RightsUp

Just this morning, news broke that the UK has reached a deal with the EU. Theresa May announced that there would be no hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, the Good Friday Agreement would be upheld, and that EU citizens’ rights would be protected in the UK. Few details about the agreement are available, and there are still many questions about how these very critical elements of the deal will be implemented. What has been clear, however, is that Northern Ireland is center stage right now in the Brexit debates, so we're diving into the issues at stake here and how human rights might also be important in this ongoing conversation.

For more information about Professor Colin Harvey's ESRC project on Brexit law, please visit: https://brexitlawni.org

Interview with: Professor Colin Harvey (Queen's University, Belfast)

Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann (University of Oxford)

Music by: Rosemary Allmann

[Recorded: 9 October 2017 / Released: 8 December 2017]

There are many ways in which private businesses hold financial and political power akin to states. They also commit violations and abuses of power akin to states. But are they held accountable in the same way that states are? This episode is all about whether corporations should have human rights obligations – should they be responsible for upholding and defending human rights the way that we expect governments to? We interview Boni Meyersfeld, Professor of Law at the University of Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, about corporate responsibility, gender inequality, and human rights in an age of globalization.

Interview with: Professor Boni Meyersfeld

Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann

Music by: Rosemary Allmann

[Original release: 20 September 2017]

Following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, what is the future of environmental justice and human rights in the United States and the world? We talk with environmental human rights expert and lawyer, Nick Stump, about what we can learn from the experiences of the Appalachian region of the U.S. Appalachia is known for coal mining, and it became a focal region in Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, as Trump promised to save a declining and environmentally destructive industry to create more coal jobs. As such, Appalachia has become symbolic of the American economic crisis, along with other industrial regions. We talk about the environmental realities in Appalachia, the power of symbolism, and the prospects for realising environmental human rights.

Interview with: Nick Stump (West Virginia University)

Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann (University of Oxford)

Music by: Rosemary Allmann

[Release: 1 August 2017]

In May of 2016, the Obama administration issued federal guidance that stated transgender people are protected according to United States civil rights law preventing sex discrimination in schools. It was a historic move, in response to a wave of cases making their way through federal courts regarding discrimination against transgender people. But in February 2017, the newly elected Trump administration rescinded the federal guidance issued under President Obama, and the legal landscape on this issue instantly changed. In this episode we talk with Corey Stoughton, former Senior Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, about the future of transgender rights in America.

Interview with: Corey Stoughton

Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann

Music by: Rosemary Allmann

[Original release: 30 May 2017]

Since the 1973 Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade, abortion has been legal in the United States. But terminating pregnancy remains a controversial issue, and it plays a surprisingly large role in American politics. In this episode, we talk to Carol Sanger, professor of law at Columbia University and author of 'About Abortion: Terminating Pregnancy in 21st Century America' about why abortion is such a prominent political issue in the United States and how we might expect the Trump administration to deal with reproductive rights.

Interview with: Professor Carol Sanger

Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann

Music by: Rosemary Allmann

[Original release: 12 May 2017]

The Human Rights Act incorporated the rights guaranteed in the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. In this episode, we look at the Human Rights Act in a past interview with Sir Keir Starmer, MP for Holborn and St. Pancras, currently Shadow Brexit Secretary, and former Director of Public Prosecutions for the Crown Prosecution Service.

Interview(s) with: Sir Keir Starmer, MP

Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann

Music by: Rosemary Allmann

In the 19th century, the Contagious Diseases Acts were passed in the UK and Ireland to curtail the spread of venereal disease among military personnel in certain cities. In this episode, we talk to Dr Anne Hanley, a Junior Research Fellow at New College, Oxford, about why this legislation had such a disproportionate effect on women and what we can learn from it today.

Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann

Interview(s) with: Dr Anne Hanley

Music by: Rosemary Allmann

[Original release: 11 April 2017]

In the six years following the Arab Spring, there has been a notable increase in death sentences and executions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In this episode, we talk to James Lynch, Deputy Director of the Global Issues Programme at Amnesty International, about the death penalty in MENA countries, the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and the prospects for abolition in the future.

Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann

Interview(s) with: James Lynch

Music by: Rosemary Allmann

[Original release: 10 February 2017]

On 24 January 2017, the UK Supreme Court ruled in the case Miller and Dos Santos vs. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union. The Court decided that the Government does not have a prerogative power to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. Instead, an act of parliament will be needed to begin the process of the UK leaving the EU. In this episode, we bring back Professor Alison Young, an expert in constitutional law, to talk about the aftermath of this decision - what it means and what we can now expect from the Brexit process.

Join us in person or on Facebook Live tomorrow, 31 January, at 5:15 PM GMT, for a conversation on Brexit and human rights. Professor Alison Young will be discussing Brexit with Professors Paul Craig, Timothy Endicott, and Nick Barber.

Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann

Interview(s) with: Professor Alison Young

Music by: Rosemary Allmann

[Original release: 30 January 2017]

The UK Supreme Court is expected to deliver a decision on the case Miller and Dos Santos vs. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on January 24th. The question before the Supreme Court is whether the Government or parliament has the power to invoke Article 50 and start the process of the UK leaving the EU. In this episode, Dr Kira Allmann talks to Professor Alison Young about the case and its implications for Brexit.

Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann

Interview(s) with: Professor Alison Young

Music by: Rosemary Allmann

[Original release: 20 January 2017]