Dignity & Democracy
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    Hungary: Farewell to constitutional democracy and to one of its designers, by Gabor Halmai

    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. Sólyom was a crucial player at the Round Table negotiations, which designed the constitutional framework of the 1989 democratic transition from communist rule, from January […]


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    Braverman’s ‘crisis’, LGBTQIA+ refugees, and the mischaracterisation of law, by Raawiyah Rifath

    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 justify circumventing or undermining obligations under the Refugee Convention. The current UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, recently delivered a speech to US-based think-tank American Enterprise […]


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    Legal sex status: the attitudes of non-binary people towards reform in England and Wales, by Mollie Gascoigne

    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 remain underexplored. It is imperative that scholars, lawyers and policymakers fully understand these options so that reform achieves its desired aims and legal uncertainty is […]


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    What does it mean to be human in a legal context? by Catherine Dupre (The Guardian, March 2011)

    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 significance of the Human Rights Act 1998 for the development of human dignity.


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    Laws born out of trauma: in defence of the EU’ s conception of human rights by Catherine Dupre (May 2016)

    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 2 TEU) as ‘inviolable’ under article 1 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Since then, the UK has left the EU and the negative […]


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