Bonavero Institute of Human Rights

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Happy holidays from the Bonavero Institute ✨

At the end of Michaelmas term, the Institute came together to reflect on this past term, thank those who have contributed to the Bonavero community and welcome those who have recently joined the Institute.

The analysed benefits of staying in the ECHR are: - Safeguarding basic rights in workplaces, courtrooms, hospitals, care homes and newsrooms. - Protecting people at risk, including children, people in care, and victims of domestic violence and modern slavery. - Defending privacy in an age of mass surveillance and data harvesting (e.g. DNA retention limits and bulk interception safeguards). - Enabling accountability after major failures such as the Hillsborough disaster. - Protecting free speech and democracy, and respecting parliamentary sovereignty. - Providing increased protection compared with common law protections, including by providing an external source of accountability through the European Court of Human Rights - Providing rights protections that stand the test of time, adapting to new circumstances and new threats. - Supporting peace and stability in Northern Ireland. - Enabling cooperation on border control, security, data sharing and tackling cross-border crime.

NEW: A report from Oxford's @bonavero.bsky.social identifies, examines, and addresses the counter-arguments for ten key reasons for the UK to remain in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Find out more ⬇️
#HumanRightsDay

🚀 We’re live! Excited to kick off our Human Rights Day event to discuss why we need stronger economic, social & cultural rights protections in the UK.

Looking forward to discussing how we can overcome barriers to justice and build a fairer, more equitable system.
#EverydayRightsNow #HumanRightsDay

@ox.ac.uk @oxfordlawfac.bsky.social @alicedonald.bsky.social

Today we celebrate #HumanRightsDay and mark 75 years of the European Convention on Human Rights. In our latest report, we have examined 10 reasons to stay in the ECHR, addressing a debate often dominated by widespread misunderstandings of what the ECHR does.
🔗 Read the full report: bit.ly/4a5bA7S

Misrepresentations around human rights and immigration fuelling calls A new report from the University of Oxford's Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, Faculty of Law, warns that misleading media coverage is shaping public debate on immigration and human rights. The

“Since 1980, the ECHR has found against the UK in only 13 removal cases, & just 4 of those concerned family life.
In relation to immigration rules more broadly, the Court has only 3 times ruled that the UK’s immigration rules violate the ECHR in the past 45 years.” www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-09...

What should the future of human rights and justice in the UK look like? 

Join us for the online book launch of "Access to Social Justice: Effective Remedies for Social Rights" to celebrate Human Rights Day 2025 on 9 December.

@justfairuk.bsky.social

Register: https://lnkd.in/ejGSTwvd

Expert Comment: how can we turn court rulings into real climate Başak Çalı, Head of Research and Professor of International Law at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, Faculty of Law, asks whether judicial climate rulings can make a real difference to the

‘Courts have become important catalysts for climate governance.’

@bonavero.bsky.social's Prof Başak Çalı explains how judicial climate rulings could make a real difference in tackling the climate crisis ⬇️ #OxfordClimate

Event image for an upcoming seminar on 'The Human Rights Act and the Deportation of Foreign Criminals' on 2 December from 11:00-12:00 GMT.

Register now for our upcoming seminar on 'The Human Rights Act and the Deportation of Foreign Criminals' hosted in collaboration with @bonavero.bsky.social.

🗓️ 2 December, 11:00-12:00 (GMT)
📌 LASS B63 & Online via MS Teams
🔗 Register here: human-right-act-deportation.eventbrite.co.uk

📉 When people can’t afford food, fuel or housing, it’s not just hardship, it’s a failure of justice.

Join us and @bonavero.bsky.social on 9 December for our online event - 'The future of human rights and justice in the UK'

🎟️ Tickets here events.teams.microso...

@oxfordlawfac.bsky.social

How can we turn court rulings into real climate action? 

Join us tomorrow at 5 pm for the online launch of our latest report by Basak Cali and Marcelo Lozada Gomez: "From Litigation to Implementation: Framing Smart Remedies in Rights-Based Climate Change"

https://bit.ly/49Q0S4P

📉 When people can’t afford food, fuel or housing, it’s not just hardship, it’s a failure of justice.

Join us and the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights on 9 December for our online event - 'The future of human rights and justice in the UK'

🎟️ Tickets here events.teams.microsoft.com/event/046a23...

Time, Space and Information: Lessons Learned from the Abuse of Law to Attack Civic Space

📢 New publication!

Governments are increasingly using legal and institutional tools to silence critics and shrink civic space. Our report reveals how these tactics weaken democracy and what can be done to resist them: buff.ly/De6Sxjk

@bonavero.bsky.social @internationalidea.bsky.social

Event details with pictures of all 8 speakers

How can employment law defend dignity, equality & freedom at work? Join us on 5 Nov at the Bonavero Institute and online for Human Rights at Work: Reimagining Employment Law. Register: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

#EmploymentLaw #FutureofWork #HumanRights

Statue of Eleanor Roosevelt in the gardens of Mansfield College, Oxford

Why do constitutions matter for women’s rights in Central & Eastern Europe?
Our symposium on 29 Oct explores reproductive rights, anti-gender backlash & the role of courts in shaping equality-bringing fresh perspectives.
For more detail: bit.ly/47x65gd
#GenderEquality #WomenInLaw #ConstitutionalLaw

Students at the Bonavero Institute

Call for Applications: Bonavero Graduate Research Residency 2026
Oxford graduate researchers in human rights, public law, international law, or the rule of law are invited to apply by 14.11.
Visit: law.ox.ac.uk/bonavero-institute-of-human-rights/graduate-research-residency-programme
#Humanrightslaw

image of Jack Beadsworth

Pleased to welcome Jack Beadsworth as a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Modern Slavery & Human Rights PEC.
His work focuses on migrant workers’ rights, labour exploitation and the intersections of labour and immigration law.

#ModernSlavery #HumanRights #MigrantWorkers #LabourRights

Image of Dr Salmoli Choudhuri

Delighted to welcome Dr. Salmoli Choudhuri as an Early Career Fellow & co-convenor of the Law and Democracy Network.
Her research explores legal and political ideas that shaped modern India and contributed to global thought.

#LawAndDemocracy #AcademicResearch #GlobalThought

image of Mandela's quote

From Robben Island in 1970, Mandela wrote: 'Hope is a powerful weapon even when nothing else may remain.'

Decades later, his words still inspire. Our Annual Highlights report takes hope as its theme.
#NelsonMandela #Hope #Resilience

This summer the Bonavero research team’s work was widely recognised with research published in leading academic journals including @The European Journal of International Law, The German Law Journal, Human Rights Quarterly. Find out more: bit.ly/3Kt6DLc

#LegalResearch #HumanRightsLaw #ResearchImpact

Image of Professor Basak Cali

Tomorrow: tune into the livestream of the conference marking 75 years of the European Convention on Human Rights, hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Justice and featuring our Head of Research, Professor Başak Çalı.

📺 Watch here: bit.ly/4q1ojxC

#HumanRights #ECHR75

images of all the new research visitors

Welcome to the Bonavero Institute's new research visitors: Elizabeth Brumby, Neil Hicks, Maria Ester Jordana Santiago, Harj Narulla, Michael Pal and Lulu Weis.

Find out more about them and their research: bit.ly/46BUPim

#HumanRightsLaw #LegalResearch #AcademicResearch

Image of Professor Rachel Murray

Welcome to our new Director, Rachel Murray who joins this week.

Previously, Professor Murray was co-founder and Director of the Human Rights Implementation Centre and Professor of International Human Rights Law at Bristol University.

#HumanRightsLaw #AcademicLeadership

Are you a graduate law or criminology student at Oxford with an interest in immigration and human rights law?

Apply to join one of two collaborative legal aid clinics to gain meaningful experience addressing urgent human rights needs.

Learn more: www.law.ox.ac.uk/content/curr...

#LegalAidClinic

Stats from our report on the ECHR and UK immigration has been featured on Sky News. Prof Alice Donald, our partner on this research, notes much reporting has been misleading - and that leaving the ECHR would likely make only marginal difference to appeal outcomes news.sky.com/story/inside...
#ECHR

As Michaelmas Term approaches, we prepare to say goodbye to our inaugural Director, Kate O’Regan, retiring this autumn.

Read tributes from colleagues reflecting on her leadership: bit.ly/3I9LLIg

#ThankYouKateORegan #BonaveroInstitute

Illustrator Laure Rees-Smith at work

Annual Highlights report front cover

Meet the artist behind our 2024–25 Annual Highlights cover: Laure Rees-Smith, a Bristol-based illustrator for environmental and social impact.

Her piece Holding Equity speaks to shared humanity and collective dignity.

#HoldingEquity #BonaveroInstitute