News updates and items of interest
2009
July
Eternal entertainment for brushing up on those discourse analysis skills - a new Daily Mail headline every time you click the button - has been updated to include 2009 bogeymen!
http://tinyurl.com/mn9tl
Is the democratic deficit, financial crisis, rising unemployment or rise in global inequalities for the world’s poorest getting you down? Feeling powerless to do anything about it? Join the festival of resistance this weekend in Bloomsbury at Marxism 2009 or even just check out their website for learning topics, training resources and courses on empowerment and social change.
June
Launched today, the Inquiry is the most comprehensive research to date into the Human Rights Act’s first ten years and to seeks to find out how human rights work in England and Wales including in-depth research, public polling, focus groups and public evidence sessions. Excellent report navigation online plus additional background materials. Check it out!
May
What does your MEP’s voting record look like? A useful new website www.votewatch.eu is up and running on all things Europe, so stay informed for the European elections in June and see how your MEP voted on key issues, what coalitions they formed and what political groups they have been affiliated with!
Its open season on former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton over at CiF at the Guardian - whether you do study international law, comparative human rights law, conflict resolution, public policy, jurisprudence or advanced theater techniques this is one duke to read and respond to - so get over there before commenting closes!
We’ve been adding our favourite cartoons of the week - and in the spirit of digital doodling - can you do better? Give the right side of your brain a mental break during exam season and let this political cartoons application do all the drawing. Send your best to for publication and feedback in the Exchange!
April
Produced after the Abolition of Freedom Act 2009 Report by the UCL SHRP, Liberty have carved out a useful general summary of legislation since 1999 in their Human Rights Legislation Audit with an abbreviated index for researchers and general readers alike.
Congratulations to Alexia and the stellar team of mooters who locked horns in the European Court of Human Rights to battle it out in the first UCL ECHR this weekend! Photos of which can be enjoyed here.
This years winners are:
First Place: Justin Leslie
Second Place: Ronnie Dennis
Third Place: Andrea Baildon
Fourth Place: Rupert Stanning
Congrats to the other hardworking semi-finalists: Sahrzad Sadjadi, Niroshini Dahanayake,Neha Srivastava. Check an inside scoop of the courts, and stay tuned for podcasts and more coming soon!
March
For anyone who has slept through the recession and just awoke, the G20 protests are happening across London today, across the weekend and into next week. Should you join in, tweet or bring them up in pub banter? Whatever you don’t stay silent!
Jack Straw today launched (possibly as a response to the Convention on Modern Liberty?) a green paper on constitutional reform to start a national debate about the future of rights and responsibilities. The paper explores if our rights and responsibilities should be drawn together in one place, perhaps in a Bill of Rights and Reponsibilities, so they are easily accessible and understood. It suggests a range of subjects that might be covered by such a Bill, including equality, good administration, children’s well-being, healthcare, criminal justice, victims’ rights and the environment.
The green paper has been produced as a precursor to a white paper on these issues in the lead up to the next general election. Download the paper and thrash it out over a pint at your local!
The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust has published a major report on the UK’s Database State. Read an introduction by the Convention on Modern Liberty Co-Director Anthony Barnett and an executive summary of the report over at OurKingdom. The whole report (in pdf) is available on the Rowntree website.
Photos are now online of the ECHR Moot Quarter Final Round and from the UCL SHRP reporters, student summit and member participants at the Convention on Modern Liberty. Enjoy!
18 podcasts from last month’s Convention on Modern Liberty are now online as mp3 downloads. Skip on over and check out the sessions of your choice for easy listening on the way to college, over lunch or for breaks during essay writing season!
From March 18-27 the HRW International Film Festival returns for its 13th year in London with nine days of screenings and discussions focusing on some of the most pressing stories of our times. Get booking!
Congrats to Professor Sands on getting longlisted for the prestigious Orwell Prize for political writing for his book Torture Team. Check out the other nominations here and get reading! Also - have a look at the new Blog Prize category for political bloggers and surf the nominee entries