LawPod Queen's University - School of Law

We take our right to citizenship for granted, as an inalienable right, but is it?

This episode focuses on the complex interplay between citizenship, human rights, and state powers in a post-9/11 world. The conversation features insights from Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin (United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms While Countering Terrorism) and Mohammed Tasnime Akunjee, who bring their extensive experience in human rights law and terrorism-related legal defense, respectively. Key topics include the evolution of citizenship concepts, challenges in maintaining human rights in the face of terrorism, and the impact of legal and ethical dilemmas in this context. The discussion also explores specific cases such as the Shamima Begum case and the broader implications for society and law.

Hosted by Dr. Yasmin Brunger, the episode offers a deep dive into critical contemporary issues in legal and human rights domains.

This episode features a roundtable discussion with five Student Skills Assistants from the Law School, focusing on their top tips from last year's work with students.

They share their collective thoughts on the importance of effective time management, critical thinking, confidence in one’s opinions, utilisation of available resources, and continuous learning.

Each Skills Assistant's tips provide valuable insights into tackling common challenges faced by law students.

Thanks to Gary, Mary-Jane, Ogaku, Aoife and Peter.

In the first in our Neurodivergence and the Law mini-series, Sarah McMahon and Dr Lauren Dempster interview Naomi Maxwell and Dr Amanda Kramer about their research on autism and policing in Northern Ireland.

In the UK, more than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum (National Autistic Society 2023). However, research shows that police can misunderstand or misinterpret the behaviour of autistic individuals, leading to suspicion, inappropriate responses, and rights violations. In this episode, Naomi and Amanda discuss the relationship between policing and autism, the methodology and findings of Naomi’s LLM Dissertation research on autism training in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and the changes they would like to see in policy and practice.

 
Further reading
Naomi Maxwell and Amanda Kramer (forthcoming) ‘Forgotten, Outdated and Absent: PSNI Officer’s Training, Experiences, and Confidence with Autism,’ Policing and Society

https://www.autismni.org/

Crane et al. 2016 'Experiences of autism spectrum disorder and policing in England and Wales: surveying police and the autism community', Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

In this episode, Professor Aoife O’Donoghue (QUB School of Law) and Dr Ruth Houghton (Newcastle University Law School) interview poet Julie Morrissy about Julie’s career as a poet. They explore how law influences and resonates in Julie’s poetry, the way that legal training shapes thinking and writing, and the notion of law as a performance. Aoife, Julie and Ruth also discuss the writing and language of constitutions and manifestos, with particular focus on women’s voices and the Irish feminist tradition.

Biographies

Julie Morrissy is an Irish poet, academic, activist, and a graduate of UCD Law. From 2021-22, she was the first Poet-in-Residence at the National Library of Ireland. Her award-winning project "Certain Individual Women" uses poetry to examine gender discrimination in Irish legislation and the Bunreacht (the 1937 Constitution). Her awards include the National Endowment for the Humanities, the MAKE Theatre Award, and the Arts Council of Ireland ‘Next Generation’ Award. Morrissy's poetry has been exhibited in the TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, Project Arts Centre, Dublin, and acquired for the Ireland State Art Collection. Her debut collection Where, the Mile End was published in 2019 by tall-lighthouse (UK) and Book*hug (Canada). Her website is www.juliemorrissy.com

https://www.bathmagg.com/juliemorrissy/

Dr Ruth Houghton is a Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University Law School. Throughout her research in global constitutionalism and international law, Ruth uses feminist methodologies and constitutional and political theory to challenge the disciplinary assumptions on democracy and constituent power. Ruth's most recent work utilises law and humanities methodologies, including work on speculative fiction, utopias and feminist manifestos, as well as theatre productions to understand (re)constructions of constitutional moments and provide novel re-imaginings of constituent power.

In this episode, QUB School of Law PhD student Tamara Tamimi speaks about her research on international law and perceptions of justice in Palestine with Dr Alice Panepinto. Tamara shares what she has found in her research so far and how perceptions of justice might be shaped by the current violence in Palestine.

Alice and Tamara discuss the historical context of the occupation of and settler colonialism in Palestine, the relationship between international law and armed violence in the region, and what the ways forward are from here.

Resources

Tamara Tamimi, Ahmad Amara, Osama Risheq, Munir Nuseibah, Alice Panepinto, Brendan Browne, and Triestino Marinello “(Mis)using Legal Pluralism in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to Advance Dispossession of Palestinians: Israeli Policies against Palestinian Bedouins in the Eastern Jerusalem Periphery” in Noorhaidi Hasan and Irene Schneider (eds) in International Law between Translation and Pluralism: Examples from Germany, Palestine and Indonesia
Edward Said, The Question of Palestine
Edward Said, Out of Place: A Memoir
Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe, On Palestine
Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
Angela Davis, Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
Judith Butler, Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism
Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917- 2017
Rashid Khalidi, Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness


This episode was recorded remotely on 26th October 2023

Dr Claire Wright talks with Dr Stefano Angeleri about his experience of conducting research on health rights for migrant populations.