Known for years as a global leader in #highered and research, the #US saw #academicfreedom levels and university autonomy decline significantly in #Free2Think2025 —posing dire risks to the shrinking space for academic freedom worldwide. #AcademicFreedomIndex www.scholarsatrisk.org/resources/fr...

‘There is no doubt that food was available in Ireland throughout the crisis – just not to those who needed it most.’ Niamh Gallagher on a new history of the Great Famine. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

"You state in your letter three times that your client has suffered “overwhelming financial and reputational harm”. This is presumably on the Beetlejuice principle that if you repeat something three times it somehow appears."

NEW The letter the BBC could send back to Trump A proposal for a reply to his $1bn claim By me. Enjoy. emptycity.substack.com/p/the-letter...

Progress report on negotiations on a general EU anti-discrimination directive (outside employment) - still no unanimity on this - data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document...

The School of Law would like to extend a warm welcome to Jonathan Boyle who joins us as a PhD Researcher. His research project will focus on the ongoing integrated truth investigation into Mother and Baby institutions, Magdalene Laundries and workhouses in Northern Ireland from 1922-1995.

💡 𝗔𝗹𝗹-𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮r 💡 Join the AISSN team for a virtual webinar where to discuss the recent welfare reform proposals in the UK and RoI in a discussion chaired by our own Dr Ciara Fitzpatrick! 𝗧𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼: www.eventbrite.ie/e/all-island...

Join us in extending a warm welcome to Lauren. Her research examines how female survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in Northern Uganda conceptualize, access, and navigate justice amid an ongoing 'implementation gap’ between national transitional justice policy and lived reality.

𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵: “𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁: 𝗔 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵” (𝗥𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱) 𝘣𝘺 𝘋𝘳 𝘕𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘭ı𝘤ı 📅 12 December 2025 ⏰ 14:00-15:30 (followed by refreshments) 🏓 Ulster University (Belfast Campus) BC-00-306 To register, head to: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/launch-tra...

CJEU: limits on EU employment law power re wages and freedom of association only rule out 'direct interference' in those issues - so EU framework minimum wage Directive is partly invalid where it sets criteria for statutory minimum wage, and prevents minimum wage dropping - but is otherwise valid 1

We covered plenty of ground here. (I also enjoyed venting a little about some of the more bad faith/badly reasoned criticisms of the Strasbourg case-law.)

The Bingham Centre report on UK counter-terrorism law has landed. Apply its findings to anything from the Kneecap prosecution to the banning of Palestine Action and you find just how draconian UK counter-terrorism law is, and the extent of necessary reform: binghamcentre.biicl.org/documents/22...

Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments: One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.

BREAKING: Mark Wolf, appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan, writes that he is resigning as a judge to have the freedom to speak out against the president's assault on the rule of law. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Rule of law says what now (Ireland edition)?

"The European Convention on Human Rights: 75 years on": a Human Rights Lawyers Association event, with @womaninhavana.bsky.social, @dzehtsiarou.bsky.social, Parosha Chandran and @katywatts.bsky.social. 11 November at Hogan Lovells and online. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-europe...

Nearly 300 organisations have issued a rallying cry for a “full-throated defence” of the European Convention on Human Rights – accusing politicians of using it as a scapegoat with devastating effects. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

The European human rights system is coming under sustained political pressure with relentless misinformation and scapegoating. We have established the AGORA Group as a pan-European platform committed to dialogue & inquiry on key issues concerning the ECHR. Please join us! lnkd.in/e3HhescZ

Reinforce, Reform or Rupture? The Future of the European Convention on Human Rights | by Alice Donald and Andrew Forde

The select committee report on the asylum hotel shambles highlights a point I made repeatedly - the absurd gimicks pursued by the last govt like Rwanda took resources away from running the actual system properly.

Right, I have read the three published witness statements closely, and... ...well. I have spotted some rather interesting points. I may also have worked out how the CPS thought the evidential test was somehow met at charging stage but not on the eve of prosecution. Post will be up about 10am.

We're at the Supreme Court to defend Black voters’ power at the polls. Follow along for live updates.

Oral arguments in the SCOTUS case challenging the VRA - and whether it’s unconstitutional racial discrimination to prohibit legislatures from redistricting away minority voters’ political power - start shortly. Here’s my preview - on the case & term: www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

New HoL committee report on NI post Brexit. A surprising amount of agreement across a broad spectrum of witnesses that much more could be done to smooth the process of applying EU law in NI. Key recommendations for UKMis (FCDO in Brussels) & the UK Govt: publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ld...

Congratulations to Dr Georgia Stanley on passing her PhD viva this morning! Georgia’s title was ‘The Second Rape: An Investigative Analysis of Rape Myth Narratives in Courtroom and Media Discourses’. Examiners congratulated Georgia on her excellent, well-researched and well-presented thesis!

'States have a shared responsibility to protect those fleeing for their lives. Sovereignty and the right to seek asylum are not incompatible. They are complementary.' Read the full speech by UN High Commissioner for Refugees here @unhcr.org www.unhcr.org/news/speeche...

My week finished with a trip to Vancouver and the opportunity to visit, and meet students and staff, at Brentwood College School and St. Michaels University School in Victoria and Stratford High School and Mulgrave High School in Vancouver. @ulsteruni.bsky.social @ulsterunischlaw.bsky.social

A highlight of my visit to Toronto last week was the chance to visit (HTS) Holy Trinity School on Orange T-Shirt Day, part of National Truth and Reconciliation Week. @ulsteruni.bsky.social @ulsterunischlaw.bsky.social

It was a pleasure to go to Toronto on behalf of @ulsteruni.bsky.social & @ulsterunischlaw.bsky.social to visit Lakefield College School, Lauremont School, and Upper Canada College.

Like most apologias, the Wolfson report isn't supposed to be read, it's just supposed to exist to provide cover. But this is really pretty limited cover. If anyone is bothered, note the utter lack of any references re the GFA. It's all just vibes: www.conservatives.com/wolfson-fina...

Scholars at Risk is now active on Bluesky! SAR is an international network of institutions and individuals working to protect scholars and promote academic freedom. Keep an eye out for our upcoming #Free2Think2025 report, documenting global attacks on #highered! Learn more: scholarsatrisk.org

SAR’s #Free2Think2025 report is here! As violent threats to #highered in authoritarian contexts persist, recent years have seen increases in attacks on historically liberal contexts—incl. in the #UnitedStates. Read the report’s pressing findings now: www.scholarsatrisk.org/resources/fr...

Apart from the unnecessary hardship this will inflict on individuals, this will be bad for integration and social cohesion, bad for the economy, and will increase irregular migration. [And, as @robfordmancs.bsky.social has shown, it's hugely unpopular and out of step with the British public]

"Megaphone diplomacy via open letters, and speeches talking loosely of “reform”, seek to exculpate national political actors and scapegoat the ECtHR for domestic discontent around immigration, often inflamed by the very national actors that now seek to externalise responsibility to Strasbourg" 🎯

Pop along at the Study In Fair in Toronto to meet Isabella Salem and myself and learn about Northern Ireland, Ulster University and our Ulster University School of Law! www.ulster.ac.uk

Arrived in Toronto yesterday (a pleasant 24 degrees) and looking forward to the Study in the UK Fair today in the Hyatt Regency! Come along to the @ulsteruni.bsky.social stand and learn more about the University and @ulsterunischlaw.bsky.social! gostudyin.com/canada/study...

(1/3) Catch up on our recent analysis: • U.S. strikes / Venezuela • Israel-Hamas War • Trump executive actions • U.S. military • United States / Immigration • Nuclear weapons testing • Extremism www.justsecurity.org/121135/diges...

This is the real threat to free speech.

The European Court of #HumanRights has ruled against Italy for not doing enough to tackle #DomesticViolence. Here are several more examples of how the #ECHR system has helped shift the needle on #ViolenceAgainstWomen👇 🔗 go.coe.int/e9Pqg #EndViolenceAgainstWomen #EndVAW

CAJ Director, Daniel Holder, attended this morning's press conference following the publication of the McCullough Review findings. "It should not have taken McCullough to get to the bottom of PSNI surveillance" Full statement with @amnestyuk.bsky.social 👉 caj.org.uk/latest/mccul...

BREAKING: A court ruled that the federal government can't pick and choose among viewpoints when deciding who gets a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. We took the Trump administration to court to fight artistic censorship — and won.

"I do not write these words as an adversary of Israel.... Our commission has documented the crimes by Hamas. But no crime, however grave, justifies genocide. To respond to atrocity with atrocity is to abandon the very values international law was created to protect."

No substitute for reading the Murray/O’Donoghue paper, but this is my way of summarising some key flaws in the PE paper. open.substack.com/pub/societyo...

A must read from @colinmurray.bsky.social and @aoifemod.bsky.social correcting the record on the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The three most damning paras in the UN Report alleging that Israel is perpetrating genocide in Gaza: Siege starvation, attacks on health care, direct targeting of children as patterns that cannot be explained except if group destruction is one animating purpose.

Why what is happening in the United States shows the need for the United Kingdom to repair its own constitution Our polity is there for the taking Substack emptycity.substack.com/p/the-pointl... Personal blog davidallengreen.com/2025/09/the-...

Have you heard the one about a foreign criminal who couldn’t be deported, under the #ECHR, because his son didn’t like #ChickenNuggets abroad? It’s not actually true, believe it or not. 🔗 observer.co.uk/news/nationa... via @theobserveruk.bsky.social

A lovely tribute from Áras an Uachtaráin to mark Professor Conor Gearty's passing: president.ie/en/media-lib...

This was Conor Gearty only a week or so ago at @prospectmagazine.co.uk on ECHR withdrawal and the Palestine Action ban.

Conor Gearty was, without hesitation, the best academic writer I’ve read. He was also a thoroughly decent and kind human being who fearlessly used his position speak truth to power. Conor did law, politics and academia the right way and he will be sorely missed. Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.