December 16, 2016, by Charlotte Anscombe

Human rights expert is appointed to European Committee of Social Rights

Professor Aoife Nolan, from the School of Law  has been elected to the Council of Europe’s European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR)

Professor Nolan is Head of the Human Right Law Centre’s Economic and Social Rights Unit (ESR),and Co-Director of the Rights and Justice Research Priority Area at the University.

Professor Nolan was nominated by the Irish Government on the basis of her expertise and international experience.  Her six-year term will begin on 1 January 2017.

Independent experts

The ECSR monitors state compliance with the European Social Charter, the counterpart of the European Convention on Human Rights in the sphere of economic and social rights. The Charter guarantees a broad range of everyday human rights related to employment, housing, health, education, social protection and welfare.

Members of the committee are ‘independent experts of the highest integrity and of recognised competence in international social questions’.

Professor Nolan has published extensively in the area of human rights law. She is a global expert in the areas of children’s rights and economic and social rights and was founding coordinator of the Economic and Social Rights Academic Network UK and Ireland.

Human rights

Professor Nolan said: “It is an honour to have been elected to the Committee – the key European monitoring mechanism on economic and social rights. I look forward immensely to contributing to the Committee’s work over the coming years.”

The University of Nottingham is a centre of excellence for economic and social rights research. The expertise within the School of Law stretched across a broad range of economic and social rights issues, including regional and domestic human rights law, disability, children’s rights, housing, social welfare, and public finance. Experts within the unit are exceptionally well-placed to assume a leadership role in relation to ESR research in the UK.

Professor Todd Landman, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University, said: “I am delighted that Professor Nolan has been elected, which shows the kinds of high quality contribution that our School of Law at the University can make to European institutions and how Professor Nolan’s expertise are sought after at the highest levels.”

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