Month: June 2024

Adoption Without Mothers’ Consent: Telling Stories Without Limits Through Artists’ Books

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By Johanna Aimse, Research Assistant, Universities of Essex and Kent

Introduction

Even in today’s era of social media transparency, every society harbours unspoken dark secrets. One of those is children being removed from their mothers and given out for adoption without mothers’ consent.

Such situations occur for multiple reasons. But often, mothers are forced to fight the system either during the most challenging time of their lives or right after giving birth, which is something that the media to this day does not talk about.

Many mothers lose contact with their children due to unfavourable outcomes in the legal and social systems. This experience has led them to go on living with overwhelming feelings of grief, depression and loss.

The Artists’ Book Project

Over the past year, Dr Stella Bolaki of the University of Kent and Dr Samantha Davey of the University of Essex have conducted research on how creative methods could help mothers who have lost their children through adoption proceedings to process difficult feelings.

They have organised workshops for mothers and social workers who participate in such procedures. Different workshops were held with therapists, barristers and other professionals who would like to learn more about the challenges these mothers face and use the project activities to inform their practice areas.

Stella and Samantha have led face-to-face and online workshops. During the workshops, mothers craft a book out of a variety of materials provided to them, allowing them to express emotions they find hard to share for fear of judgment, trauma or guilt among others.

In combining the visual and the textual, the artist’s book expresses thoughts and experiences in ways words alone cannot. It operates as a creative outlet even for those who do not view themselves as “an artistic person”. The ability to experiment with different textures, colours and layouts allows mothers to strike a sensitive balance between healing, self-reflection and emotional release – the ultimate goal of the workshops.

Mothers describe the process of having their children removed without consent as disempowering and dehumanising. The workshops were designed to be a safe and supportive environment for mothers to connect with each other while making books. Being in an environment where they are free to share their experiences and feelings while being validated and understood by those with similar traumas seems to have a healing effect. Participants also received support from qualified counsellor Amanda Swan.

The feedback mothers gave showed that working on their books in a supportive environment facilitated the processing of some of the feelings and memories which many had forcefully held back or were forced to forget. Thus, the workshops have proven successful in allowing the participants to take creative steps towards healing.

Spreading awareness 

The project’s future will see a new website and social media pages to spread awareness. Furthermore, cooperation with different charities and networks is planned to reach more mothers who need help or would like to discuss their experiences in the system.

We are keen to hear from mothers who can help bring diverse perspectives and voices to this study. If you have had a child removed and placed for adoption without consent, you are invited to participate in the research study, for which you will also be compensated.

If you would like to find out more about joining the project, please contact Dr Samantha Davey at smdave@essex.ac.uk. For further details on Dr Davey’s earlier work on adoption, see A Failure of Proportion: Non-Consensual Adoption in England and Wales.

Civil Society Support to Refugees and Other Migrants in Europe: The Need to End the Backlash on Civil Society Space

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By Professor Carla Ferstman, Director of Impact, Essex Law School

The theme of Refugee Week 2024 (17-23 June 2024) is “Our Home” – This can be a place of refuge, a feeling or a state of mind; ‘Home can be more than one place and finding it can be a journey, as it is for so many of us who have to leave our countries and rebuild our lives. Sometimes we can find home in a single person. Other times it’s in a whole community. And often, it’s in a single gesture of care and welcome.’

An important part of what ‘Our Home’ means to me, is making people feel welcome – My home is your home. Mi casa, su casa.  It is also about compassion – what must it feel like to be forced to be away from one’s home? How can we individually and collectively, lessen that sense of alienation?

Solidarity is an essential component of these notions of “welcome” and “compassion.” Expressing solidarity with refugees and other migrants recognises and seeks to foster their humanity and their dignity, and it attempts to bridge the divide between the “us” and the “them”.

As an expression of this solidarity, and on the occasion of Refugee Week 2024, the Council of Europe Conference on International NGOs’ Expert Council on NGO Law, of which I am a member, is launching a new thematic study: Civil society support to refugees and other migrants in Europe: The need to end the backlash on civil society space.

This study, which I authored on behalf of the Expert Council, canvasses how civil society organisations and solidarity networks as well as many ordinary individuals in villages, towns and cities throughout Europe have been doing their best to provide humanitarian assistance and support to the many refugees and other migrants who find themselves in Europe in very difficult circumstances.

It focuses on what happens when this welcome and compassion goes against state policy. As the report documents, civil society have faced impediments including the criminalisation of their activities, subjecting them to harsh regulations and fines, publicly stigmatising them and their work, impeding their access to locations where refugees and other migrants are located, imposing barriers on their ability to register as NGOs or to maintain their registration, as well as obstructing their access to funding. This shrinking civil society space has made the precarious circumstances in which so many refugees and other migrants find themselves in, even more precarious.

The research for this study has been greatly enhanced by the involvement of members of the Essex Human Rights Centre Clinic. In this series of blog posts, which are launched on 21 June to coincide with the launch of the thematic study, these fabulous students have reflected in different ways on those aspects of the research that have moved them:

Güley Bor writes about when externalization meets authoritarianism: defending the rights of migrants and refugees in Turkey.

Itzia Miravete Veraza writes about the cost of preventing African migrants from entering Spain.

Leonie Ngom writes about the criminalisation of solidarity in Calais, France.

Vanessa Topp writes about the criminalisation of solidarity with migrants: protests against deportations in the UK.

In this sense, these blog posts are an expression of their solidarity with the plight of all people on the move in Europe.

State Impunity and the Northern Ireland Conflict 

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By Dr Aoife Duffy, Senior Lecturer, Essex Law School 

During the 30-year Northern Ireland conflict, which ended with the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, human rights violations were committed by a range of parties, including UK state forces. It has long been suspected that impunity protected this latter category of conflict actors, and that lack of accountability for serious harms, such as torture and killings, demonstrated the state’s disregard for its international human rights obligations and relevant domestic standards. 

For the first time, an independent expert body has established that state impunity in the Northern Ireland conflict was indeed widespread, as well as being systemic and systematic. 

London launch event for ‘Bitter Legacy: State Impunity in the Northern Ireland Conflict’, May 1st 2024.

Independent examination 

Convened by the Norwegian Center for Human Rights, the Independent Panel on State Impunity and the Northern Ireland Conflict was  established at the request of two Northern Ireland human rights organisations, the Committee for the Administration of Justice and the Pat Finucane Centre. Against the backdrop of the absence of effective official mechanisms for accountability and truth in relation to the Northern Ireland conflict, the Panel was made up of set out to provide an authoritative record of the extent to which there is evidence of patterns of impunity by the UK Government in relation to human rights violations. The panel was made up of independent international experts, including Essex Law School’s Dr Aoife Duffy. Last month, the report published its finding as a report titled Bitter Legacy: State Impunity in the Northern Ireland Conflict. 

Impunity 

Impunity is the de facto or de jure impossibility of holding perpetrators accountable for their actions. This means that those responsible for human rights violations are not subject to any inquiries that could lead to their prosecution and sentencing, nor are they compelled to make reparations to their victims. 

Combatting impunity is a well-established obligation under human rights law. States are required to ensure truth, justice, reparations, and non-recurrence of abuses.  

Good Friday Agreement and its shortcomings 

The 1998 Good Friday Agreement, while a monumental step towards peace, did not establish a comprehensive transitional justice mechanism to address past human rights violations. Over the years, the UK has faced criticism for failing to fulfil its obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which mandates effective investigations into killings. The criticism extends to other areas where the UK has failed to meet its obligations towards victims. 

Persistent impunity and limited progress 

Since the Good Friday Agreement, there has been a notable “impunity gap” in Northern Ireland, as highlighted by the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-recurrence. Despite isolated efforts through ad-hoc inquiries, inquests, civil actions, and the efforts of civil society groups, much about the human rights abuses during the conflict remains unknown or unacknowledged. This piecemeal approach has led to limited progress towards overall accountability and truth. 

Legacy Act 

The recently enacted Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 has been widely criticised. Many believe it is designed to limit efforts to achieve truth and justice. The Act has faced opposition from numerous quarters, including international bodies like the Council of Europe and the UN Special Rapporteur, while securing rare consensus among Northern Ireland’s political parties. The Irish Government, political parties in the Republic of Ireland, and opposition parties at Westminster have also voiced strong opposition. 

Findings of the Report 

Over 200 pages, the report sheds light on the deep-seated issue of state impunity in Northern Ireland and the urgent need for effective mechanisms to address past human rights violations. The Panel based its research on a wide variety of sources, conducting seven site visits to Northern Ireland to gather primary evidence. Panel members met with victims, survivors, family members, legal representatives, NGOs working on relevant issues, and other experts. In addition, the Panel met with representatives of both the British and Irish governments, and several high level individuals involved in legacy work. The Panel also had access to declassified state papers, legal judgments, Police Ombudsman reports, coroner’s inquests, Historical Enquiries Team, and public inquiry reports. 

The three areas where security force actions were scrutinised were: direct state killings, torture and ill-treatment, and deaths involving collusion. The Panel concluded that the UK government failed to fulfil its international human rights duties as it “did not conduct fair and effective investigations” and “failed the relatives’ rights to truth, justice and reparation”.  

As political debates and litigation surrounding the 2023 Legacy Act continue, the quest for truth and justice remains a critical and unresolved issue for many victims and their families. The hope is that through persistent advocacy and international pressure, meaningful progress can be achieved in combating impunity and ensuring a just and comprehensive resolution to the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict. Ultimately, the Panel recommended that the UK government repeal the 2023 Legacy Act in its entirety and establish human rights compliant mechanisms that build on earlier commitments negotiated with the Irish government and the major political parties of Northern Ireland in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement. 

Digitalizing the End-to-End International Trade Finance Process and the Law

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By Dr Mohammed Khair Alshaleel, Essex Law School

Trade finance is one of the backbones of global trade. By its nature, it is a heavily paper-based industry as it relies on ownership of title documents. Processes that currently support the global trade finance ecosystem are extremely focused on documentation and checking. An end-to-end process can often take weeks to complete.

The spread of digitalization and digital services in the broader society has led to calls for similar applications in the trade finance sector. However, embracing digital innovations in the trade finance industry has been very slow, trailing behind the rapid digitalization advancements made by the financial services and banking sectors.

Many of the complexities in trade finance are driven by the fact that each trade finance transaction requires the input of a large number of entities in different locations worldwide, including, for example, buyers, sellers, banks, customs authorities, insurance companies and carriers. Each entity has a unique mix of internal and external requirements to comply with. Importantly, they are at very different levels on the technology adoption curve. These variations present one of the main challenges for the trade finance industry to digitalize.

The emergence and adoption of new technologies in trade finance and trade generally have made full digitalization possible. Digitalization here refers to the incorporation of digital technologies into traditional trade finance processes and practices.

Legal framework and ecosystem collaboration

Dr Alshaleel’s research raises novel questions about whether the current trade finance legal framework is sufficient for allowing the transition to a fully digital system and whether the legal obstacles concerning the developments in technological applications in the trade finance industry are reflected in the international standards and rules.

His new article ‘Digitalizing the End-to-End International Trade Finance Process and the Law: A Mission for the Entire Ecosystem’, which is by the European Business Law Review, identifies the key challenges and barriers that impede the successful digitalization of the end-to-end trade finance process, and the factors that contribute to, or hinder, the attainment of critical mass in the adoption of digitalization within the trade finance ecosystem.

The article argues that technical innovation is only one piece of the puzzle and effective legal frameworks as well as recognized standards are essential to accelerate the digitalization journey. It also posits that digitalizing an end-to-end trade finance process is a mission for the entire trade finance ecosystem: successfully digitalizing the full trade finance process requires cooperation and buy-in from all the players involved.

Finally, Dr. Alshaleel’s analysis also emphasizes that deeper coordination and collaboration between the parties in the trade finance ecosystem is crucial in helping digitalization reach critical mass.