Anthony Regan

Anthony Regan is a constitutional lawyer and a Fellow in the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Program at the Australian National University (ANU). His main fields of research are law and politics of constitutions, conflict and reconciliation, and the design of the state as part of post-conflict political settlements. He has been a constitutional adviser to the governments of Papua New Guinea and Uganda, having lived and worked in both countries. In Uganda, Regan was a full-time advisor for the country's constitution making process.  In Bougainville (Papua New Guinea), Regan has been an adviser to the Bougainville parties from 1997 to present, as part of the Bougainville peace process. Also during this time, Regan has worked full-time as an adviser on constitutional development in Bougainville from August 2002 to October 2004. Aside from his work in Papua New Guinea, Regan has also worked with the peace processes of both the Solomon Islands and Sri Lankan and the constitution-making processes of Uganda (1991-1996), East Timor (2001-2002) and the Solomon Islands. He has also advised the leadership of Nagaland (northeast India) in negotiations with the Government of India. Aside from his advisory work, Regan has also written extensively on decentralization and autonomy in Papua New Guinea, peace-building and constitution-making in various contexts, as well as other related subjects.

The interview was conducted in April 2009 in Cape Town about Regan's experience with constitution building.