Announcements: The UK and the ECHR Conference at Leicester; EJHR Anniversary;

1. The UK and European Human Rights: A Strained Relationship? College Court, Leicester, 23-24 May 2014. This two-day conference will focus upon the topical and contentious issue of the relationship between the UK and the European systems for the protection of human rights. This will encompass both the UK’s relationship with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the additional layer of human rights protection through the European Union. It seeks to contribute to on-going debates in the UK, and elsewhere in Europe, about the relationship between the European Court of Human Rights and national courts, which at times seems to be (perceived as) particularly antagonistic in the UK.  The conference will bring together judges, barristers and solicitors, politicians, representatives of NGOs and the media, and academics in the field. More information here.

2. The European Journal of Human Rights was launched in early 2013 as a response to the new pathways through which human rights evolve. International treaties and new laws continue to matter. But the development of human rights has become, first and foremost, the result of a dialogue between courts, at all levels — international, regional and national –, and other human rights bodies, who contribute to shape the “common law” of human rights in an organic, networked fashion. The Journal therefore aims to encourage doctrinal thinking and dialogue across legal venues, highlighting how concepts and ideas migrate from forum to forum, permanently reshaping human rights law. Under the supervision of Professor Olivier De Schutter, its Editor-in-chief and currently the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, the Journal publishes high quality review articles which are systematically submitted to a “double-blind peer-review” mechanism. For more on the Journal, which welcomes submissions either in French or in English, please visit the website — or write to bruno.hardy {at} uclouvain(.)be.

3. The Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex is holding a summer school on Human Rights Research Methods at its Colchester campus from 30 June to 5 July 2014.  Methodology has a direct bearing on the strength, persuasiveness and legitimacy of human rights research findings and their impact on policy and practice.  Strong methodology is also a central requirement in order to secure funding.  Yet, we often focus on the substance of human rights without sufficient attention to the methods used.  This summer school seeks to fill that gap by providing the core methods and skills needed to carry out human rights research whether documenting human rights violations, drafting human rights reports and articles or preparing funding bids.  Participants will learn everything from interviewing victims to researching in repressive societies to becoming ‘quantitatively literate’ in human rights research.  The teaching team includes anthropologists, lawyers, political scientists, psychologists and sociologists, three current and former UN Special Rapporteurs, a member of the UN Committee against Torture, the Interim Director of Law and Policy at Amnesty International and donors, all with significant experience on the theory and practice of human rights.  It is an ideal course for human rights professionals working in NGOs, international organisations and government, academics and postgraduate students.  To find out more, visit: www.essex.ac.uk/hrc/summerschool.

4. The Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex has launched the Essex Human Rights Centre Blog which is dedicated to the inter-disciplinary discussion of the theory and practice of human rights. The blog is intended to provide a forum whereby practitioners and academics from different disciplines can learn about each other’s research, work, and activities. By enabling the discussion of contemporary and enduring human rights challenges from the perspective of different disciplines and fields of expertise, it hopes to facilitate the identification of new and innovative approaches to the challenge of securing human rights: it is hoped that a multi-disciplinary forum will promote inter-disciplinary thinking. For more information, please visit the welcome post.