2012-2013 Projects

Equal Rights Trust

In January 2013, the CPP submitted a report to the Equal Rights Trust (ERT) in response to a request for assistance on the ERT's project entitled "Applying Equality and Non-discrimination Law to Advance Socio-Economic Rights". The CPP's report consisted of a comprehensive compendium of relevant case law from a number of international bodies, regional bodies and domestic jurisdictions, as well as a summary of the relevant legislative provisions in the domestic jurisdictions examined. The CPP also provided a thematic summary of its findings. The work will be used in a report the ERT plans to publish later in 2013, aimed at strategic litigators seeking to advance the realisation of socio-economic rights.

The research team comprised eight students: five LLM students (Shona Daly, Carolina Helfmann, Tebogo Ketshabile, Rebecca Savage and Stephanie Wookey); one Diploma in Legal Studies student (Lindsay Heck); and two PhD students (Samantha Godwin and Nora Ni Loideain).

The team was supervised by a PhD student member of the CPP Executive Committee (Shona Wilson Stark) and advised by Professor David Feldman and Dr Stephanie Palmer, both members of the Cambridge Pro Bono Project Executive Committee.

Inter-American Court of Human Rights

In March 2013 the CPP submitted its second research memorandum in response to a request from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The memorandum dealt with a case that was active before the Court and involved researching laws and jurisprudence from numerous domestic, regional and international jurisdictions around the world.

The Inter-American Court was established in 1969 through the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR). The Court has jurisdiction to decide contentious proceedings against the American States which have accepted its jurisdiction and give advisory opinions on the interpretation of the ACHR.

The research team was supervised by two members of the CPP Executive Committee, Naomi Hart (a PhD student) and Edgar Espejel (an LLM student). The researchers were two PhD students (Ann-Sofie Cloots and Odette Murray) and two LLM students (Mark Ma and Artem Shaipov).

The team was advised by Professor David Feldman.

Blackstone Chambers

In April 2013, the CPP submitted a memorandum in response to a research request from Blackstone Chambers.  The memorandum, which was to be used in upcoming litigation, regarded two aspects of the definition of torture under international law: the commission of torture by non-state actors, and whether the definition of torture is affected by the context in which an allegation of torture arises.

The research team was supervised by Naomi Hart, a PhD student and member of the CPP Executive Committee.  The researchers included four PhD students (Jason Allen, Nicolas Alfonsi, Natasa Mavronicola and Odette Murray) and three LLM students (Stephen Bailey, Sebastian Bult and Lorena Dunne). 

The project was supervised by Dr Stephanie Palmer.

Open Society Justice Initiative

In January 2013 the CPP submitted a report to the Open Society Justice Initiative identifying potential cases of human trafficking, particularly trafficking for sexual exploitation, which may be submitted as test cases to the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court pursuant to Article 15 of the Rome Statute.

The research was supervised by Emma Bickerstaffe (a PhD student) and undertaken by Tara Radakrishnan (an LLM student).

The team was advised by Dr Michael Waibel.