“Seeking Justice: A feminist exploration of how women experience the criminal system when they seek redress for domestic abuse in Northern Ireland”

Aoife’s project will fully explore how women experience the criminal justice system when they choose to seek justice for domestic abuse. By bringing into conversation feminist legal theory and socio-legal methods, her project will be a highly textured and in-depth feminist analysis of how it feels to be a survivor in the criminal justice system who is seeking justice.

PRIMARY SUPERVISOR: Dr Kathryn McNeilly

SECONDARY SUPERVISOR: Dr Ronagh McQuigg

"The Obstinate Jury: How Rape Myths and Misconceptions about Law affect Jury Decision-making in Rape Trials in Northern Ireland."

I shall script several versions of a mini-rape trial to be performed by actors in the School of Law's Moot Court in front of members of the public, who will participate in mock jury panels to reach verdicts on whether the defendant is innocent or guilty. I'll record and analyse their deliberations to see if they are influenced by false beliefs about rape which tend to blame victims and exonerate perpetrators, as well as how they interpret the law on consent and reasonable doubt.

PRIMARY SUPERVISOR: Dr Yassin Brunger

SECONDARY SUPERVISOR: Professor Therese Murphy

“From separation to synergy: Recasting Separation of Powers through Prior Review”

Anurag’s project examines the doctrine of separation of powers, which is fundamental to the UK constitution. At a time of considerable constitutional turbulence in the UK, with the UK Government embarking on multiple reviews of how institutions (in particular, the judiciary) function, this project examines a fundamental question: how sustainable is the orthodox view of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the state existing separately?  Anurag’s research explores the separation of powers through the function of prior review, that is the review of a bill before it becomes a law. It does so through a qualitative analysis of the actors involved in prior review and aims to contribute to a more sustainable and stable constitutionalism in the UK.

CO-SUPERVISOR (PRIMARY): Professor Louise Mallinder

CO-SUPERVISOR (SECONDARY): Dr Conor McCormick

"Sanctions for Copyright Infingement in Relation to the Film Industry in Developing Economies: Nigeria as a Case Study"

Nkem’s research is on copyright infringement in the film industry in Nigeria.  An industry popularly referred to as Nollywood and regarded as the world’s second-largest film industry regarding films produced. She seeks to examine how the Nigerian copyright law can support the film industry as the flagship of its copyright industry. She will research on the issue of piracy in the industry and examine its indirect positive impact and the role it has played in bringing the industry to its present global standing. She seeks to explore and answer questions on whether the issue of piracy is indeed a “problem” in the industry and if answered in the affirmative, she will research on how piracy can be tackled.

PRIMARY SUPERVISOR: Professor Ronan Deazley

SECONDARY SUPERVISOR: Professor Daithi Mac Sithigh

"Effective Protection? An analysis of the role of public international law in preventing and tackling human trafficking among refugees and asylum seekers in Germany and Kenya."

Gillian's PhD research will focus on the role of public international law in preventing and tackling human trafficking among refugees and asylum seekers. This project combines her research interests of public international law generally, as well as international human rights law and international refugee law specifically.

PRIMARY SUPERVISOR: Professor Colin Harvey

SECONDARY SUPERVISOR: Professor Therese Murphy

“Legal implications of Cross Border Data Collection and Usage Within Autonomous Vehicles: Selling Safety for Privacy?”

Jordan’s PhD research focuses on the cross-border regulation of data within connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs). His project uses the island of Ireland as a model to deploy a socio-legal methodology which considers the interplay between road safety and privacy laws when CAVs cross international borders. Analysis of these areas will seek to ascertain whether it is possible to reconcile potential conflicts in a balanced and proportionate manner, whilst exploring interactions between the automotive industry and regulators in the UK and Ireland. It is anticipated that conclusions from this research will produce recommendations for the development of future laws pertaining to CAVs in Northern Ireland, before attempting to posit international standards for the control of data during cross-border CAV use.

PRIMARY SUPERVISOR: Dr Conor McCormick

SECONDARY SUPERVISOR: Professor Giancarlo Frosio

“The Role of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1852 to 1922”

Richard’s research investigates the judicial role and activity of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland before abolition in 1922.  The aim is to evaluate any lessons that may be drawn that are relevant today, drawing on both legal history and developments in judicial studies.  The Lord Chancellors in this period were, unlike many of their predecessors, from Ireland, and were more diverse in terms of religious denomination, educational background and social class.  The project examines how they approached the role, the balance between its different aspects, and the division of labour with officials and the senior judiciary.  This will allow a better and wider view of any trends and of the development or otherwise of the senior judiciary in Ireland before partition.

PRIMARY SUPERVISOR: Dr Conor McCormick

SECONDARY SUPERVISOR: Dr Andrew Holmes

TERTIARY SUPERVISOR: Professor Robin Hickey

“Women Narrating Justice: The Value of Women's Storytelling in Response to Gender Violence During Mexico's War on Drugs”

Femicide has become a critical issue of growing concern in the law, policy, and practice on gender-based violence. Feminist scholarship and socio-legal research have identified the power of stories as something that can potentially become an integral part of justice processes.

Diana’s PhD will investigate the use of storytelling in the context of the ‘War on Drugs’ in Mexico. Its focus is Mexican women, in the states of Jalisco and Colima, who have been victims of gender-based violence during the ‘War on Drugs’ from 2012 onwards. It aims to conduct fieldwork that adopts the decolonial approach of community research, as well as the feminist method of collective biography, to explore how storytelling modalities open new understandings of gender-based violence.  The findings will make a significant contribution to the literature on sexual and gender-based violence, storytelling, and community-based justice.

PRIMARY SUPERVISOR: Dr Yassin Brunger

SECONDARY SUPERVISOR: Professor Louise Mallinder

"An oral history of the transgender movement in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland: Rights, Recognition and the Law"

Using an oral history methodology, his project will explore the transgender movement in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The foundation for the study is a detailed empirical history of the respective social and legal equality campaigns on both sides of the border. This will be harnessed to analysis of the relevant socio-legal and trans theory literature. The aim of the thesis is thus twofold: to illuminate an understudied area within socio-legal studies and human rights; and to test the implications for scholarship of uncoupling the relevant gender-focused theories (trans, feminist and queer). Philip's additional research interests include crime and the media, penal policy, corporate governance and LGBTQ victimization including domestic violence. 

PRIMARY SUPERVISOR: Dr Anna Bryson

SECONDARY SUPERVISOR: Dr Kathryn McNeilly

PhD in Law ‘Rethinking the Rights based Approach for Education of  the Girl Child in Nigeria’

My research focuses on children’s rights, particularly the right to education for girls in Nigeria. My research examines through the lens of feminist theories and methodologies, the potentials as well as limitations of international human rights law in resolving conflicts that arise in specific context where certain culturally or socially sanctioned practices violate the rights to education for girls.

PRIMARY SUPERVISOR: Professor Thérèse Murphy

SECONDARY SUPERVISOR: Dr Yassin Brunger