Posts - Dignity & Democracy

According to Article 18 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights ‘everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion’. Religious freedom as a fundamental right has...

These are dangerous times for democracy. Critically reflecting on democracy’s inherent conceptual uncertainties and practical challenges while its foundations are under threat might seem like a reckless academic indulgence. It...

On 1 October 2024, eighty-eight members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted Resolution 2569 based on a report on ‘Missing migrants, refugees and asylum seekers...

The Ukrainian president’s speech on 24 September 2024, at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly focused on several key issues: nuclear security, the Peace Formula and Peace Summit,...

Disinformation, which refers to false or misleading content that is spread with the intention to deceive or secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm [1], has...

Reflecting on the rise of far-right and hard-right politics and on their electoral success over the summer in the EU, France, Thuringia, and Austria, this paper observes that human beings...

“Representative government, vulgo democracy” Norberto Bobbio From a descriptive point of view, the only one I consider in the following remarks, the expression “representative democracy” mostly refers to the political...

This blog explores the role of genetic testing in adults as a form of preventative medicine and examines whether it borders on modern-day eugenics. Eugenics is a theory and practice...

Convened by Dario Castiglione (University of Exeter, Politics) and Catherine Dupre (University of Exeter, Law) this two-day online workshop is meant as an introduction to the work of the Observatory of...

The Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Network grew out of a startling realisation. In 1996, Evelin Lindner, a medical doctor and a psychologist born in Germany, went to all university...

CPT website: https://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/-/council-of-europe-anti-torture-committee-cpt-carries-out-a-visit-to-azerbaijan On 3 July 2024, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) issued a Public Statement on Azerbaijan in...

On 13th May 2024, a new internet resource was launched to support global monitoring of police lethal force. The Monitoring Lethal Force website is intended to bolster global mechanisms of...

If not carefully regulated, the rapid development and proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) is set to pose a significant threat to the dignity of women. The New York Post reported...

Human dignity is underpinned by the early philosophical notions of equality, humanity, and reciprocity[1] and is regularly interpreted by judges in connection with other human rights.[2] European Union (EU) law...

Christine Bicknell has published a working paper with Exeter Centre for International Law entitled ‘International Law in Human Rights cases before the UK Supreme Court’. The paper’s abstract: This paper...

The crisis in Gaza post-October 7, 2023, has brought to the fore serious concerns about human dignity, human rights and the overall adherence to international law. The situation underscores that...

Set in a dystopian near-future, where environmental disaster causes escalating infertility in society, the few remaining fertile women are forcibly assigned to produce children for the ruling class of “Commanders”....

László Sólyom (1942-2023), the founding President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, later also the President of the Republic of Hungary (2005-2010), died on 8 October at the age of 81....

The UK Home Secretary’s recent narrative relating to asylum seekers is harmful, concerning, and could be another attempt (following the Illegal Migration Act 2023 (IMA 2023)) to foreground intentions to...

Human rights actors are increasingly highlighting the negative impact that legal non-recognition has on non-binary communities. However, the possibilities for, and implications of, various reform options in England and Wales...

Everyone wants their dignity respected and protected. We understand this concept intuitively. But what does dignity mean for law and human rights? In The Guardian, Catherine Dupre reflects on the...

In this LSE Brexit blog post, Catherine Dupre explains the significance of human dignity for the European Union where it is recognised as the first foundational value of the EU (article...