News archive 2021

Leicester Law School graduate appointed as district judge

1 November 2021

PhD Success: The Right to Cultural Participation - Access to and Enjoyment of Museum Collections, Hsiao-Mei Ku — University of Leicester

Hsiao-Mei investigates the cultural right enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 in the context of museums.

22 June 2021

The cultural participation right in Article 15(1)(a) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 is an integral part of human rights. Everyone has the right to engage in cultures and the freedom to choose cultural identities, share and develop cultural expressions. The promotion of and respect for this right is essential for the maintenance of human dignity in a diverse and multicultural world. However, this area is under-explored and often overlooked.

Using a combination of doctrinal (predominantly), comparative and socio-legal approaches, Hsiao-Mei’s research explores legal and ethical guidance existing in this area and its application to English and Taiwanese museums making ‘a significant and original contribution to the relevant study of field‘ according to Hsiao-Mei’s examiners.

The research notes that the role of the cultural participation right is as both a shield and sword. As a shield, the right is principally protective, ensuring the vulnerable, the marginalised, and indigenous people are not excluded from access to culture or have their culture denigrated. As a sword, the right is principally proactive, ensuring that the conception of culture is dynamic, evolving and that the realisation of participation in culture is progressive. Hsiao-Mei suggests that realising the cultural participation right in the museum context requires services rendered also present these roles.

Hsiao-Mei Ku was supervised by Janet Ulph and Stephen Riley.

See Private Law current and past PhD research topics.

PhD Award: Exploring Parental Views About Family Privacy and its Protection in English Law, Claire Bessant

Should the family be afforded privacy? Although this is a question that many academics have raised, no-one has ever asked parents their views.

17 June 2021

Using semi-structured interviews to explore whether parents believe the family should be afforded privacy and whether they believe English law affords effective protection to family privacy.

This research

• finds that many parents believe the family should be afforded its own privacy, should be free from state and societal intrusion, and should be allowed to control how family information is used. The idea of family privacy does remain relevant to twenty-first century families.
• offers a new definition of family privacy drawn from existing literature but also grounded in parents’ own words and reflective of the way English law understands family privacy to apply to the family.
• sheds new light on traditional understandings of the family as a private institution, proposing a new framework for understanding the relationship between family, state, and society which draws both upon communication privacy management theory and relational theory.
• finds that many parents, not trusting the law to protect their family’s privacy, believe it is their responsibility to protect privacy.  Some of the decisions parents take in order to protect their families’ privacy may, however, impact on children’s rights to privacy, participation, and self-determination. This study suggests that this conflict between family privacy/parental decision-making and children’s rights is an issue requiring further academic and judicial consideration.

Claire Bessant was supervised by Mandy Burton and John Hartshorne.

See more human rights current and past PhD topics.

PhD Success: The Conception of Resistance in and Beyond Human Rights, Shaimaa Abdelkarim

Shaimaa’s research contributes to critical approaches to human rights.

23 April 2021

This thesis analyses how anticolonial resistance and contemporary social movements are employed to advance a counter-hegemonic function to human rights. Counter-hegemonic approaches have moved away from the euro-centric and institutional production of human rights law to recognising the contributions of formerly colonised societies in reshaping human rights ideals on autonomy.

Shaimaa’s research disassembles the recognition of anticolonial resistance through a psychoanalytic approach to uncover how racism informs the understanding of agency in human rights. She suggests attending to the contemporary function of human rights through the afterlives of colonial governance. Those afterlives manifest in the exclusivity of qualifying for human rights protections and the racial encodings of the term ‘human’. Shaimaa aims to publish her thesis as a monograph. She is currently exploring the global response of international human rights institutions to the COVID-19 pandemic at the Centre for Studies and Research, Hague Academy of International Law.

Shaimaa Abdelkarim was supervised by Dr Loveday Hodson and Dr Joe Wills.

See more Human Rights current and past PhD research topics.

Female Law lecturer recognised for inspiring change in Africa

Dr Eki Yemisi Omorogbe nominated as a Woman to Watch in Law by the Institute for African Women in Law

29 June 2021

African Women in Law (AWL), a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, works across Africa. Its vision is to build a network of women legal professionals dedicated to using the law for societal change and development for which Dr Eki Yemisi Omorogbe has been nominated.

Eki reported that she is “also honoured that AWL has asked me to contribute to its Amandla! Women in Law Speak initiative”.
See Eki’s AWL profile and contribution.

Neuberger Prize for final year Leicester Law student

Lauren Davies will take part in a summer school at Lincoln’s Inn and an opportunity to complete a Mini-pupillage.

28 May 2021

20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, 26 May 2021

Dr Eki Omorogbe (Leicester Law School) gave a talk on the occasion of the twentieth Anniversary of the entry into force of the Constitutive Act.

27 May 2021

The panel included talks by Ambassador Namira Ngem, Legal Counsel of the African Union and Dr Solomon Dersso, Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The webinar was moderated by Makane Moise Mbengue, Professor of International Law and Director of the Department of International Law and International Organization at the University of Geneva.

Student Pro Bono Society president wins another national award nomination

Sonia Gandhi, final year law undergraduate and President of the Pro Bono Society has been shortlisted for a prestigious LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Award.

4 May 2021

Supported by the Attorney General, the LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards celebrate the best pro bono (free legal volunteering) activities undertaken by law students and law schools around the country.

Sonia has been shortlisted for the “Best Contribution by an Individual Student” Award. This recognises her hard work during the past year, overseeing the Law School’s pro bono activities. She both encouraged students to participate in pro bono activities and supported their activities during the challenging conditions set by the pandemic.
Sonia was nominated for her effective organisation and leadership, helping the pro bono projects to reimagine their activities during the pandemic. She has been instrumental in developing and recruiting for three new projects (Windrush Compensation, Climate Crisis  and a further research project) meaning more students can take part, in a wider variety of activities.

Sonia has used her platform as President to initiate change within the Pro Bono Society focused on equality, diversity and inclusion, to improve student experience and the Society’s efficacy. Changes include the introduction of blind applications , use of preferred pronouns, unconscious bias training for interviewers, and diverse interview panels. She has led the way in promoting wellbeing amongst our students, promoting an authentic conversation within the Society, and recruiting a new wellbeing officer.

The Law School is proud of what our pro bono students have achieved this year, led by Sonia as President, particularly in the face of such adversity during the pandemic. 
Whilst we are disappointed to miss out on an awards celebration at the Houses of Parliament this year, we look forward to attending the virtual awards ceremony on 12 May.

Pro Bono Society recognised in LawCareers.Net 2021 Awards

Shortlisting for ‘Best Pro Bono Activities’ is a recognition of the work and community support that our Pro Bono Society's provide

22 March 2021

During the COVID-19 pandemic our Pro Bono groups had to find new ways of working. Recognition of that work by LawCareers.Net is a reward to the 230 students involved this academic year. Highlights include:

• The Amicus Team completed research into over 150 cases of potential injustice related to Death Row. This project has raised over £1,000 for Amicus in the USA.
• Lawyers Without Borders Student Division continued legal research and fundraising activities. Highlights included the Human Rights Quiz Night, a virtual magic show and a discussion examining Human Rights and the Pandemic.
• Miscarriages of Justice project collaborated with The Amicus Team and Lawyers Without Borders discussing Prisoners’ Rights and took part in the ‘Justice Week’ event about ‘Justice and COVID-19’.
• Project Light raised awareness about rights surrounding homelessness by distributing informative leaflets to improve legal literacy of occupants and users at local shelters.
• Lawyers and medics collaborated on fundraising for shelters and educated each about the legal and medical elements of homelessness.
• The Insight Project trained aspiring barristers at a London school to prepare for a competition. The remote training included mooting, careers insights and debates about access to justice. They also contributed to the Pro Bono blog.
• The Legal Advice Clinic continued to support the local community by advising clients about contract-based problems, consumer rights, family and relationship problems, housing and employment disputes.
• The Street Law group have produced YouTube presentations about topics such as Defamation, and the Gender Pay Gap. They have created ‘The Plug’ initiative to provide information to a diverse range 11-13 year old students interested in a legal career.
• The Immigration and Asylum Project supported refugees and worked with the New Evidence Research Team (NEST), a voluntary group of researchers affiliated to the City of Sanctuary. They help asylum seekers put together convincing accounts of what happened to them and search for credible evidence.
• Our new project for 2020-21, the Windrush Compensation Project have started their social media campaign ’31 Days of Windrush’ to educate and raise awareness of the injustice of the Windrush scandal.
• The new Global Justice and Forensic Science project is a collaboration with the School of Criminology. They have supported Jessica Ritchie from Criminology researching the forensic evidence in Kenya for sexual assault survivors.
• The Climate Crisis Project has just launched to raise awareness about the climate crisis. They will hold the Law School, the University, local government and other organisations to account.

Find out more about the University of Leicester Probono Society.

Law School PhD research student reaches final of the doctoral college poster competition 2021

Jasmine Blow's academic poster on her research around genetic privacy has been put forward to the final of the Doctoral College Poster Competition to be held on 31 March 2021

11 March 2021

Is Genetic Privacy Your Decision?

Jasmine was motivated to design an academic poster and enter the competition after attending one of our many training sessions for postgraduate research students. Trainees were encouraged to create poster titles that would spark curiosity in their topic. Jasmine phrased her title as a question about her research, whether the audience thought genetic privacy was an individual decision.

Throughout the process of designing the academic poster it became obvious that how research is presented can be just as significant as the research itself. The poster had to explain a complex topic in a visually appealing way to individuals who may not be experts in the chosen topic. The poster would be concise and comprehensive by discussing the different legal and ethical arguments in relation to the research, the methodology of my research, and the results Jasmine expected to gain. The process of creating an academic poster has been extremely helpful in developing an area Jasmine's communication skills that she had not explored before. 

Leicester University Law Society Negotiation Competition final 2021

Congratulations to the student Negotiation Competition finalists Alannah Baker, Katerina Kittis, Eniola Agboola, and Alison Chan

26 February 2021

A close run final of the Leicester University Law Society negotiation competition took place on 26 February 2021. A high profile judging panel included Leicester Law School alumna Luiza Balan of Weightmans Solicitors who reached the national final when she was a student. The winners, Alannah Baker and Katerina Kittis, secured a book advance and future royalties for their client and could well be following Luiza’s footsteps to the National Finals.

The event is one of many organised and run remotely this year by student organisers and competitors from across the globe.

We thank the student negotiation competition officers Brittny Adum-Yeboah (Ghana) and Nicol Bee (Malaysia) for arranging the event.

How might MPs scrutinise the new UK-EU relationship?

Professor Adam J. Cygan has published an Insight for the House of Commons Library addressing scrutiny issues around the UK-EU TCA.

16 February 2021

Professor Adam Cygan explores how MPs might scrutinise the implementation of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, taking into account that the UK is no longer bound by EU law and that the post-Brexit scrutiny needs different arrangements.