Natasa Mavronicola

In this article @ljil-leiden.bsky.social, @mattia800.bsky.social and I challenge the punishment-as-justice perspective that dominates atrocity redress and prevention, examining, with a focus on Gaza, how it can undermine prevention and fuel problematic retaliatory impulses.

bit.ly/48uKHJx

When a govt lets it be known that it's considering taking rights away from children with Special Needs, a minister doing the rounds saying he's ’not getting into the details’ has one big effect. People feel scared. They lose sleep. Once again: this is not how to do disability policy (or any policy)

As I watched the benefits fiasco unfolding, knowing that the special needs story would soon explode, it brought one big thought to mind. Labour needs to stop sowing fear and dread among people whose lives are already full of those things. Instead of picking on vulnerable parts of the population who already view the future with deep anxiety, they should maybe go after much more powerful interests, who might be compelled into helping the government with its financial woes. Instead, fear is swirling around parts of society that are already unable to cope. Labour governments are meant to make people feel less scared, not more. If there is going to be yet another “reset”, this is where it should be focused.

There is one point that may yet bring clarity to the government’s thinking. Governing politicians habitually pretend they will win future elections. But there is now every chance that Reform UK might end up in power, possibly in partnership with whatever remains of the Conservatives. Judging by his recent pronouncements, Nigel Farage has very questionable views about special needs and disabilities. There is strong evidence that the same is true of Kemi Badenoch. The current fashion on the political right for nonsense about savagely cutting back the state would have deep implications for Send families. If Labour takes away so many children’s basic educational rights, it may well end up leaving them at the mercy of politicians who will then vandalise their lives. “No decision has been made,” say ministers. It is time they took the only morally and politically right one, and fast.

Latest from me: on fears about the govt's plans for Special Needs education, with two key things that Labour ministers & MPs should think about www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It's out and available open access!
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/pathology...

Superstars!

A must-read by @karengle.bsky.social!

Terrific to see my book available online — and soon in print! Many thanks to series editors Nadia Lambek, @riclements.bsky.social, @leslava.bsky.social, and Markus Gunneflo! And congrats on the new series!

The boy who came back: the near-death, and changed life, of my son Max It was, we were told, a case of sudden infant death syndrome interrupted. What followed would transform my understanding of parenting, disability and the breadth of what makes a meaningful life

I wrote for the Guardian’s Saturday magazine about my son Max, who changed how I see the world. Took ages. More jokes after the first bit.

Thanks Merope Mills for being the most patient and generous editor.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Covid inquiry: 180,000 lives could have been saved If the government had listened to experts and implemented the same strategies used in other countries, 180,000 lives may have been saved during Covid, the UK Covid Inquiry heard today.

Covid inquiry: 180,000 lives could have been saved
www.channel4.com/news/covid-i...

In Private, Some Israeli Officers Admit That Gaza Is on the Brink of Starvation

The UN says starvation and famine is imminent.

Now some Israeli officers say the same.

Mass, deliberate starvation of 2 million people. That's what's happening.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/w...

Starmer: this is "incalculable damage"

A screenshot of the title (“Civilizational Hierarchies and the Notion of ‘Europe’ in the European Convention on Human Rights”) and abstract of the paper available at the link above

📄 New article:

Colonialism continues to shape the project of European human rights. In this article I trace the continuity of civilizational hierarchies in the ECtHR’s case-law on extraterritoriality and European consensus

Available in EJIL @ejiltalk.bsky.social: academic.oup.com/ejil/advance...

We invite signatures from UK law people for our open letter on the aftermath of FWS.

*Please sign and share with your networks* as we will send to the relevant parliamentary human rights bodies on closure of the letter.

Autopsies of Slain Gaza Medics Show Some Were Shot in the Head The New York Times obtained autopsy reports for 14 of the 15 people killed in a March 23 attack on an ambulance and fire truck.

The forensics don’t lie. Medics shot in the head, at close range, and more. Prima facia has to be considered a war crime.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/w...

getting a bit tiring to think "ah yay, the worst people you know are having a great day" several times a week, every single week

Support resources for our trans friends and allies | Good Law Project At a time when anti-trans discrimination is rife and hate crime has reached record levels, it’s important to know what support is out there for trans, non-binary or gender-questioning individuals and ...

On what is a really difficult day, here are some resources for our trans friends and allies.

Solidarity 💜
goodlawproject.org/resource/sup...

Who’s In and Who’s Out at the Naval Academy’s Library? An order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office resulted in a purge of books critical of racism but preserved volumes defending white power.

Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf” is still on U.S. Naval Academy shelves. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “Memorializing the Holocaust” are not.

An order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office led to a purge of books that are critical of racism — but preserved volumes defending white power.

BREAKING: An immigration court determined our client Mahmoud Khalil to be removable from the U.S. based solely on his political speech.

The fight isn't over — we'll keep fighting for Mahmoud's freedom and all of our First Amendment rights in federal court.

On 8th April, I'll be speaking at VERNAC TALKS by DIGNITY Vernacular Accountability Project. My talk, Restoring Harmony, explores how Nasa Indigenous justice in Colombia offers a restorative and collective model for human rights accountability.

DM me for the Zoom link.

@cahr-york.bsky.social

Including judgments against Greece for death of a migrant, and against Serbia for extradition to an unsafe country

I am writing a textbook on International Human Rights Law with my amazing colleagues at bsky.app/profile/lsjl... and... it’s a bit special and I'm really excited about it.
What’s so special? Well it will be completely free and open access. But for it to work I need some help...

Portrait of Charles I

400 years ago today, Charles I became king of England, Scotland and Ireland. It went really well for him.

The special needs trap What one parent’s experience reveals about a system on the brink of collapse.

An excellent piece from @johnharris1969.bsky.social in The @newstatesman.com on his family's SEND struggles. High praise for SNJ's "battle-hardened SEND veterans" ”Don’t take away children’s rights, because if you do, you'll have a hell of a fight on your hands.” www.newstatesman.com/politic...

"No return to austerity" latest

Guest Post: Spatial Justice in Eviction Cases under the South African Constitution [This is a guest post by Rishika Sahgal.] Cases involving eviction from well-located land in the heart of cities and relocation to urban peripheries are common across the world, including in India …

New blog post:

"Spatial Justice in Eviction Cases under the South African Constitution" --

indconlawphil.wordpress.com/2025/03/14/g...

[A guest post by Rishika Sahgal.]

Results of the 2024 Strasbourg Observers Best & Worst Poll - Strasbourg Observers Dear readers, In February, we presented you with this year’s edition of our annual Strasbourg Observers Best & Worst Poll, where we asked you to vote for your preferred candidates as shortlisted for t...

Judge Serghides' Partly Dissenting Opinions in Adamčo v Slovakia (no. 2), Grande Oriente d’Italia v Italy, and X & Ors v Slovenia are deemed 'best separate opinion'. Here, he takes aim at what @alangreene.bsky.social labels 'allegation-picking' by the ECtHR.
strasbourgobservers.com/2025/03/18/r...

Results of the 2024 Strasbourg Observers Best & Worst Poll - Strasbourg Observers Dear readers, In February, we presented you with this year’s edition of our annual Strasbourg Observers Best & Worst Poll, where we asked you to vote for your preferred candidates as shortlisted for t...

Instructive to see the pushback judgment against Cyprus (M.A. and Z.R. v Cyprus) being deemed best ECtHR judgment of 2024 in the Strasbourg Observers poll: strasbourgobservers.com/2025/03/18/r...
The judgment, finding violation of A3, A4P4, and A13, can be found here: hudoc.echr.coe.int?i=001-236141

Free speech is for ideas we like; otherwise, it's sparkling terrorism

Call for Papers: Re-Imagining Counter-Terrorism Law Workshop

Come and talk to us in Birmingham about your interesting research in the area of counter-terorrism.

Thrilled that my article 'Border Penality as Antagonistic Politics' has been selected as Editors' Choice in the latest issue of @theoreticalcrim.bsky.social "for its innovative analysis and approach to criminology"

Read it below 👇

@cahr-york.bsky.social @uoy-yorklawschool.bsky.social