Friday 20 March 2015

Conference on Parliaments and the European Court of Human Rights

Middlesex University and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights are co-organising a conference on the interface of national parliaments and the European Court of Human Rights. The conference will be held in Warsaw, Poland, on 12 May from 09:30 to 17:30 (CEST).

Confirmed speakers include (former) ECtHR Judges Myjer and Kaladjieva; Almut Wittling-Vogel (the Representative of the German Federal Government for Matters Relating to Human Rights); Murray Hunt (legal adviser to the UK Joint Committee on Human Rights); Polish Senator Michal Seweryński; Polish Government Agent Justyna Chrzanowska; Başak Çali of Koc University; Daniel Florea of the Romanian Chamber of Deputes sub-committee for the execution of judgments; Christian de Vos of the Open Society Justice Initiative; and Adam Bodnar of the Helsinki Foundation in Warsaw

Registration for the event can be done here.

The two main organising researchers, Philip Leach and Alice Donald, will publish a book on the issue later this year with Oxford University Press, entitled 'Parliaments and the European Court of Human Rights'

Tuesday 10 March 2015

Conference on 20 years after McCann v UK

This year it will be twenty years since the European Court issued its key judgment in the case of McCann and others v the United Kingdom, finding violations of the right to life in relation to British anti-terrorist operation in Gibraltar. To reflect upon the judgment's aftermath and meaning, dr Stephen Skinner of the Centre for European Legal Studies of the University of Exeter is organising a conference entitled "Lethal Force, Policing and the ECHR: McCann and Others v UK at Twenty". The event will be held at Doughty Street Chambers in London on 25 March. This is the organiser's abstract of the event: 

The workshop will provide an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the landmark 1995 judgment by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of McCann on lethal force and the right to life. A panel of eight specialists will consider the importance of McCann and the effect of human rights standards on the use of lethal force in police operations, in the UK and across Europe. The speakers are Sir Keir Starmer QC, Doughty Street Chambers; Jonathan Cooper, Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers; Daniel Machover, Partner, Hickman & Rose Solicitors; Helen Shaw, Co-Director, Inquest; Det. Ch. Sup Brian Dillon, Metropolitan Police Service; Dep. Ch. Con. Simon Chesterman, National Lead for Armed Policing; Tanja Rakusic-Hadzic, Head of the Criminal Law Co-operation Unit, Council of Europe; and Stephen Skinner, University of Exeter.

Places are limited and only available on a RSVP basis. For further information and to reserve a place please contact the workshop convenor, dr Stephen Skinner ( S.J.Skinner at exeter.ac.uk ).