Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · 3h

Out now! 🐛🐖🐶

The Verfassungsbook “Animal Rights: The Role of the EU Charter” (edited by ESTER HERLIN-KARNELL & MATILDA ARVIDSSON) asks whether fundamental values like dignity, freedom or solidarity are for humans only, or if they should be extended to animals, too.

👉 verfassungsblog.de/books/

Cover: Animal Rights: The Role of the EU Charter

1 4 8

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Alan Greene @alangreene.bsky.social · 6h

My piece for UKCLA on how much of the debate concerning human rights in the UK is about vibes... and wrestling. #ECHR #HRA
ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/10/09/a...

Alan Greene: Bringing facts to a vibes fight: Kayfabe and debates on the UK and the ECHR

It is now 25 years since the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) entered into force and far from this endurance cementing its legitimacy, the judicial protection of human rights in the UK finds itself in t…

ukconstitutionallaw.org

2 4 7

Reposted by Carole Lyons

London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 1d

‘None of this is being done in secret – the judgments are public – but the changes have barely registered. Judges, whether serving or retired, tend not to speak out. Barristers know on which side their bread is buttered.’

Conor Gearty on the Human Rights Act: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Conor Gearty · Unwelcome Remnant: Erasing the Human Rights Act

The Supreme Court is quietly editing the Human Rights Act out of existence. In cases where human rights cannot be...

www.lrb.co.uk

7 8

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Andrew Cutting @andrewcutting.coe.int · 3d

Interesting: Leaving the #ECHR would be a grave mistake, writes former UK Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland KC👇

🔗 conservativehome.com/2025/10/05/r... via @conservativehome.bsky.social

8 100 250

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · 10d

Starting this Sunday, the UK Conservatives will hold their annual party conference and possibly adopt a new flagship policy: withdrawal from the ECHR.

That would legitimise the playbook of the far-right, warns ALICE DONALD (@alicedonald.bsky.social).

verfassungsblog.de/badge-of-dishonour/

Quote from our post by Alice Donald: “Pushback against the ECtHR over immigration is neither new nor confined to the UK. But what once sounded like fringe rhetoric is now being echoed at the very centre of British Politics.”

5 9

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 5d

Shocked, shocked to discover that Lord Wolfson's report says exactly what Kemi Badenoch wanted it to say and finds no GFA impediment to the UK leaving the ECHR and that only sunlit policy uplands will result from doing so. A tissue of Conservative wish fulfilment:

share.google/qsYHPBUGr3Ou...

UK will leave ECHR if Tories win election, Badenoch says - BBC News

The European Convention on Human Rights has become a focal point in debates around changing immigration policy.

share.google

6 15 57

Carole Lyons @carolelyons.bsky.social · 4d

For info, Lord Wolfson's Advice on UK Membership of the ECHR is available here (accompanied by a letter available from here www.instagram.com/p/DPbJYv-jY-2/) : www.conservatives.com/wolfson-fina...

Wolfson Final Report | Conservatives

Wolfson Final Report

www.conservatives.com

1

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 23d

A new Explainer out from @aoifemod.bsky.social and me detailing the UK's ECHR commitments under the 1998 Agreement in response to recent speculation. It is short, because there is very little to say - the UK's obligations are evident on the B/GFA's plain text:

caj.org.uk/wp-content/u...

2 70 120

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Anand Menon @anandmenon.bsky.social · 28d

What role does the ECHR play in the Belfast/Good Friday agreement? Find out: ukandeu.ac.uk/the-belfast-...

The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and Human Rights - UK in a changing Europe

Andrew McCormick explains the role ECHR membership plays in the Belfast / Good Friday Agreement.

ukandeu.ac.uk

4 16 25

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 29d

It is important to realise how outlandish it is to suggest that the UK leaving the ECHR does not undermine the B/GFA 1998. As @joellegrogan.bsky.social and @alicedonald.bsky.social point out, it would rip up an essential element of this peace agreement:

ukandeu.ac.uk/explainers/t...

4 36 69

Carole Lyons @carolelyons.bsky.social · Sep 7

The ECHR (and human rights) implications of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement from @stevepeers.bsky.social
eulawanalysis.blogspot.com/2021/01/anal...

Analysis 3 of the Brexit deal: Human Rights and EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

Professor Steve Peers , University of Essex Introduction While the UK has left the European Union, its participation in the European C...

eulawanalysis.blogspot.com

Carole Lyons @carolelyons.bsky.social · Sep 7

The Good Friday Agreement and the ECHR by @anuragdeb.bsky.social on @ukhumanrightsblog.bsky.social
ukhumanrightsblog.com/2023/08/29/t...

The Good Friday Agreement and the European Convention on Human Rights - UK Human Rights Blog

Introduction On 11 August, a piece from Professor Richard Ekins KC (Hon) set out a case for the UK denouncing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and leaving the treaty system altogether. O...

ukhumanrightsblog.com

1 1

Carole Lyons @carolelyons.bsky.social · Sep 7

General explainer on UK position by Alice Donald and Joelle Grogan @ukandeu.bsky.social
ukandeu.ac.uk/explainers/e...

Explainer: Compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights: the UK and Europe - UK in a changing Europe

Joelle Grogan and Alice Donald explain the The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and its relationship with the UK.

ukandeu.ac.uk

1 1

Carole Lyons @carolelyons.bsky.social · Sep 7

The ECHR has been under threat from some in the UK for years; for more light than heat in this debate, these three links are excellent: explainer from @ukandeu.bsky.social; the Good Friday Agreement and the ECHR from @anuragdeb.bsky.social ; the Brexit deal and the ECHR by @stevepeers.bsky.social

1 10 15

Reposted by Carole Lyons

UK in a Changing Europe @ukandeu.bsky.social · Sep 5

"The legal position is therefore clear: yes there is provision for a state to leave the ECHR and the Refugee Convention. But doing so comes with both legal and political consequences."

🖊️ @cbarnard.bsky.social explains the impact leaving the ECHR would have on the UK

ukandeu.ac.uk/leaving-the-...

Leaving the ECHR and the Refugee Convention - UK in a changing Europe

Catherine Barnard explains the political and legal consequences of leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Refugee Convention.

ukandeu.ac.uk

1 8 21

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Ed Bates @edbatesechr.bsky.social · Jul 14

*Brilliant*, as ever, by @profmarkelliott.bsky.social - but I fear the tabloid press/ Reform UK are simply not interested in debate, hence tactical positions adopted by ECHR's defenders? The developing domestic debate about the ECHR: Navigating two extremes publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/07/09/t...

The developing domestic debate about the ECHR: Navigating two extremes

Calls for withdrawal and kneejerk defences of the status quo each risk oversimplifying the UK’s developing political debate about the European Convention on Human Rights. The implications of each p…

publiclawforeveryone.com

2 5 8

Reposted by Carole Lyons

George Peretz KC @georgeperetzkc.bsky.social · Jul 30

In which I am not impressed by Suella Braverman’s plans for leaving the ECHR. open.substack.com/pub/georgepe...

The first time as tragedy, the second as farce

Suella Braverman's plans for leaving the ECHR display the same arrogant and reckless disregard for the consequences - particularly in Ireland - as did the plans of Brexiters for leaving the EU.

open.substack.com

4 34 87

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · Sep 6

The basis on which Farage tells RTE that there will be no problem changing GFA to remove ECHR reference is, unsurprisingly, spurious. Human Rights safeguards were a feature of the 1990s negotiations from the outset, they weren't a last minute thought:

share.google/sh5iziocla5L...

13 62 170

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · Sep 4

The evasion of historical responsibility?

JULIA DEHM (@juliadehm.bsky.social) on colonialism, temporality, and reparative justice in the ICJ’s climate advisory opinion.

verfassungsblog.de/the-evasion-...

Quote: “The advisory opinion avoided addressing how colonial histories continue to shape present-day climate injustices and the need to decolonize international law.”

4 10

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · Sep 3

Publication day! ✨

Take a look inside our latest Verfassungsbook "Owning the Past: The Omnipresence of Divergent Historical Narratives in Law and Politics", edited by ANGELIKA NUßBERGER and PAULA RHEIN-FISCHER!

Available as digital edition (Open Access 🔓) and in print!

👉 verfassungsblog.de/books/

Cover of the Verfassungsbook "Owning the Past", edited by Angelika Nußberger and Paula Rhein-Fischer. The Cover depicts several Myosotis/Forgot-Me-Nots.

5 18

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Andrew Cutting @andrewcutting.coe.int · Sep 3

The European Convention on Human Rights entered into force on this day in 1953.

The convention has improved people’s lives, in many different ways, across the continent.

Here are more than 200 examples: www.coe.int/ECHR

There are thousands more.

#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms

Impact of the European Convention on Human Rights - Impact of the European Convention on Human Rights - www.coe.int

European convention on human rights : How it changed the lives of many people across the continent.

www.coe.int

2 97 130

Reposted by Carole Lyons

EJIL: Talk! @ejiltalk.bsky.social · Sep 2

Russia, the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights: A Troubled Membership and Its Legacy | by Ed Bates, Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou and Andrew Forde

Russia, the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights: A Troubled Membership and Its Legacy

We are delighted that EJIL:Talk! is convening a symposium on our co-authored book published under the above title, by Bristol University Press earlier this year. This opportunity arises at a particula...

www.ejiltalk.org

3 3

Carole Lyons @carolelyons.bsky.social · Sep 2

Pure joy🎹🎻🎻✨

Aut. Stuart Miller 📖✍️🤓 @authorstuartmiller.bsky.social · Sep 2

Video credit: itsjuliencohen

Description: "11 and 8-year-old prodigy sisters played Vivaldi Winter with me"

This is serious musical talent 🎻🎻🎹🎶🎵

#VivaldiWinter #Song #music #Piano #Violin #Instruments #Instrumental

3

Reposted by Carole Lyons

EJIL: Talk! @ejiltalk.bsky.social · Sep 2

Book Discussion: Russia, the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights | by Mary Guest

Book Discussion: Russia, the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights

Over the coming days we will be hosting a symposium on the book “Russia, the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights”, co-authored by Ed Bates, Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou and Andr...

www.ejiltalk.org

1 3

Reposted by Carole Lyons

Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · Aug 31

If you want something that is not instrumentalised legalese on the GFA's human rights commitments, try this:

The Implications of the Good Friday Agreement for UK Human-Rights Reform by C. R. G. Murray, Aoife O'Donoghue, Ben T. C. Warwick :: SSRN share.google/GRLPk9TLsBwQ...

The Implications of the Good Friday Agreement for UK Human-Rights Reform

Speculation is rife as to the impact of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement upon the Conservative Government’s plans to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998. In the f

share.google

5 29