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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.
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.
Essex research on developing quantitative indicators for assessing countries' performance on human rights and democracy has informed the work of a number of international organisations. Professor Todd Landman's research has been used by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in its provision of assessment frameworks and by the UN Development Programme in its work on democratic governance and sustainable development. Landman's research on democracy underpins the main resources employed by the inter-governmental organisation, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), based in Sweden. These resources have been translated into four languages and are used to assess the quality of democracy throughout the world. He also provides training for International IDEA's 150 members of staff on the measurement and assessment of democratic performance.
The research examines how the use of norms and standards of human rights and equality law are used to measure human rights performance through `human rights and equality impact assessment'. The work has been directly used by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (Pacific and Geneva), the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, the Canadian Government, and the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC), and has been influential both in developing and in changing policy. It has also been used by a wide range of civil society organisations in the UK, Europe, Pacific, India and Canada, and has informed debates at all levels of government.
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.
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:
This research underpins two key areas of public impact. The first relates to issues of human rights in Mexico and raising these same concerns at the House of Commons with government Ministers and Members of Parliament in order to change policies and perspective, and directly advising ministers who then raised the issue with their Mexican counterparts, to the benefit of victims of human rights abuses in Mexico. The most tangible outcome of Watt's contribution to the Mexican Human Rights campaign was the presentation of human rights violations before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica (IACoHR) in the case of The United Mexican States vs Radilla. The Court made an unprecedented ruling, ordering the Mexican state to pay reparations to victims of violations and to investigate past abuses. The second aspect of its impact relates to dissemination of the research to a global audience via mass media such as the BBC World Service, Al Jazeera and The Huffington Post, in order to change public perceptions of these pressing human rights issues.
Dr Clara Sandoval's research has helped to clarify the scope of the obligation to provide reparations under international law. This research has informed legal cases worldwide considering claims to reparations: international courts such as the International Criminal Court and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have relied on her work and her expert advice when considering claims to reparations; lawyers have used her work to claim reparations for victims of human rights violations; and international NGO Redress has used her work in its campaigns.
Research conducted by Dr Liora Lazarus and colleagues at Oxford helped shape public and parliamentary debate on the merits of a domestic Bill of Rights for Britain. Some had argued that if Britain were to replace the Human Rights Act (HRA), which allows rights in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to be argued before domestic courts, with a British Bill of Rights, the government would gain greater flexibility, e.g. in addressing terrorist threats. The research showed that to be incorrect. This finding informed Reports to the Ministry of Justice, was influential in hearings of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and among human rights professionals, and was later used in Ministry of Justice training materials for judges on the nature of `proportionality' in human rights adjudication. It has situated one of the most controversial debates in British politics on a more secure evidential foundation, and provided reliable information to governments and others on the way courts can be expected to handle certain human rights cases.
Sustained published research in the area of UN human rights treaty body reform has positioned O'Flaherty as the principal international specialist in the area. He led the 'Dublin Process on the Strengthening of the United Nations Human Rights Treaty Body System', a process that is acknowledged globally as the primary context/forum for the reform of the treaty body system. A number of specific proposals made by the Dublin Process on reforming the human rights treaty body system draw directly from his research.