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Andrew Drzemczewski,

Visiting Professor at Middlesex University School of Law,

will be giving his inaugural lecture on

Tuesday 17 January at 6pm.

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Compliance with, and the need to consolidate respect for, core human rights standards in Europe has been entrusted primarily to the Council of Europe. Andrew Drzemczewski, who has spent over 30 years in Strasbourg, will provide an insider’s critical appraisal of how the organisation, and in particular the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly, have taken up this challenge.

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Please register for your free ticket here.

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Programme

17:30	Tea on the 2nd Floor Mezzanine
18:00	Lecture in C219-20
19:00	Light buffet on the 2nd Floor Mezzanine

The event will take place at Middlesex University, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BT.

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To book, please visit the Law Society website.

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Date: 4 May 2016

Location: Law Society of England and Wales, 113 Chancery Lane, WC2A 1PL

Overview:

The European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC) is an independent organisation located within the School of Law of Middlesex University. EHRAC is at the frontline of safeguarding human rights and promoting equality and fairness by means of litigating serious human rights violations at international level. GQUAL is a global campaign that seeks to promote gender parity within international tribunals and monitoring bodies by helping to change the norms, guidelines, and practices that regulate the nomination and voting processes through which the composition of these bodies is determined.

This panel discussion is aimed at bringing together prominent experts and practitioners, academics and judges to discuss the challenges faced both domestically and internationally with respect to gender equality and gender balanced representation within the judiciary and other decision making bodies.

Topics covered will include: the GQUAL campaign for gender parity in international representation; current blocks to judicial diversity in the UK and potential solutions; why merit and diversity are not incompatible.

Programme

17:30 – 18:00 Registration
18:00 – 18:10 Introduction
18:10 – 19:00 Panel presentations
19:00 – 19:45 Questions and discussion
19:45 – 20:30 Drinks

Speakers

Viviana Krsticevic, Executive Director of the Centre for Justice and International Law & GQUAL Campaign Secretariat

Mrs Justice Laura Cox DBE

Professor Philippe Sands, QC, Professor of Law at University College London and Director of the Centre for International Courts and Tribunals, and a practising barrister and co-founder of Matrix Chambers

Professor Christine Chinkin, Emerita Professor of International Law and founding Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security at London School of Economics

Karon Monaghan QC, Deputy High Court Judge & Recorder

Chair: Joanna Evans, EHRAC Legal Director, Barrister, Recorder & Deputy District Judge

Why attend?

This high-level event will provide first-hand insight into the challenges of promoting gender equality and gender balanced representation within the judiciary and other decision making bodies at both national and international level.

Who should attend?

Lawyers
Law students
Human rights practitioners
Academics

To book, please visit the Law Society website.

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“Death is taken out of life.”

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These were the words of Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedavaricius, speaking about enforced disappearances at a screening of his film, Barzakh, on International Human Rights Day. In the Chechen language, Barzakh is the land between the living and the dead, a kind of purgatory; the film shows how families cope with living a half-life, doubtful about the survival of their disappeared loved ones, but never fully reconciled to their deaths. The documentary, filmed between 2006 and 2009 in Chechnya is a moving portrayal of a handful of families, as well as a timeless account of the day-to-day suffering faced by the relatives of over 5000 men disappeared since 1999.

Following the screening Masha Karp (journalist, formerly of the BBC Russian Service), chaired a panel discussion exploring the issue of enforced disappearances in greater depth. Akhmed Gisayev, a human rights lawyer who has taken cases of enforced disappearances to the European Court of Human Rights and who is seen in the film alongside families that he represented, commented on the context in Chechnya then and now. He was adamant that the situation had only worsened since the film was made as the current regime in Chechnya poses an even greater threat to the personal security not only of men, but of their families, while law enforcement authorities continue to enjoy impunity in such cases fifteen years on. In 2004, with support from EHRAC and Memorial Human Rights Centre (based in Moscow) he had taken the case of his own ill-treatment at the hands of the Russian State agents to the European Court. He and his family left Chechnya after an attempt on his life on 13 August 2009.

Mariat Imaeva, a PhD Candidate at Dublin City University (under the Daniel O’Hare Research Scholarship Scheme), is researching enforced disappearances in Chechnya and possible alternative remedies to the strategic litigation at the European Court. She agreed that disappearances have become more common in the North Caucasus generally, including in Dagestan and Ingushetia, although there is a dearth of accurate data. She further commented on the necessity of finding appropriate means of redress for families:

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“The issue with missing people in Chechnya will never become historical until the cases are resolved and families of the disappeared are given the opportunity to have closure,  which will awaken them from their frozen lives, from spending years in anguish, waiting and constant search for their loved-ones.”

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As for families of the disappeared, Jessica Gavron, EHRAC Legal Director explained that, although over 300 judgments have been handed down by the European Court with the aim of holding the Russian State to account, no action has actually been taken. EHRAC has been advocating for the implementation of these judgments by briefing the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on a regular basis; however, Jessica added, that such systematic abductions and killings are only likely to be acknowledged following regime change, as we have seen in parallel situations around the world.

We were very pleased to welcome Lord Frank Judd to the event, a former rapporteur on Chechnya to the Council of Europe. He spoke of how he “felt as emotionally churned up as [he] ever did” about the issue of enforced disappearances, itself a mechanism used by the State to perpetrate violence and fear in the region.

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With thanks to Pushkin House for hosting the event, to Irina Norton for interpreting on behalf of Akhmed, and to People in Need for sharing images of their exhibition on enforced disappearances “Stories Without Endings”.

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Translation(s)

• Международный день прав человека: открытое высказывание против похищений в Чечне (Русский)

To mark International Human Rights Day 2015, and the 21st anniversary of the beginning of the first Chechen war, EHRAC and Pushkin House present a screening of Barzakh, a documentary by Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedaravicius. In Chechnya, many men have disappeared from their towns – arrested, abducted, killed – and nothing has been heard of them since. In the Chechen language, Barzakh is the land between the living and the dead, a kind of purgatory; the film shows how families cope with living a half-life, doubtful about the survival of their disappeared loved ones, but never fully reconciled to their deaths.

After the screening, we will be holding a panel discussion with experts on the region, who will examine in turn the human cost of the long-standing tensions in Chechnya. Joining Mantas is Ahmed Gisayev, a human rights lawyer who has taken cases from the North Caucasus to the European Court, and whom EHRAC represented in his own case against the Russian State. We have also invited Mariat Imaeva, a PhD candidate at Dublin City University researching enforced disappearances in Chechnya, and Jessica Gavron, EHRAC’s Legal Director who has litigated many such cases at the European Court. The discussion will be chaired by Masha Karp, a journalist and former Features Editor for the BBC Russian Service.

Tickets cost £10 (£7 concessions) and must be booked through the Pushkin House website (please scroll to the bottom of the page).

Last week at the Law Society, prominent human rights lawyers and activists Olga Sadovskaya, Stephania Kulayeva and Khalid Bagirov spoke candidly about the difficulties faced by lawyers working in Russia and Azerbaijan, in light of recent legislative changes in their countries which limit the scope of civil society to operate. The panel discussion, Human Rights Defenders Under Pressure, gave a voice to those at the front line of defending human rights.

Such events are important for raising awareness of key human rights issues, and I hope we can continue to support the lawyers in Russia and Azerbaijan in the future.

Tony Fisher, Human Rights Committee of the Law Society of England and Wales

Olga Sadovskaya (Committee Against Torture) and Stephania Kulayeva (Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial) both represent NGOs which have found themselves on the so-called ‘Foreign Agents’ list.[1] They explained that the term ‘foreign agent’ has been inextricably linked with spies and illicit activities since the Soviet era; the law effectively acts as a smear campaign orchestrated by the government and the State-controlled media. The historical significance of the term makes it very difficult for civil society to maintain support from the very public which it is seeking to protect. Moreover, for some NGOs, the law has meant a daily battle to overcome obstacles such as fines, legal action and, since 28 October 2015, the threat of liquidation by law enforcement agencies The new law on ‘undesirable’ organisations, signed in May 2015, is yet another step towards limiting NGOs’ ability to operate, as it will make it illegal to cooperate with and receive foreign funding from foreign organisations designated as “undesirable”.

Our third speaker, Khalid Bagirov, a high-profile human rights lawyer from Baku, is currently representing Rasul Jafarov, Leyla & Arif Yunus, and a number of other critical voices who have been imprisoned as a result of the most recent crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan. He explained how Azerbaijan has arrived at a situation where it has 80 political prisoners, including journalists, bloggers, lawyers and activists currently languishing in prison. There remain only 900 practising criminal lawyers for a population of 9 million, only four or five of whom dare to defend political prisoners. Yet, as Khalid noted, Azerbaijan is still a member of the Council of Europe. For many the lack of overt criticism from the latter and from European democracies serves as a silent endorsement of the current regime.

Reflecting on the situations in both countries, EHRAC Legal Director Joanna Evans praised the personal bravery of our panellists, their colleagues and the people they represent:

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The tenacity of our panellists highlights the integral role played by human rights defenders in safeguarding the most basic freedoms. Lawyers in countries such as Russia and Azerbaijan face unprecedented obstacles in their professional and personal lives. It is essential to raise awareness of the issues discussed during this event amongst the legal community if we are to support our colleagues on an international scale.

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Sobering though the panel discussion proved for many of the audience, it sparked a lively discussion over the implications of scrapping or watering down the UK Human Rights Act. The panellists unanimously emphasised that such a move would present a chance for oppressive regimes in Europe, such as those in Russia and Azerbaijan, to withdraw from their international human rights commitments, which would inevitably have a detrimental consequences for millions of the most vulnerable people on the continent.

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With thanks to Masha Karp for interpreting on behalf of Khalid Bagirov, and to the Law Society for generously hosting the event. Thanks also to Tony Fisher, of the Law Society’s Human Rights Committee, for chairing the evening’s discussion.

People in Need, a Czech NGO, provided artwork from two of their recent exhibitions: Stories without Endings: Violence and Impunity in the North Caucasus and Doubling Down on Repression: Stories from Azerbaijan’s Prisoners.

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Challenges in litigating human rights violations in the former Soviet Union

27 October 2015 at the Law Society, 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL

EHRAC is at the frontline of safeguarding human rights and protecting those who defend them. This panel discussion brings together prominent human rights defenders to discuss recent legislative changes, and the challenges they present to litigating cases of abuse in Russia and Azerbaijan, and the former Soviet Union more broadly, at domestic and international levels, including the European Court of Human Rights.

The environment faced by human rights defenders in Russia and Azerbaijan has become increasingly hostile in recent years. Our panelist from Azerbaijan, Khalid Bagirov, is one of few human rights defenders who has not been imprisoned since the most recent State crackdown on civil society, which began in summer 2014. Both of the organisations represented by our Russian panelists – Memorial Anti-Discrimination Centre and the Committee Against Torture – have had to restructure or relocate as a result of the law on ‘foreign agents’. This event is a unique opportunity for a first-hand insight into how human rights lawyers and organisations must adapt to continue their work in difficult circumstances, if European and international human rights standards are to be upheld in the former Soviet Union.

This is a joint event with the Law Society of England and Wales.

Programme
17:30 – 18:00 Registration
18:00 – 18:10 Introduction by Tony Fisher, Human Rights Committee, Law Society
18:10 – 19:00 Presentations by the panel
19:00 – 19:45 Questions and discussion
19:45 – 20:30 Drinks

Speakers
Chair: Tony Fisher, Human Rights Committee, Law Society
Khalid Bagirov, Human rights lawyer, Baku
Stephania Kulayeva, Head of Memorial Anti-Discrimination Centre, Brussels
Olga Sadovskaya, Deputy Chair, Committee Against Torture (NGO), Nizhny Novgorod
Joanna Evans, Legal Director, EHRAC, London

This event is free to attend, but a reservation is necessary.

Please email Sabrina Vashisht if you would like to reserve a place at this event.

On 5 May 2015 the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) held a conference in the Georgian National Library, Tbilisi, on “Russia’s responsibility during the August War and at present: GYLA’s cases at the European Court”. In these cases, GYLA sought to invoke the responsibility of the Russian Federation before the European Court. The cases included:

Panel discussion hosted by the Human Rights Lawyers Association

At a time when we are beginning to witness an erosion of the Convention standards in many parts of Europe, this event will address the practical ways in which the Convention has assisted those working to establish a culture of human rights protection in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Serbia and Montenegro.

The panel will be chaired by EHRAC’s director, Prof. Philip Leach. Two of EHRAC’s legal consultants, Vahe Grigoryan and Ramute Remezaite will also be leading the discussion.

The event will take place at 6pm on Tuesday 5 May at the Hardwicke Building, New Square, Lincoln’s Inn, London WC2A 3SB.

Entry is free but please email administrator@hrla.org.uk to register.

Along with Matrix Chambers and the Law Society, Middlesex University School of Law is organising a short course on various aspects of practising human rights law in the UK. EHRAC director Philip Leach and members of the School of Law will be speaking at the various sessions, which will be free to all attendees. All sessions will start at 6pm, and will take place at The Law Society as follows:

Thursday 22 January 2015: “Migrants, Refugees and the Right to Life”

Thursday 29 January 2015: “The UK and the European Court of Human Rights”

Thursday 5 February 2015: “The Global Quest for Effective Equality: Perspectives from Comparative Constitutional Law”

Thursday 12 February 2015: “Gender & Human Rights: The Successes and Challenges Confronting the International Legal Framework”

Thursday 19 February 2015: “Freedom of religion vs the right to be free from sexual orientation discrimination – clashing rights?”

Thursday 5 March 2015: “The European Court of Human Rights and international criminal law”

Thursday 12 March 2015: “Recent Developments at the European Court of Human Rights”

Thursday 26 March 2015: “The role of the Charter of Fundamental Rights within the EU legal framework and its relevance for the UK legal order”

Thursday 16 April 2015: “Business and Human Rights”