The ‘Knowing our Rights’ research project aims to provide analysis, and to deepen and increase understanding, of the application of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in the UK, based on academic scholarship and engagement with the public, young people in particular.
The project is concerned to ensure that the public in the UK obtains a balanced, research-based view of rights in the European Convention, as applied in the UK through the Human Rights Act 1998.
The project also aims to raise public awareness of how the European Court of Human Rights operates, how its case law is accommodated in the UK, and the consequences for our human rights that would derive from the UK potentially withdrawing from the Convention or watering down relevant rights.
The project explores these critical issues in the context of post-Brexit withdrawal from the human rights protections contained in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and of the ECHR protections incorporated in EU law as well as in the context of continuous uncertainty about the potential to replace the Human Rights Act with a UK Bill of Rights.
Dr Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos
(Prof of Law, Goldsmiths, University of London)
is the director of Knowing Our Rights
Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos holds the Inaugural Chair in Law at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is an Associate Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Dimitrios has world leading expertise in how human rights norms on criminal justice are applied in national jurisdictions across different legal cultures. He has published widely on suspects’ rights, evidence obtained in violation of the right to privacy and the application of ECHR jurisprudence in the domestic criminal process. His monograph on Improperly Obtained Evidence in Anglo-American and Continental Law (Oxford, Hart Publishing) is the first book to offer an extensive cosmopolitan insight into the ‘exclusionary rule’ debate.
Prof Julian Petley
(Journalism, Brunel University London)
Julian Petley is Professor of Screen Media at Brunel University. His work involves making numerous submissions to official enquiries (such as the Leveson Inquiry), giving evidence to parliamentary select committees, liaising with like-minded civil society groups, and maintaining a high media profile.
Matteo Bergamini
Matteo Bergamini is the founder of Shout Out UK, a multi-award winning independent youth news platform that provides young people with the tools necessary to engage in politics and a platform to shout out and be heard. Matteo has a degree in Politics & History, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Law from Brunel University London. He has worked on a number of projects from the Channel 4 Youth Leaders’ Debate to the creation of a Political Literacy Course, and was invited to become a fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce for his work in encouraging political education amongst young people.
Monika Selimovic
Prior to moving to the UK to study for the GDL, Monika worked in Medical Education in Toronto, Canada where she also earned her undergraduate degree in International Development Studies from York University. Her main interests are in immigration and refugee studies which she had the privilege of exploring during her 3 years of volunteer work with the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture where she worked in settlement programs for newcomers.
Gabrielle Laurin
Upon completion of her LLB studies, Gabrielle is intent
Amirah Choudhury
After completing LLB studies and her placement in Social Housing at Hodge Jones and Allen Solicitors, Amirah is intending to pursue the LPC. Amirah is dedicated to human rights issues and her time spent in Athens on a Refugee Project has helped her gain insight into the realities of human rights violations.
Martina Caloi
Martina is a second-year student at Brunel Law School, and the current president of Brunel’s Model United Nations society. During her first year of studies she has supported various research activities undertaken by the Britain in Europe think tank: she was on the student panel of the “Immigration after Brexit? What lies ahead…” conference, and has contributed to school workshops undertaken by Knowing Our Rights. Martina has recently completed an internship at the European Parliament and the European External Action Service (EEAS). This experience has further motivated her to research, and raise awareness about, the work of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, regarding the protection of human rights within Europe and beyond.
Daniel Proctor
Daniel is currently working part-time in the Clinical Negligence department of Leigh Day. Upon completion of his LLB studies, he intends to pursue a career at the Bar. He first became interested in human rights when he started engaging with legal practitioners in the discipline, and has a particular interest in the law of international terrorism at the UN level.
The project is undertaken by human rights experts (academics, legal professionals, members of human rights NGOs) under the umbrella of the independent thinktank ‘Britain in Europe’
The project is funded by the Open Society Initiative for Europe and the Open Society Foundations.
