Dr Sebastian Smart

Previously he worked as regional director for the Chilean National Human Rights Institution and lecturer at Universidad Austral de Chile. Sebastian has also worked extensively in non-governmental organizations in Chile, the United Kingdom, and Haiti, focusing on diverse human rights issues, including economic, social, and cultural rights and the impact of digital technology on human rights. Sebastian holds a PhD in Latin American Studies and Human Rights from University College London, as well as an MA in Human Rights from the same institution. He also earned a law degree from Universidad Católica de Chile.

Sebastian's scholarly work has resulted in numerous articles, book chapters, and reports on human rights, with a particular emphasis on business and human rights, transitional justice, and technology.

Sebastian has been visiting scholar at Oxford University and is current fellow on Human Rights and Technology at Harvard Carr Center. He is the author of the books: "Chile and the Interamerican Human Rights System" and "Pinochet's Economic Accomplices: An Unequal Country by Force."

Sebastian's research has received support from the Chilean Government (Fondecyt 11220195), which enables him to study cases of litigation on business and human rights, with a focus on extractive and tech companies. In addition to his academic work, Sebastian plays an active role in human rights policy and advocacy globally. He currently chairs the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions' working group on business and human rights and is a member of the Advisory Network of the Freedom Online Coalition.

• English
• Spanish

• Human Rights
• Technology and Human Rights
• Latin American Studies
• Business and Human Rights
• Economic, social, and environmental rights

• International Human Rights Law
• Technology and Human Rights
• Business and Human Rights
• Constitutional Law

• PhD, University College of London
• MA in Human Rights, University College of London
• BA of Legal and Social Science and Title in Law, Universidad Católica
• Fellow in Technology and Human Rights, Carr Center, Harvard
• Visiting Scholar, Oxford University, Latin American Center
• Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
• Critical Studies of Law and Society, CLACSO, Argentina
• Diploma in Decentralisation and Local Development, Universidad Alberto Hurtado
• Diploma in Public Policy and Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, Henry Dunant
• Specialisation in Economic Law, Bachelor & Minor in Cinematography Aesthetics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

• Co-editor Journal of Human Rights Practice
• Research Fellow in Human Rights and Technology, Harvard University
• Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment 
• Advisory Network, Freedom Online Coalition
• Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association
• Latin American Studies Association

• Chilean Mistry of Foreign Affairs. Topic: Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights
• Institute for Human Rights and Business. Topic: Built Environment and Human Rights
• FONDECYT INICIACIÓN – ANID. Topic: Business and Human Rights
• Latin American Centre St Gallen University. Topic: Smart Cities and Human Rights

Peer Reviewed Journals

Risso, M. Barbano, R. Smart, S. Lessa, F. (2026) Generative artificial intelligence, photography, and historical memory: Ethical dilemmas in the defense of human rights in the Southern Cone, Anuario Derechos Humanos https://doi.org/10.5354/0718-2279.2026.80483

Caimanque, R, Smart, S, Segura, B (2026) Port politics and the city: Valparaíso’s trajectories from contestation to consensus over Terminal 2, Space and Polity, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562576.2026.2636201

Smart, S. Lessa, F. Risso, M. Barbano, R. (2026) Archives and Algorithms: The Plancondor.org Experience and the Human Rights Potential of New Technologies, International Journal of Transitional Justice, 2026;, ijaf023, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijaf023

Smart, S. (2025) Corporate Power, Conflict and Transitional Justice: Addressing Business Human Rights Abuses in the Digital Era. Business and Human Rights Journal. 2025;10(2-3):318-334. https://doi.org/10.1017/bhj.2025.10027  

Smart, S. and Fernández, K. (2025) Invisibility and Consequences of Forced Displacement in Chile: An Economic and Social Analysis of Cases of Internal Forced Displacement during the Chilean Dictatorship, Revista Austral De Ciencias Sociales, (Especial), 263–292. https://doi.org/10.4206/rev.austral.cienc.soc.2025.ne-12

Smart, S. and Coddou, A. (2025) The intersection of artificial intelligence and human rights: An analysis from constructivism and realism in Chilean foreign policy. Anuario De Derechos Humanos, 20(2), 293–326. https://doi.org/10.5354/0718-2279.2024.76210

Smart, S. (2024) Expanding and Contracting the UN Guiding Principles: An Analysis of Recent Inter- American Human Rights Court Decisions,  Journal of Human Rights Practice, Volume 16, Issue 1, February 2024, Pages 342–354, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huad025

Smart, S. (2024) Justice in Contention: The Dynamics of Legal Mobilisation in Caimanes’ Environmental Struggle. Social & Legal Studies, 34(1), 43-66. https://doi.org/10.1177/09646639241248915

Smart, S. (2022) Completing the transitional justice narrative in Latin America [Review of the book Human rights violations in latin america reparation and rehabilitation, by E. Lira, M. Cornejo & G. Morales, Eds.]. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 28(4), 559–560. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000643

Smart, S., Coddou, A. (2022) Closing the Gap Between UNGPs and Online Content Moderation Practices, Revista di Direito Internacional, 19 Braz. J. Int'l L. 269.

Smart, S., Coddou, A. (2021) Transparency and non-discrimination in the digital welfare State. Rev. chil. derecho tecnol. [online]. 2021, vol.10, n.2, pp.301-332. ISSN 0719-2584.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5354/0719-2584.2021.61034

Smart, S. (2020) The Political Economy of Latin American Conflicts Over Extractivism, Extractive Industries and Society Journal, 7(2), 767-779. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2020.02.004

Smart, S., Letelier, A. (2019) Bridging Human Rights and Social Determinants of Health: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, 13(1), 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-05-2019-0032

Smart, S., Burgos V. (2018) Chilean Housing Policy: A Pendant Human Rights Perspective, Journal of Property, Planning and Environmental Law, 10(3), 187-201. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPPEL-02-2018-0004

Smart, S. (2018) Resistance Against Mining Extractivism in Chile, Critical Planning Journal, 23, 59-81. https://doi.org/10.5070/CP8231038128

Books

Smart. S (2025) Socio-Environmental Movements Against Extractivism, Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-06223-9

Smart, S (2025) Business, Human Rights, Technology, and Transitional Justice in Latin America: Tracing Connections, Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-89828-0

D’Avila, M., Smart, S & Komamura, K (eds) (2025) Neurolaw: legal impacts of neurotechnology, Livraria do Abogado https://hdl.handle.net/10779/aru.28573844

Bohoslavsky, J.P., Fernández, K., Smart, S  (2020) Inequality by Force: The Economic Accomplices to the Chilean Dictatorship, Rowman and Littlefield. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/pinochets-economic-accomplices-9781793616500/

Bohoslavsky, J.P., Fernández, K., Smart, S (2019) Un País Desigual a la Fuerza: Complicidad Económica con la Dictadura Chilena, LOM Ediciones

Smart, S, Fernandez, K & Peña, C. (2017) Chile and the Inter-American Human Rights System, University of London Press. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/C/bo56363953.html

Book Chapters

Smart, S. and Rayman, D (2026), AI, Environmental Damage, and Regulatory Divides: Fragmented Governance and the Latin American Response in Shuma Talukdar (ed.) Law, Accountability, and Corporate Conduct: Case Studies from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, Palgrave Macmillan https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-032-28714-4_9

Smart, S., Wiegand-Cruz, A. (2026). Interlegality and Human Rights: Implementing the Decisions of the Inter-American Human Rights System at the National Level. The Alex Lemún Case. In: Encinas Duarte, G.A., Sieckmann, JR. (eds) Interlegal Reasoning. Law and Philosophy Library, vol 153. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-22525-2_11

Smart (2026) Litigation against neurotechnology companies: challenges, early cases, and future directions in Challenges for the Regulation of Neurotechnology Companies. 55-70. Livraria do Advogado Editora, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Niazi, M., Hassan, O., Smart, S. (2026). Global AI Governance Framework: From Conceptualization to Implementation. In: Fitz-Gerald, A., Ganesh, V., Nathwani, J., Niazi, M., Herdem, M.S. (eds) Foundational Principles of AI Governance and Policy. Frontiers of Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Multidisciplinary Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-05588-0_14 

Niazi, M., Effoduh, J.O., Smart, S. (2026). Towards a Universal Convention on Artificial Intelligence for Humanity. In: Fitz-Gerald, A., Ganesh, V., Nathwani, J., Niazi, M., Herdem, M.S. (eds) Foundational Principles of AI Governance and Policy. Frontiers of Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Multidisciplinary Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-05588-0_13

Smart, S and Tabilo, T. (2025) El presupuesto público chileno con enfoque de derechos humanos: estándares, brechas y el caso SUSESO In Informe Anual sobre derechos humanos en Chile 2025. 347-399. Universidad Diego Portales, Chile.

Smart, S. and Oyarzun Gomez, E. (2025). Strategic human rights litigation against Artificial Intelligence companies. In D’Avila, Smart and Komamura (eds) Neurolaw: Legal Impacts of Neurotechnology.

Coddou, Smart, S and Vivallo (2024) Inteligencia Artificial y Derechos Humanos, Informe Anual de Derechos Humanos,

Universidad Diego Portales.

Smart, S., Oyarzun Gomez, E. (2024) The Girardi C. EMOTIV Inc. Case Before the Supreme Court of Chile: A Step Forward in the Protection of Human Neurorights? (Livreria do Abogado)

Smart, S., Fernández, K. (2024) La Complicidad de las Empresas en la Actual Crisis de Derechos Humanos en Chile In Economic Actors and the Limits of Transitional Justice. Eds. Payne, Pereira and Bernal Bermudez (DeJusticia).

Smart, S. (2024) Corporate Due Diligence and Human Rights Legislation in Chile: International Influences in an Eminent National Debate, In Hacia la diligencia debida obligatoria en derechos humanos.

Coddou, A., Noguera, A. & Smart, S. (2022) Smart Cities y Derechos Humanos, Informe Anual de Derechos Humanos, Universidad Diego Portales.

Smart, S., Fernández, K. (2019-2020) Cassese’s great contributions and unresolved complaint In Un País Desigual a la Fuerza: Complicidad Económica con la Dictadura Chilena, LOM Ediciones & Pinochet's Economic Accomplices An Unequal Country by Force, Rowman.

Smart, S. (2019-2020) Extractivism as a policy: From its dictatorial origins to its democratic continuity In Un País Desigual a la Fuerza: Complicidad Económica con la Dictadura Chilena, LOM Ediciones & Pinochet's Economic Accomplices An Unequal Country by Force, Rowman.

Smart, S. (2019-2020) Privatization and repression: Two sides of the same coin In Un País Desigual a la Fuerza: Complicidad Económica con la Dictadura Chilena, LOM Ediciones & Pinochet's Economic

Accomplices An Unequal Country by Force, Rowman.

Coddou, Smart, S (2019) La era digital in La hoja en blanco: claves para conversar sobre una nueva Constitución Eds. Lorca, Marshall, Selamé, & Guiloff, La Pollera Editores.

Smart, S., Fernández, K., Peña, C. (2017) Introduction, In Chile and the Inter-American Human Rights System Conference Proceedings, University of London Press.

Reports and Discussion Papers

Smart, S. (2025) Analysing a charter of rights and Institutions to tackle surveillance capitalism in the era of Artificial Intelligence: the case of Latin America, Discussion Paper, Carr Center, Harvard. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/carr-ryan/publications/analyzing-charter-rights-and-institutions-tackle-surveillance

Smart, S. (2024) AI, algorithmic discrimination & population bias, New Law Journal. https://www.newlawjournal.co.uk/content/ai-algorithmic-discrimination-population-bias

Smart, S. (2024) Algorithmic Discrimination in Latin American Welfare States, Discussion Paper, Carr Center, Harvard. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/carr-ryan/publications/algorithmic-discrimination-latin-american-welfare-states

Smart, S., Caimanque, R., Segura, B., Rivera, A. (2024) Pathways for a Just Transition in Valparaiso's Built Environment, Institute for Human Rights and Business, IHRB https://www.ihrb.org/resources/pathways-for-a-just-transition-in-valparaiso-built-environment

Smart, S., Correa, F. et al. (2015) Derecho a una Vivienda Digna en Latinoamérica: Análisis Normativo y Jurisprudencial, Thomson Reuters. https://www.trust.org/resource/derecho-a-una-vivienda-digna-en-latinoamerica/