Much of Essex Law School’s research engages with real-world problems and serves key benefits to an array of stakeholders beyond academia both here in the UK and around the world. Below is a sampling of stories which highlight how colleagues are having a crucial impact with their research.
Find out more
Report urges Home Secretary to Reform Police Accountability
Image credit: unsplash.com Police accountability is paralysed by “ineffective and impotent” Police and Crime Panels (PCPs) that are powerless to hold Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to account, new research reveals. The findings, reported exclusively in The Times, come as six of the nation’s forces have been hit with special measures by regulators,…
Who Owns Justice? When States Refuse to Provide Justice, Let the People Make Their Own Justice
By Professor Carla Ferstman, Essex Law School I have recently had the honour to be part of the panel of judges of the Aban Tribunal – a People’s Tribunal established by civil society to review evidence of atrocities allegedly perpetrated by the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of its…
International Guidelines Help Promote and Protect Human Rights in Phillippines
The United Nations (UN) has recommended international guidelines developed through a partnership between Julie Hannah, at Essex Law School, and the United Nations Development Programme should be used in the Philippines to improve and protect human rights. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recommended the International…
The House of Lords Committee Inquiry into Migration Partnership Between UK and Rwanda: Essex Law School Academics’ Written Evidence Cited in the Committee’s Final Report
On 10 June 2022, the House of Lords International Agreements Committee, chaired by Baroness Hayter, launched an inquiry into the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the UK government and the government of the Republic of Rwanda for the provision of an Asylum Partnership Arrangement. The UK-Rwanda MoU was published by…
Giving Nature A Voice
Faith In Nature has become the world’s first company to officially appoint Nature to its Board of Directors. The precedent-setting move gives Nature a vote on key business decisions with Essex Law School academic and Co-Founder of Lawyers for Nature Brontie Ansell joining the Board as the first representative for…
Investigating Allegations of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Settings
Professor Carla Ferstman is a member of the Justice Rapid Response (JRR) Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Justice Experts Roster. She recently wrote a research paper for JRR on the investigation of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) allegations involving children. Along with Fabian Ilg, who is a Justice Rapid Response Roster…
Celebrating the Very Best of Essex Research: Research and Impact Awards 2022
The very best of Essex research was recognised at our Excellence in Research and Impact Awards 2022 ceremony at Colchester Campus on Wednesday 25 May 2022. The annual awards highlighted how the work conducted at Essex is having a positive impact on people’s lives across the globe. This year, a total…
Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe: Her Journey to Freedom and the Lessons We Can Learn
Professor Carla Ferstman is a lawyer and an activist. Before joining the School of Law in 2018, she directed REDRESS, an organization dedicated to helping torture survivors in all parts of the world to seek justice for all the harm they suffered. That is where she first met Richard Ratcliffe, the husband…
Essex Research Informs Police Review
Research by Dr. Simon Cooper on police accountability and the role of Police and Crime Commissioners has been cited in a major nationwide review of policing. The Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales, which was conducted by the Police Foundation and chaired by Sir Michael Barber, has called for…
Licensing System for 3D Printing in China
James Griffin (Associate Professor, University of Exeter), Onyeka Osuji (Professor, University of Essex), and Hing Kai Chan (Professor, Nottingham University Business School China) have developed a digital watermarking technology that enables the tracking and tracing of 3D Printing (3DP) content, from its creation through to its destruction. A watermark is…
Police and Crime Commissioners: A Dislocated Expectation?
New research, based on exclusive interviews with high-ranking figures from across UK policing – including Chief Constables, PCCs, one of the most senior persons in policing and one of the persons involved with introducing PCCs – suggests a postcode lottery in police accountability. The calibre of individual PCCs is seen…
University of Essex 2021 Research and Impact awards
As the academic year comes to an end, we want to take a moment to recognise the incredible work and successes of our researchers in the School of Law at the University of Essex. Colleagues continue making important contributions to the University’s research mission through exceptional performance and we have…
Impact on Victims’ Law Policy Paper
In a report published in November 2020 (Constitutional Powers of the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales), co-written by the Essex Law School’s Professor Maurice Sunkin together with Professor Pam Cox and Dr Ruth Lamont, these experts argued that the role of the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales – set up in 2004 to…
COVID-19 Research on Vulnerable Communities Proves Influential
A publication featuring rapid responses to the impact of COVID-19 from a range of Essex experts has been recognised as influential by a panel providing evidence to government. COVID-19, Law and Human Rights: Essex Dialogues, a 32-chapter collection featuring contributions from the School of Law, Human Rights Centre and School of Health and Social…
Report Proposes New Legal Powers for the Victims’ Commissioner
The role of the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales – set up in 2004 to promote the interests of the victims of crime – needs to be strengthened if it is to be effective, argues a report co-written by the Essex Law School’s Professor Maurice Sunkin together with Professor…
The Oxford Statement on International Law Protections Against Foreign Electoral Interference through Digital Means
Dr. Antonio Coco, Lecturer in Law at the University of Essex, has co-drafted The Oxford Statement on International Law Protections Against Foreign Electoral Interference through Digital Means, which has been signed by 139 international lawyers so far. The Statement is the third in a series — informally known as the…
Internet Safety Expert Recognised with OBE
An Essex legal expert has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her work on internet safety. Professor Lorna Woods, from our School of Law, has been working since 2017 with William Perrin of the Carnegie UK Trust to develop a workable solution to ‘online harms’, a term that covers a range…
University of Essex Academics Respond to the European Commission Consultation on Digital Cultural Heritage
Professor Stavroula Karapapa, University of Essex, School of Law Digitisation has enabled access to and availability of cultural heritage to an extent previously unknown and, in addition, it has enhanced preservation and modern research opportunities, e.g. through text mining and data analytics. The availability of and access to cultural materials…
Essex Expertise Informs Facial Recognition Decision
The expertise and leading-edge research of three Essex academics has informed a landmark judgment on police use of facial recognition. On Tuesday 11 August, the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in a case brought by civil liberties campaigner Ed Bridges and the campaigning organisation Liberty, challenging a previous decision in favour of…
Essex Lawyer Plays Part in Landmark Legal Judgment in Latin America
An Essex lawyer has helped win a landmark judgment at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, supporting the human rights of LGBTI people across the continent. Trigger warning: this report contains a description of sexual violence. Professor Clara Sandoval, from the School of Law and Human Rights Centre, has been litigating for over…
Supporting a Fair Approach to COVID Triage
A limited supply of life-saving medical equipment in the NHS is raising important questions about how frontline clinicians prioritise coronavirus patients for use of scarce resources and Essex rights experts are providing critical support to help avoid discrimination. A team of researchers linked to the Essex Autonomy and Ethics of Powerlessness projects have provided…
Haim Abraham’s paper on Parenting, Surrogacy and the State cited by the Supreme Court of Israel
The Israel Supreme Court recently cited a paper written by Haim Abraham, Lecturer in Law at the University of Essex. The paper titled ‘Parenting, Surrogacy, and the State’ demonstrates that Israel’s legislation, and regulation of assisted reproduction treatments, systematically discriminates individuals and same-sex couples based on sexual orientation, family status,…
Reforming the Computer Misuse Act 1990
Dr Audrey Guinchard, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Essex, is delighted to attend at Westminster today’s launch event for ‘Reforming the Computer Misuse Act 1990’. The reform project was undertaken by the Criminal Law Reform Now Network (CRLN Network), headed by Dr John Child (University of Birmingham),…
International Co-operation on Platform Governance
Lorna Woods, Professor of Internet Law at the University of Essex and co-author of the Carnegie UK Trust’s proposals for Harm Reduction on Social Media, gave evidence on 7 November 2019 at the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and Fake News in Dublin. The Committee, formed of Parliamentarians from eleven countries, met for the…
New Guidelines on Investigating Violations of International Humanitarian Law
Noam Lubell, Professor of International Law at the University of Essex and Swiss Chair of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) at the Geneva Academy, has co-authored new Guidelines for States on how to investigate allegations in armed conflict. The Guidelines on Investigating Violations of IHL: Law, Policy, and Good Practice are…
Business and human rights: how to reconcile them in investor-State dispute settlement?
How can business and human rights be reconciled in investor-State dispute settlement? This controversial issue is examined in two recent contributions by Anil Yilmaz Vastardis, a lecturer at the University of Essex law school. The first is a submission made jointly with Tara Van Ho and Luis Felipe Yanes (PhD Candidate) to…
Essex Law Research Blog 