Dr Ruth Brittle

I am an expert in international human rights, family law, immigration law and refugee law. I have a particular research interest in the rights of children and young people seeking sanctuary from persecution, conflict and climate change.  My research interests developed in my PhD which focused on children’s right to protection and operationalisation of the best interests principle in state asylum procedures.  I am also a family law specialist with both practice and academic teaching expertise in child law and children’s rights.

I engage in both socio-legal and doctrinal legal research. My current research focuses on human rights education and safeguarding in state schools in the UK, the impact of the asylum process on education rights of young people seeking sanctuary (especially 15-19 year olds) and the impact of Age Assessment processes on the rights of young people to access the asylum process. Currently I am developing a project on using human rights education to improve safeguarding procedures in state schools.  I am an academic advisor on a project evaluating the effectiveness of the Home Office’s age assessment processes.

Brittle, R. (2018) ‘International Migration: Shared Commitment to Children’s Rights and Protection’, Blog: EJILtalk, 10 January 2018.

Brittle, R. (2018) The Child in International Refugee Law (Book Review) (2018) 18 Human Rights Law Review 185 – 189.

Brittle, R. (2018) ‘Best Interests and the Prohibition of Violence: FGM and Non-Refoulement before the CRC, Child Rights International Network, 29 August 2018. 

Brittle, R (2019) ‘A Hostile Environment for Children? The Rights and Best Interests of the Refugee Child in UK Asylum Law’ 19 Human Rights Law Review 753-785. 

Brittle, R and Desmet, E (2020) ‘Thirty Years of Research on Children’s Rights in the context of Migration: Towards Increased Visibility and Recognition of Some Children But not All? 28 International Journal of Children’s Rights 36 – 65. 

Brittle, R (2021) A Child’s Right to Reunite? Family reunification in the UK, Child Rights Early Career Researcher Network Blog, 5th January 2021.

Brittle, R (2021) Age Assessment in the New Plan: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue? Refugee Law Initiative (University of London) Blog, 21st May 2021.

Brittle, R (2021) Do you want the good news or the bad news? Government proposals to overhaul the Human Rights Act 1998. Nottingham Trent University, Expert Blog, 14^th December 2021.

Brittle, R (2022) Refugee Removal to Rwanda by Plane – Is the Deal worth it? Solicitors Journal, 5th July 2022.

Brittle, R (2022) World Refugee Day 2022 – After a bruising few years, we all need healing Nottingham Trent University, Expert Blog, 17^th June 2022.

Brittle, R (2023) Impact of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 on Refugee Education, Hub for Education for Refugees in Europe Insight, 27th July 2023

Brittle, R (2023) Education and Migration: A Rights-based Policy Approach to Realising Education Rights in the Context of International Migration in Devine, D (ed) A Handbook on Education and Migration (Edward Elgar) Forthcoming December 2023

I welcome approaches from prospective doctoral candidates in any field of international human rights law, family law or refugee/asylum law or immigration law, but especially children’s rights and children’s rights approaches to evaluating the law.

I have supervised PGR students researching subjects as diverse as FGM and children’s rights in Kenya to Reconceptualising ‘Climate Refugees’ in international law.

Undergraduate

• Family Law (LW3250/LW3251)
• Law of Evidence (LW3420/3421)
• Law, Justice and Society (LW1172)

Human rights, Children’s rights, family law, immigration and refugee law, especially the impact of government legislation and policy on children’s rights.

I am a reviewer for the International Journal of Children’s Rights, Childhood and Refugee Studies Quarterly.

I am a Co-Convenor for the Children’s Rights Stream at the SLSA Annual Conference.

I am a Trustee for Nottingham Arimathea Trust, which houses and supports destitute refugees and asylum seekers.

LLB (University of Manchester)

LLM, PhD (University of Nottingham)

Post-Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice

Apprenticeship in Academic Practice and Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (Nottingham Trent University)

Non-Practising Solicitor.