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a) Educational — improving the performance of school students in coursework and the knowledge and understanding of teachers and undergraduates at other HEIs. Dissemination by talks to schools, online publications and books and articles targeted at schools and undergraduate audiences.
b) The General Public — improving public knowledge and awareness through radio appearances, public lectures, online and book publications for non-academic audiences.
Reach: Direct, quantifiable contact (schools/lecture audiences, online `hits', single-authored books sales) at least 5,500 people. In excess of 160,000 if other reach is included — sales figures for journals, essay collections, radio programmes where Verney was a contributor.
Emerging from investigations of social exclusion during the 1990s, the Unit's research into minority rights has led to outputs and consultancy ranging across political participation, identity, rights protection and international criminal law. The impact claimed here falls in two main channels. Firstly, research on socio-economic group rights, amplified by Castellino's work as co-chair of the relevant UN delegated group, has made a significant input into the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015-30. Secondly, research has been incorporated into practice and capacity- building through projects involving judiciaries, advocates, statutory bodies, and NGOs. Beneficiaries include the public across 194 states who will benefit from implementation of SDGs over their 15 years lifespan; and civil society bodies and their users.
Patrick Thornberry's research on human rights, particularly regarding international standards on racial (including caste) discrimination, minority rights, rights of indigenous peoples, and hate speech, has (1) influenced the development of legal principle through advice on policy and participation in the authorship of international standards, particularly those of the United Nations; (2) influenced the development of national legislation and practice including legislation in the UK; (3) facilitated the human rights work of international and national non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working to defend the rights of minority, indigenous and caste communities.
Skogly's research has significantly contributed to the understanding of how and to what extent states' human rights obligations go beyond the territorial borders of states. Increased globalisation has led to the need to address the human rights effects of states' international actions and operations, and Skogly's research in this area has directly influenced the development of authoritative principles regarding ETOs, and these are now actively used by NGOs and the United Nations. The case study focuses on how research findings have enabled NGOs and UN bodies to understand, articulate and apply states' extraterritorial human rights obligations.
The ill-treatment of prisoners is a deep-rooted issue in several countries of Eastern Europe, with incidents of coercion and torture frequently appearing before the European Court of Human Rights. Professor Jim Murdoch's fact-finding missions to the Ukraine and Georgia on behalf of the European Union and the Council of Europe have resulted in changes to legislation, regulatory structures and procedural frameworks in the Ukraine and Georgia. Additionally, the reports produced by Professor Murdoch and his colleagues led to a €700,000 training programme affecting more than 7,000 judges, prosecutors, investigators and lawyers across the Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova.
This case study focuses on the impact on the legal and policy debate at the domestic and international level of research carried out within the Centre for Research in Law (CRiL) on the legal protection of fundamental rights in situations of exception.
In particular, it discusses how the research in question has:
(a) assisted NGOs in shaping their strategies;
(b) informed the debate within international organisations;
(c) contributed to raising public awareness of issues relating to respect for fundamental rights in the context of counter-terrorism.
By raising awareness of the relevant legal constraints upon States and by assisting NGOs and international organizations, the research has contributed to reinforcing the protection of the fundamental rights of individuals belonging to specific groups and, more broadly, to the strengthening of the rule of law at both the domestic and international level.
Professor Karen E. Smith's research into European Union policy in the areas of human rights and the prevention of mass atrocities underpins the work of the European Foreign Policy Unit (EFPU). On the basis of this research, and as Director of the EFPU, Professor Smith has conducted a study of European Union human rights policies for the European Parliament and served as Co-Chair of the Task Force on EU Prevention of Mass Atrocities. These activities have stimulated and informed policy debate within the EU and improved public understanding of the issues of human rights and mass atrocities across Europe.
The European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC), led by Leach, has combined research and litigation over ten years, to achieve access to justice for individuals in the former Soviet Union. It has mentored and trained lawyers and non-governmental organisations; raised awareness about human rights violations; and improved the functioning of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Impact on public policy is evidenced by: (i) justice for individuals; (ii) compensation secured through the ECtHR; and (iii) consequential changes in national law and policy. To date, EHRAC's impact includes 98 ECtHR judgments against Russia, Georgia and Ukraine, on behalf of 1,100 victims.
Eyal Weizman's decade-long programme of research into the relation between architecture and conflict has been formative to the establishment of the new field of "Forensic Architecture". His research-based books have been the basis for his production of influential human rights reports, several of which have been presented as evidence in international trials and/or have informed policies relating to the Israel/Palestinian conflict. Appointed as the director of the Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths in 2005, in 2011 he was awarded ERC funding of €1.2M for a project [Forensic Architecture] on the place of architecture in international humanitarian law: this has generated spatial evidence crucial to legal issues concerning the conflicts in areas of the world including Palestine, Guatemala, Pakistan and the Yemen. His extensive collaboration with international human rights organisations and the UN have meant that his work has achieved very wide reach. His work reached multiple audiences through numerous public lectures and media presentations as well as extensive exhibitions in leading cultural and architectural institutions worldwide.
Beyani's research on the protection of refugees' human rights demonstrably underpins his work as a drafter of the Kenyan Constitution, as a United Nations Special Rapporteur, and as an expert advisor on the content of international treaties concerning protections to be accorded to internally displaced persons. The impacts specifically ascribable to his research relate to: