NEW Death in Minnesota The significance of the reaction to the killing of Renee Nicole Good By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

A gangster state at home, a rogue state abroad: and entirely because Congress and the Supreme Court have abdicated their proper constitutional roles.

The future of the film industry is being made in Belfast - the single most impressive place I visited anywhere in 2025….https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/12/27/belfasts-field-of-dreams-by-the-lagan/

Perfection.

Excellent piece by Professor Cathryn Costello @profccostello.bsky.social of @ucdschooloflaw.bsky.social in today’s Irish Times: Ireland should resist cheap and tough talk on migration…

New post that I hope anyone who cares about human rights/the rule of law reads. If the UK Govt can use a 30 year old threat of terrorism to conceal the release of *outline* information about its agents' connection to murder, it really can act with impunity: ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/12/18/a...

It is international law 101 that a military blockade is not just a violation of the UN Charter, but a crime of aggression. Unless that blockade is in response to an 'armed attack.' None of President's Trump's list of complaints come close to an armed attack. 1/

This looks like a great opportunity if you have any interest in things like socio-legal, law in context, law and globalisation, teaching of law, legal theory, or comparative law.

Hard to overstate the importance of next week's UKSC decision in Thompson for conflict legacy in NI. Either the UK Govt will be led, still grumbling, towards greater transparency in this historic security context, or the courts will help prop up a wall of silence: supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2...

The @cajni.bsky.social annual lecture sees PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher excoriate the application and practice of Neither Confirm Nor Deny policy in NI as an "implacable dogma" in cases like Stakeknife which does not recognise the need for "flexible and nuanced" application in Legacy cases.

The latest Kenova report details how MI5 prevented Stakeknife investigations, but we continue to see claims of "lawfare" being used against the UK in conflict legacy cases. The manifest failings in many Troubles investigations is what is driving current legal actions: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...

EU home affairs ministers agreed yesterday on major changes to how asylum claims are processed. The measures still need to be negotiated with the European Parliament before they enter into force. In the meantime, this is what has been agreed upon. 🧵1/4

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: @tcddublin.bsky.social Law School & @tricondublin.bsky.social are organising an ECR workshop for PhD researchers, postdocs, and junior academic staff working on international law on the island of Ireland (north & south). Send your abstracts in by 30 January!

UN experts alarmed by United States escalating pressure on Venezuela www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

The boat strikes are also considered extrajudicial killings under international human rights law. h/t to @stevevladeck.bsky.social for directing me to this very helpful and decisive article that answers all these questions. END/ www.justsecurity.org/126156/exper...

The US government is summarily executing people on a weekly basis without telling the American people any of their names or presenting any proof of their guilt, for alleged crimes that do not carry the death penalty in the US.

Overjoyed that my book The Collaborative Constitution @cambup-law.cambridge.org has won The Inner Temple Main Author Book Prize 2025! Great to celebrate with my fellow finalists Sean Coyle, Liron Schmilovitz & @vmantouvalou.bsky.social & the New Author winner Brooke Marshall.

Wonderful to welcome back Dr Nisan Alıcı, for the launch of her new book “Transitional Justice and the Kurdish Conflict: A Grassroots Approach" Join us for this event hosted by Incore and the Transitional Justice Institute on 12 Dec, 14.00 Belfast. RSVP www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/launch-tra...

Honoured to welcome Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC to speak on 'Lawyers in the Firing Line: Attacking the Advocates' on 8 Dec at 18.30 in the Belfast campus Ulster University, hosted by the John and Pat Hume Foundation and INCORE, Ulster University. RSVP at www.tickettailor.com/events/humef...

Join Int'l Human Rights Desk and Transitional Justice Institute on 8 Dec at 15.30 in the Belfast campus of Ulster University for Human Rights Across Contexts and Shared Understandings, Pakistan, Northern Ireland and Beyond. RSVP at www.eventbrite.com/e/human-righ... @ulsterunischlaw.bsky.social

A former UK prime minister held responsible for tens of thousands of deaths while the US president calls for elected politicians to be hanged. A jolt of a reminder that law and policy are ultimately about life and death. And politicians are often not up to dealing with such things.

The second talk is on 25 November at 6pm CET (5pm UK) by @ashwinikp.bsky.social, UN Special Rapporteur on racism, on intersectionality from a racial justice perspective, with @ivy180.bsky.social and @lenaholzer.bsky.social as discussants. Please register here: uni-koeln.zoom.us/meeting/regi....

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