articles | News archive | University of Exeter

Visualising Dialogues: A HASS PGR Creative Submissions Conference

Monday 26 June 2023, University of Exeter.

We are excited to invite postgraduate students within the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences to showcase their research through creative submissions at this one-day conference.

HRDF celebrates International Women’s Day with a short animation on human dignity & women

Catherine Dupré is pleased to share ‘The Dignity of Women: A Superpower’, a short animation that she co-produced with the NGO Dignity Rights International and Tofu Creative.

Human Rights and Democracy Forum Poster Competition

Get creative and express your appreciation of the importance of universal human rights

'Public Trust and the Populist Leader: A Theoretical Argument

Raphael Girard and Dr David Vitale publish an article in Global Constitutionalism.

Catherine Dupré gives keynote lecture on Icelandic constitutional reform

Catherine Dupré gave the opening paper at a conference convened by Professor Jon Olafsson at the University of Iceland on 20 October 2022.

Nora Jaber co-organises all-women roundtable 'Remembering Jina-Mahsa Amini

On the 4th of October, Dr Nora Jaber (law) together with Dr Katie Natanel, Dr Sabiha Allouche, and Dr Marya Hannun (IAIS) organised an all-women roundtable to discuss ongoing state violence in Iran against Iranian women, and national, ethnic, and religious minorities of Iran, including the Kurds.

The HRDF five years on

Founded in 2017, in the aftermath of Brexit and as the challenges to democracy and human rights were increasing in Central Europe, the Human Rights and Democracy Forum (HRDF) celebrates its fifth year of activity. It has offered a home to exciting interdisciplinary research at the University of Exeter and fostered the development of new projects, promoting theoretical and philosophical approaches as well as empirical and socio-legal investigation.

'Public Trust and the Populist Leader: A Theoretical Argument’

Public Trust and the Populist Leader: A Theoretical Argument’: Raphael Girard and Dr David Vitale publish an article in Global Constitutionalism.

Stephen Skinner publishes chapter on threats to the rule of law

Stephen Skinner has published a chapter entitled ‘Identifying Dangers to Democracy: Fascism, the Rule of Law and the Relevance of History’ in Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos and Yvonne McDermott (eds), Judicial Independence Under Threat (Proceedings of the British Academy/OUP, 2022).

Stephen Skinner presents research paper on subversion at Glasgow University

This year’s Gerald Gordon Seminar on Criminal Law was held at the University of Glasgow on 9 June 2022.

Natalie Sedacca publishes article in Industrial Law Journal on the minimum wage and devaluation of domestic labour

The article explores a legislative provision that has allowed some live-in domestic workers to be paid below the minimum wage.

Natalie Sedacca publishes co-authored article on the ethics of migration research in crisis

It addresses the effects of the pandemic on our research fields and interlocutors, and our positionalities as researchers, critically considering the ethics of (dis)engaging from the research field and making suggestions for a more egalitarian and engaged research ethics.

Just published: co-edited collection on human dignity and democracy

The collection identifies and discusses the connections between human dignity and democracy from theoretical, substantive, and comparative perspectives.

'The UK: a case of democratic backsliding?' Workshops materials available.

This workshop discussed recent constitutional and political developments in the UK as a possible case of democratic backsliding.

David Barrett, Richard A Edwards and Natalie Sedacca respond to Human Rights Act consultation

On 7 March 2022, Exeter academics submitted a response to the government’s consultation ‘Human Rights Act Reform: A Modern Bill of Rights.’

Launch of ‘Flexible Europe. Differentiated Integration, Fairness, and Democracy’ by Richard Bellamy, Sandra Kröger, and Marta Lorimer.

The Centre for Political Thought and the Centre for European Studies join forces for the book launch.

Robert Lamb gives paper on human rights at the Essex Human Rights Centre on 9th Feb 22

Paper was part of a panel discussion of the newly published fourth edition of Professor Michael Freeman’s (Essex) Human Rights (Polity, 2022).

Catherine Dupré publishes second edition of her commentary on Article 1 EU Charter

Documents and analyses the latest developments of human dignity in EU law and reflects on their significance.

Sundus Quereshi wins the International Human Rights Day poster competition

This year the Human Rights and Democracy Forum joined the celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and organised its first poster competition open to all Law School students.

Stephen Skinner publishes article in Oxford Journal of Legal Studies on political crime and authoritarian law

Article entitled 'Inciting Military Disaffection in Interwar Britain and Fascist Italy: Security, Crime and Authoritarian Law' is now available in the OJLS online

HRDF mourns friend and associate member Jonathan Cooper OBE

Jonathan was a renowned human rights barrister and world leading campaigner for human dignity.

Raphaël Girard presents paper at a EUI Conference

Raphaël Girard presented a paper entitled "Space, Time and 'Constitutional Impatience' in the 21st Century" at the "Dust of Time? Towards a 21st Century Constitutionalism" conference.

Natalie Sedacca presents her research on domestic work and the gig economy at online conference

Natalie’s chapter addresses domestic work, a sector of the gig economy that has received relatively little attention to date but which is highly significant, particularly for women workers.

Raphaël Girard publishes article in Public Law on accountability, populism and expertise.

In this article, Raphaël Girard questions the perceived or assumed dichotomy between populism and expertise.

Natalie Sedacca successfully defends PhD on domestic workers and human rights

The thesis analyses the legal position of domestic workers and their frequent exclusion from protective labour law legislation and criticises this exclusion on the basis of human rights standards.

Monitoring deaths associated with police use of force in Kenya and South Africa addressed in new report

The report makes country-specific recommendations and sets an agenda for future work on the monitoring of deaths following police uses of force.

Raphaël Girard publishes a book chapter on populism, ‘the people’ and popular sovereignty

The aim of the chapter is to identify and explain the defining features of the ‘ideal-typical’ populist discourse, particularly as they relate to popular sovereignty and the concept of ‘the people’.

Raphaël Girard co-presents paper on populism and public self-trust

Co-presented with Dr David Vitale of the University of Warwick at the 2021 ICON•S Mundo conference, organised and hosted by the International Society of Public Law (ICON•S).

Konstantinos Alexandris Polomarkakis co-presents paper on EU social rights

The paper was presented at the 23rd Irish European Law Forum conference on 'Critical Exploration of Human Rights: When Human Rights become Part of the Problem', hosted by the UCD Centre for Human Rights.

Christopher Stanley presents his work on litigating the Irish mother and baby home atrocity

On 28th April 2021 the Human Rights and Democracy Forum welcomed Christopher Stanley.

Mollie Gascoigne joins the Young Lawyers Committee of the Human Rights Lawyers Association

The Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA) is a forum for legal professionals and people interested in the law to discuss human rights issues.

Natalie Sedacca speaks at ‘Challenging border landscapes’ webinar

Webinar was organised by Oxford Against Immigration Detention as part of the Oxford International Women’s Festival 2021.

Natalie Sedacca publishes blog post on ruling about the value of domestic work

The post appeared on the UK Labour Law blog.

Swati Gola publishes an article on the proposed Indian legislation on surrogacy.

The article is entitled, ‘One step forward or one step back? Autonomy, agency and surrogates in the Indian Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2019’.

Processes for monitoring deaths following police use of force need urgent improvement, warns a new report

An international research team led by Exeter academics has produced a report on the recording and publishing of data about deaths associated with police uses of force in Europe.

Swati Gola presents her research on surrogacy laws in India

Swati Gola presented a paper on 13th January 2021 at the 4th Faculty Seminar (Virtual), National Law University Delhi.

Law academic gives ‘historic interview’ about constitutional reform on Icelandic TV

Catherine Dupré was interviewed on leading Icelandic political talk show, Silfrið, on 8th November 2020 about the ongoing constitutional reform process in Iceland.

Stephen Skinner presents his research on the nature of criminal law under Fascism and democracy

Stephen Skinner presented a paper on 30 November 2020 in an online seminar organised by the Oxford Criminal Law Discussion Group.

Phillipa Collins presents her research on 'Homeworking, surveillance-by-software and the right to privacy'

A recording of the talk is also available online.

Philippa Collins discusses her research on employer surveillance of people working from home

The research was published on the Each Other UK human rights charity website.

Stephen Skinner presents his research on the philosophy of legal history and the rule of law in Europe

The paper was entitled 'Fault Lines in the Rule of Law and the Shadows of History: Europe’s Present and the Presence of its Past'.

Swati Gola publishes paper on the right to health in GATS

Swati Gola publishes an article in the Pace International Law Review entitled 'Right to Health in GATS: Can the Public Health Exception Pave the Way for Complementarity?'

Dr Ben Hudson provides expertise to UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Internal Displacement

The aim of the High-Level Panel is to identify innovative and concrete solutions to the plight of internally displaced persons.

Mollie Gascoigne issues press release about her research on reforms to the Gender Recognition Act

Research suggests that introducing a third legal gender option is popular with the majority of trans and non-binary people

Stephen Skinner participates in seminar marking McCann judgment anniversary

The online seminar was organised by the Human Rights Centre of Queen’s University Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the case of McCann and Others v. United Kingdom (1995).

Philippa Collins publishes blog post on software surveillance and the home workplace

The blog post discusses the implications for privacy of home working and the ways in which software can be used by employers to undertake surveillance of their employees

Blog post examines Hungary's treatment of trans rights

Mollie Gascoigne publishes a post on the European University Institute (EUI) blog about the recent attack on trans rights in Hungary.

Christine Bicknell takes part in international Prison Oversight Conference

Christine Bicknell was an invited expert participant in an international Conference convened by the 'Prisons: the Rule of Law, Accountability and Rights' (PRILA) research group at Trinity College Dublin.

Catherine Dupré co-convenes conference panels on human dignity.

Discussion panels will be held at the annual conference of the Socio-Legal Studies Association in April 2020 at the University of Portsmouth.

Stephen Skinner takes part in a Human Rights Lawyers’ Association discussion panel on the significance of McCann v UK (1995)

The panel was held at Cornerstone Barristers, Gray’s Inn, London, on 12 February 2020.

Catherine Dupré joins board of directors of new human dignity organisation

Dignity Rights International uses legal and educational tools to advance the dignity rights of vulnerable people around the world.

Stephen Skinner presents a research paper on law under totalitarianism

The paper was presented on 5 January 2020 at the 134th annual conference of the American Historical Association in New York

Dimitrios Kagiaros publishes an article on austerity measures in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights

The article appeared in European Public Law.

Christine Bicknell publishes an article on the standard of proof in ECHR law

The article was published in International Human Rights Law Review

Dimitrios Kagiaros publishes two book chapters

One on the redistributive dimension of ‘vulnerability’ and the other as a contribution to the Scottish Feminist judgments project.

Catherine Dupré gives keynote address on human dignity and legal practice

The keynote address was at the annual conference of the Law Centres Network on 7 November 2019.

Stephen Skinner’s latest book on criminal law under authoritarian regimes published by Hart

Stephen Skinner’s second edited collection on criminal law under Fascist, National Socialist and other authoritarian regimes was published by Hart on 5 September.

Stephen Skinner’s book on the right to life and lethal force published by Hart

Stephen Skinner’s latest book, Lethal Force, the Right to Life and the ECHR: Narratives of Death and Democracy was published by Hart in August.

Catherine Dupré guest-edits a special issue of the European Human Rights Law Review focusing on human dignity in the UK.

The special issue provides essential insights to understand and use human dignity-based arguments in order to protect some of the most vulnerable members of society.

Professor Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos presents his research on criminal justice and human rights

The HRDF welcomed Professor Giannoulopoulos, Inaugural Chair in Law at Goldsmiths, University of London and Associate Academic Fellow, Honourable Society of the Inner Temple.

Dimitrios Kagiaros contributes chapter to an edited volume on European Consensus in the European Court of Human Rights

The chapter examines the use of European consensus as a tool to interpret the ECHR.

Tom Lowenthal presents research paper on children’s rights

Paper entitled ‘Children’s Rights in Independent Schools: Private Law as the Locus for Public Duties.’

Preventing Torture in Europe

The Council of Europe publishes a book co-authored by Christine Bicknell.

Christine Bicknell appointed Academic Fellow to the Inner Temple

The scheme recognises the academic and teaching excellence of its Fellows and is intended to strengthen links between barristers and legal academia.

Catherine Dupré gives key note address in Reykjavik

Entitled ‘We the People: the Constitutional Promise and Icelandic Drafters’, it reflected on the reform process between 2009 and 2017.

Kingsley Abbott publishes opinion piece on the misuse of law and the rule of law in Cambodia

It is available on the ICJ website.

Catherine Dupré awarded fellowship at Max Planck Institute for Public International and Comparative Law

She was part of the international team that commented on the LM ruling by the European Court of Justice on the Verfassungsblog.

Stephen Skinner presents conference paper on law and the state in Fascist and democratic systems

The paper was presented in June 2018 at the 5th biennial conference of the European Society for Comparative Legal History, held in Paris.

Stephen Skinner co-convenes a conference panel to explore how law structured and supported totalitarian regimes in the first half of the twentieth century

On 29 June Stephen Skinner, together with Dr Cosmin Cercel of the University of Nottingham, jointly convened a panel on ‘Law, Totalitarianism and the Modern World’ at the European Society for Comparative Legal History conference in Gdansk.

Professor David Feldman gives a guest lecture in the Human Rights and Democracy Forum

Professor David Feldman QC (Hon.), Rouse Ball Professor of English Law at the University of Cambridge, closed the first two terms of the Forum’s activities with a lecture entitled 'Democracy and Human Rights in a Changing Constitution'.

Dr Stephen Skinner presents a paper at the British Academy on Core Values in Times of Crisis

Dr Skinner was invited to participate in a British Academy conference on 8-9th March convened by Dr Yvonne McDermott Rees (Swansea) and Dr Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos (Brunel).

Kingsley Abbott gives speech on human rights and the rule of law in south-east Asia

Kingsley Abbott, Senior International Legal Adviser with the International Commission of Jurists and an Associate Member of the Human Rights and Democracy Forum, gave a keynote speech on human rights and the rule of law in Asia at the Asia News Network annual symposium in Bangkok on 16th March.