Els Reynaers is a Partner at M.V. Kini Law Firm. She heads firm’s Environment practice; and is specialized in environmental and nuclear laws. Els has law degrees from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium (magna cum laude), and the University of Delhi, India. She completed an LL.M. degree at the University of Georgia, U.S.A, which included a thesis on the regulation of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes. Before moving to India, she worked as a lawyer on environment and energy-related issues at Allen & Overy, Brussels and at Giordano & Associates, Chicago, USA.
Prior to obtaining her Indian law degree Els headed the Centre for Global Agreements, Legislation and Trade at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi. She worked closely with the Government of India on its WTO trade and environment negotiations.
Els published a monograph on the status of precautionary principle and regularly writes articles on topical issues in the environmental and nuclear energy field. Her latest co-authored publications are: “Compensation for Environmental Damage: Progressively Casting a Wider Net, but What's the Catch?”, (Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law) and India’s Progressive Environmental Case Law: A Worthy Roadmap for Global Climate Change Litigation (Georgetown Journal of International Law, 2024).
Els serves as the General Secretary of the Nuclear Law Association of India, which she helped co-found, was the President (2015-2016) and current Vice-President (2022-2025) of the International Nuclear Law Association. She’s a board member of the Supervisory Board of the International School of Nuclear Law, France (2022-2025). The Global Law Experts (GLE) – Annual Awards edition (2024) recognized Els as Nuclear Law Expert of the Year in India. She’s regularly recognized as a leading environmental lawyer in India by the international peer-reviewed “Who’s Who Legal: Environment” edition (including in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024), is the current Vice-Chair of the IBA’s Environment, Health and Safety Law Committee (2025-2026), its Sustainability Initiatives Officer (2023-2024), and an active member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (2021-2025).
She’s member of the dynamic Rotary Club of Mumbai SOBO, of which she was the President (2022- 2023), which focuses on addressing education, health, women empowerment and environmental community service projects. She has four rescue cats and is passionate about all types of sports.
PUBLICATIONS & EXHIBITIONS
Els Reynaers, Nuclear Energy Agency, 4th International Workshop on the Indemnification of Damage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident, “Costs of Measures of Reinstatement of Impaired Environment: Analysis of terms used”, Lisbon (Portugal), a Working Group paper (forthcoming).
M P R. Mohan, Els Reynaers and Sriram Prasad, India’s Progressive Environmental Case Law: A
Worthy Roadmap for Global Climate Change Litigation, Georgetown Journal of International Law,
Volume 54, issue 3:
https://www.law.georgetown.edu/international-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2024/03/GT-GJIL240010.pdf
Participated in the collaboration and exhibition organized at the European Court of Human Rights:
“Drawing the law in the Anthropocene", a collaboration between environmental lawyers from around
the world and local artists who captured the cases in paintings:
https://medium.com/@ecoleurbaindelyon/affaire-taj-mahal-1986-racont%C3%A9-par-els-reynaers-et-alice-mettais-cartier-44d0fce9f67a
/ With accompanying radio interview – “Habiter ici et le Monde” a radio
show hosted by Valérie Disdier et Jérémy Cheval, about the project "Drawing the law in the
Anthropocene" (May, 2022):
https://www.sondekla.com/pro/event/12991
M P R. Mohan and Els Reynaers, Compensation for Environmental Damage: Progressively Casting a
Wider Net, But What’s the Catch?, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 2021, Volume 54, No.
3 (October, 2021). Available at:
https://www.transnat.org/post/compensation-for-environmental-damage-progressively-casting-a-wider-net-but-what-s-the-catch
M P R. Mohan and Els Reynaers, Right of Recourse Claims Based on Latent Defects in the Nuclear
Energy Sector in India: Brace Yourself for Fact-Intensive Disputes, 15 U. Pa. Asian L. Rev. 284
(2020). Available at:
Sector
in India: Brace Yourself for Fact-Intensive Disputes, 15 U. Pa. Asian L. Rev. 284
(2020). Available at: https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/alr/vol15/iss2/3
Els Reynaers, “The India Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP) as a Next Move: An Attempt to Getting Out
of Check” in News from the Front Lines of Nuclear Law, Nomos, (2016) pp.422. (chapter).
Co-edited the Jindal Global Law Review’s special issue on “Environmental Governance” (April,
2015):
http://www.jgls.edu.in/JindalGlobalLawReview/CurrentIssue.htm
“India's Nuclear Trade – Inching Forward?" in Key Developments in Environmental Law 2014, Canada
Law Book, (book chapter) available at:
http://www.carswell.com/product-detail/key-developments-in-environmental-law-2014
Robert J. Gruendel and Els Reynaers, “Through the Looking Glass: Placing India’s New Civil
Liability Regime for Nuclear Damage in Context”, Nuclear Law Bulletin, No. 89, Vol. 2012/1,
available at:
www.oecd-nea.org/law/nlb/ (Journal
article).
“Nuclear Liability in India”, Nuclear Future (the official Journal of the Nuclear Institute),
Volume 8, issue 2, March/April 2012, available at:
www.nuclearfuture.info (Journal
article).
The Precautionary Principle, Multilateral Treaties and the Formation of Customary International
Law, Editions Interuniversitaires Suisses (EDIS), 2008, 175 pp. Available at:
www.editions-edis.ch (book).
“The Status of the Precautionary Principle in Public International Law” in Essays on the Future of the World Trade Organization, Vol. I: Policies and Legal Issues, edited by J. Chaisse and T. Balmeli, EDIS, 2008, pp. 480. (book chapter).
“The Unbundled Singapore Issues – Tenacious and Not So New” in World Trade Organization & India – A Critical Study of Its First Decade, edited by J.K. Mittal and K.D. Raju, New Era Law Publications, 2005, 366 pp. (book chapter).
“The Relationship Between WTO Rules and Specific Trade Obligations Set Out in Multilateral Environmental Agreements” in Beyond the Transitory Phase of the WTO - An Indian Perspective, a joint publication by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Centre de Science Humaines, New Delhi, 2004, 683pp. (book chapter).
Meeta Mehra, Els Reynaers, et al., "Trade and Environment in the World Trade Organization: A Sustainable Development Perspective" in Transition Towards Sustainable Development in South Asia, edited by K. Deb and L. Srivastava, TERI, New Delhi, 2003. (book chapter).
Malini Ranganathan and Els Reynaers, “Enabling Environments for Technology Transfer” prepared for
the UNFCCC (document: FCCC/TP/2003/2, 4 June 2003). Available at:
http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/tp/tp0302.pdf
(report).
INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR
Independent Director of Godrej Tyson Foods Ltd., a joint venture between Godrej Agrovet Lt. (India) and Tyson Foods Inc. (US). March 2015 – March 2020.
MEMBERSHIP
- Member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL), 2021-2025.
- International Bar Association
– EHS Committee: Vice President (2017-2018) and its current Sustainability Initiatives Officer
(2023-2024).
- Board member of the Supervisory Board of the International School of Nuclear Law, France
(2022-2024).
- Nuclear Law Association India (www.nlain.org):
General Secretary (2011 – present)
Organising the annual training course on nuclear energy & law
- International Nuclear Law Association (www.aidn-inla.be): President (2015-2016) and
current Vice-President (2022-2024).
Organised the bi-annual Nuclear Inter Jura, 2016, New Delhi, India.
- Rotary Club of Mumbai SOBO: President (2022-2023): undertaking community service projects,
including environmental projects, e.g. with the Ocean Cleanup organization.
Awards & Recognition
The Global Law Experts (GLE) – Annual Awards edition (2024) recognized Els as Nuclear Law Expert of the Year in India.
Annual mention in the peer-reviewed “International Who’s Who of Environmental Lawyers”, between 2018-2024.
The environment department of our law firm has also been duly acknowledged by the peer-reviewed Indian Law Firm Awards, 2023: https://law.asia/iblj-awards-2023/#ESG