted in the post, includes several 'FALQs' (Frequently Asked Legal Questions) on topics such as anti-domestic violence legislation in Bahrain, AI regulations in the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the regulation of cryptocurrencies in GCC countries. The content is informational and does not impose new regulatory requirements or deadlines.

Source document (simplified)

Today’s interview is with Muneera Al-Khalifa, a Scholar-in-Residence working with foreign law specialist George Sadek in the Global Legal Research Directorate of the Law Library of Congress. Muneera has previously authored the following blog posts for In Custodia Legis: FALQs: Anti-Domestic Violence Legislation in Bahrain; FALQs: AI Regulations in the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States – Part One; FALQs: AI Regulations in the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States – Part Two; FALQs: Regulation of Cryptocurrencies in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries – Part One; and FALQs: Regulation of Cryptocurrencies in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries – Part Two.

Describe your background.

I was born and raised in the Kingdom of Bahrain, a beautiful island nation in the Arabian Gulf. An archipelago of 30 islands, Bahrain has a rich heritage spanning over 5,000 years and was once home to great civilizations, including Dilmun, Tylos, and Awal.

I am currently a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) candidate at the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. Studying law abroad has been a transformative experience because, unlike many other disciplines, law is deeply rooted in each nation’s unique legal system, institutional structure, language, legal traditions, and cultural foundations.
What is your academic/professional history?

My academic journey began at the University of Bahrain – Bahrain’s largest public university. I started my L.L.B. at the age of 17 and quickly developed a deep passion for legal scholarship, which motivated me to continue my studies and earn my L.L.M. in 2019, specializing in dispute resolution, with a focus on international arbitration law. I chose to pursue both degrees in Bahrain to develop a thorough understanding of the Bahraini legal system, which is rooted primarily in civil law, customary law, and Shari’a (Islamic jurisprudence).

At the same time, I have always been intellectually curious about litigation and comparative legal systems. This curiosity led me to the United States, where I pursued my L.L.M. in government contracts and government procurement law at the George Washington University Law School, focusing on innovation and the government procurement of intellectual property.

To further advance my academic and professional goals, I subsequently enrolled in the S.J.D. program at GW Law School. My research focuses on a comparative study of multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, the European Union, and the Arabian Gulf States, with a particular focus on the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

I began my professional career working in local law firms in Bahrain and at Bahrain’s National Institute for Human Rights, before gaining judicial experience at a specialized commercial court in Bahrain. This experience deepened my understanding of commercial litigation and court procedure.

I am currently an academic at the College of Law, University of Bahrain. My work reflects a strong interest in bridging the gap between legal practice and academia. In this regard, I served as Bahrain’s local intellectual property (IP) law expert under the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) SME intermediary project, where I worked with local SMEs by providing IP advisory support and authored toolkits on IP rights, designed to help startups and SMEs effectively leverage these rights under Bahraini law.

In addition, I actively contribute to comparative and international research initiatives. I served as a legal expert for an expert survey by Leiden University and as a lead author of Bahrain’s National Report for a project conducted by the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, featured in the Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law (2026).
How do you describe your job to other people?

During my four-year program as an S.J.D. candidate in Washington, D.C, I gained practical experience in international and comparative legal research at the Law Library of Congress. In 2024, I was selected as a Legal Research Fellow in the Foreign, Comparative & International Law Division I of the Global Legal Research Directorate (GLRD) at the Law Library of Congress, where I contributed to various publications and a report issued by the Library.

From 2025 to 2026, I worked as a Scholar-in-Residence at the Global Legal Research Directorate (GLRD). In both roles, my responsibilities included providing research services on the laws of foreign countries. My work also involved addressing research inquiries regarding the laws and legal systems of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) jurisdictions. As well as authoring informative legal materials of moderate complexity for the Law Library’s publications, I was also pleased to learn that my blog on the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was the most viewed In Custodia Legis post of 2025.
In both roles—as a Legal Research Fellow and Scholar-in-Residence—I worked with foreign law specialist George Sadek, conducting research on different topics for publication by the Law Library of Congress, including contributions to the Global Legal Monitor and In Custodia Legis.

Why did you want to work at the Library of Congress?

Working at the Library of Congress has been an invaluable learning experience, allowing me to strengthen my research skills in international and comparative law. In both of my roles, I have conducted in-depth research on complex legal questions across multiple jurisdictions that have not only deepened my understanding of diverse legal systems but also honed my ability to approach legal issues with analytical rigor and a global perspective.
What is the most interesting fact that you’ve learned about the Library?

The most interesting fact I have learned about the Library is that it is not only the largest library in the world but also the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States, having been founded in 1800. It houses a remarkable collection of rare Arabic-language materials, most of which are held in the African and Middle Eastern Division. This division maintains the Rare Arabic Language Materials collection and provides research guides, finding aids, and reference assistance for navigating the Arabic collections through the African and Middle Eastern Reading Room .

Another fascinating aspect is the Global Legal Research Directorate (GLRD), often described as a “mini-UN” of legal research, comprised of legal specialists from various jurisdictions around the world who conduct and provide research to Congress, all three branches of the U.S. government, and the public.
What’s something that most of your co-workers don’t know about you?

Something most of my co-workers do not know about me is that I have enjoyed Arabic calligraphy since middle school. I am not a professional, but I love the creativity and mindfulness it brings. I am also passionate about traveling, exploring different cultures, and connecting with people from diverse backgrounds.
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