2027 Academic Fellow, January – December
Dr José-Miguel Bello y Villarino is Senior Research Fellow and Director of Research Engagement in The University of Sydney Law School. His fields of expertise span public sector AI and automated decision-making (ADM), AI procurement, technology regulation, administrative law, anti-corruption, integrity and international regulatory alignment. In recognition of his research and its impact on industry and the public sector, Dr Bello y Villarino’s work on AI regulation and anticorruption has been awarded the Rita and John Cornforth Medal for Research Excellence (2023) and the Scotiabank Global AI + Regulation Emerging Scholar Award (joint award, 2022). His research has also been funded via various industry partnerships, including an Australian Research Council Early Career Industry Fellow (2025-2027). Industry mobilisation of research undertaken by Dr Bello y Villarino has included assignments with the NSW Independent Commission Against Anti-Corruption as well as advisory work for the NSW Ombudsman, the Commonwealth Department of Education, the NSW AI Office, the Commonwealth Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and the Australian Army Research Centre. International experience has included contributions to the US National Institute of Standards (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework, the EU General-Purpose AI Code of Practice, the OECD and the EU Centre for Algorithmic Transparency.
Dr Bello y Villarino’s extensive experience working with and for government includes his role as a former public servant but also, more recently, as an industry-engaged researcher and leader of Research Engagement across The University of Sydney Law School promoting the importance of knowledge exchange and research mobilisation between the academy, the community and the public sector. More recently, this has taken the form research on regulatory approaches to ADM and AI, especially on how to deal with risks derived from the operation of AI systems from a comparative approach and the interoperability of these regulations. Dr Bello y Villarino has explored these questions from a governance perspective including the use of automation in government and with a particular interest in its application to the education sector. Ongoing research, funded by his ARC Industry Fellowship and in partnership with the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, is exploring multiple dimensions of governance frameworks for the use of AI and automation for anticorruption purposes in the public sector, especially targeting systemic corruption. In undertaking this research, Dr Bello y Villarino benefits from extensive national and international networks including via affiliation with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) and The University of Sydney Centre for AI, Trust and Governance.
Beyond these areas of interest, Dr Bello y Villarino’s broader academic work covers many areas of international law and legal theory, dealing mainly with finding feasible solutions to current or anticipated legal problems. He often approaches these questions favouring interdisciplinary lenses and understanding the law as a continuum between the public and private spheres. He is especially interested in problems based on his experience in the international arena, often identifying issues that could be better addressed with alternative regulatory approaches. Recent publications cover issues as diverse as deepfake regulation, AI in enterprise agreements, corruption and SDGs, human rights and artificial intelligence, women in anticorruption treaties, standardisation of AI, golden passports, international trade agreements, economic analysis of human rights, investor-state disputes, corruption-related data, regulatory competition, space research and gender and the law.
Prior to undertaking an academic career, Dr Bello y Villarino worked in various roles in the public sector and the European Union – and he is currently a member of the Diplomatic Corps of Spain (on leave). This included various roles for the European Commission and in the Council of the European Union as well as diplomatic postings in Eastern Europe, West Africa, South-East Asia and Central America and at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in Madrid. His last position before moving to Sydney was Deputy Head of Mission in Islamabad.
Dr Bello y Villarino has been a visiting researcher at the European University Institute School of Transnational Governance, the University of Santiago de Compostela Faculty of Law and Harvard Law School (Fulbright Scholar). In 2025-2027, he co-chairs the International Economic Law Interest Group of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law. He teaches at The University of Sydney Law School, including advanced courses in Law and Technology and an interdisciplinary course at the Faculty of Engineering.
Fellowship focus
Governance, regulation and procurement of AI and automated decision-making systems in the public sector, including risk thresholds, accountability, legal defensibility and operational implementation.
Publications & Awards
Selected publications – peer reviewed journal articles
Knight, Simon and Bello y Villarino, Jose-Miguel. (2026). Artificial Intelligence: A Major Change in Industrial Relations? http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6811379.
Bello y Villarino, Jose-Miguel, Weatherall, Kimberlee, Carney, Terry, Sinclair, Alexandra, Wilcock, Scarlet. (2025). Are We Regulating the Right Digital Systems? Testing Emerging Artificial Intelligence Frameworks Against Real-World Public Sector Systems. UNSW Law Journal 48(4), 1165. https://doi.org/10.53637/VRJL5367
Bello y Villarino, J. M., & Bronitt, S. (2024). AI-driven corporate governance: a regulatory perspective. Griffith Law Review, 33(4), 355–374. https://doi.org/10.1080/10383441.2024.2405752.
Bello y Villarino J-M. (2023). A Tale of Two Automated States: Why a One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Administrative Law Reform to Accommodate AI Will Fail. In: Bednarz Z, Zalnieriute M, eds. Money, Power, and AI: Automated Banks and Automated States. Cambridge University Press, 136-151. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009334297.011
Bello y Villarino, J. (2023). Global Standard-Setting for Artificial Intelligence: Para-regulating International Law for AI?. The Australian Year Book of International Law Online, 41(1), 157-181. https://doi.org/10.1163/26660229-04101018.
Bello y Villarino, J. M., & Vijeyarasa, R. (2022). International Human Rights, Artificial Intelligence, and the Challenge for the Pondering State: Time to Regulate? Nordic Journal of Human Rights, 40(1), 194–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/18918131.2022.2069919.
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