pathway: Socio-Legal Studies Alumni

My research project is an empirical, mixed methods study into the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and possible options for reform. My research is undertaken in the context of increasing gender diversity and is particularly interested in examining how non-binary people perceive and experience the world with regard to the current legal provisions. As a result of the recent public consultation on the GRA 2004, my research has a reform agenda and intends to produce policy-orientated answers to the current questions surrounding reform of legal gender recognition.

I will be researching the protection offered by the right to fair trial to the privilege against self-incrimination in juvenile criminal justice. By focusing on the United Kingdom and The Gambia as case studies, domestic rules on admission of evidence will be considered in the context of human rights standards both internationally and in their respective regions. As well incorporating empirical research on how these standards are realised, this research will focus on the implications of the findings in light of the ‘convergence thesis’, and focus specifically on the role of human rights law in this.

My research aims to explore the experiences of women previously married to serving members of the Armed Forces by exploring issues of vulnerability, resilience, power, and autonomy, and examine ways in which current family law practices adequately meets the needs of this group.

My research examines how core employment law rights apply on farms. Through conducting interviews with farmers, their understanding of wages, working time, holidays, sickness and parental leave to health and safety rules, is discussed. In doing so, the way that farmers manage these rights – both practically and conceptually – reveals important insights into the laws themselves.

Courts and Local Authorities in England and Wales are increasingly dealing with child protection cases with an international element. Issues will come in to play about the assessment of potential carers abroad, international co-operation between Local Authorities and the appropriate legal outcome for children. Tensions have arisen particularly in circumstances where children with international familial connections have been adopted in this country. My research seeks to examine how Courts and Local Authorities are working with children in international child protection cases, what challenges they face and how their practices could be modified to work more effectively in an international context.