Human Rights and Democracy Forum

Description

The Human Rights and Democracy Forum at the University of Exeter Law School is a cross-disciplinary research group that includes members from various fields, such as Law, Politics, Sociology, and Criminology. The Forum also includes PhD researchers and associate members from academia and legal practice.

The Forum's research activities focus on four main areas:

• Human rights and human dignity in theory and practice, particularly under the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights.
• Intersections of public law, private law, criminal law, criminal justice, and international law with questions of human rights and democratic principles.
• Comparative and domestic constitutional law and politics.
• Legal and political dimensions of non-democratic systems and threats to democracy, including past authoritarian regimes and the resurgence of populism and illiberalism.

Forum members conduct research on various human rights issues, including international trade law, climate change, migration, gender and sexuality, religious freedom, treatment of prisoners, police powers, and police use of lethal force. They also conduct research on democracy and democratic principles, such as criminal justice and the rule of law, comparative history of criminal law in interwar Britain and Fascist Italy, constitutionalism and constitutional reform processes, and the foundations of national and transnational democracy in Europe. The research methods employed by the Forum include comparative, doctrinal, theoretical, historical, and empirical approaches, with a national and international scope.

The Forum has five main aims:

• To support and develop individual and collaborative research projects to the highest standards.
• To stimulate research discussion through seminars and workshops involving Forum members, guest speakers, and students.
• To build connections with external organizations, institutions, and networks in related areas of research and practice, nationally and internationally.
• To nurture and train postgraduate researchers.
• To support and deliver research-led undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.

As a research group committed to human rights and democratic principles, the Forum aims to be open and inclusive, ensuring equality of opportunity and participation, and welcoming all forms of research falling within its scope. Forum members are open to enquiries about their research activities, proposed collaborations, and postgraduate research opportunities. Further information about publications and recent activities, as well as contact details, can be found on the Forum's website.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Contact details

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University affiliation(s)

University of Exeter
Streatham Campus
Northcote House
Exeter
EX4 4QJ