Contact
Biography
Dr Ergul Celiksoy joined the School of Law as an Assistant Professor in the English Legal System and Legal Skills in August 2023. He is a member of the Criminal Justice Research Centre and Human Rights Law Centre. Ergul holds a PhD in Law and LLM (with Distinction) from the University of Nottingham, as well as LLB from Marmara University. Ergul is also an attorney duly licensed by the State Bar of California.
Before joining the School of Law, Ergul worked at the Rights Lab as a Research Fellow in Modern Slavery and Criminal Justice. In this role, he was involved in different projects focusing on modern slavery and human trafficking at the global, regional, and domestic level. Ergul contributed to externally funded research projects including working as a Lead Researcher on a project funded by ESRC Impact Acceleration Account to explore responses to modern slavery and human trafficking in the agenda of the United Nations Security Council. Another project, funded by the European Parliament, examined the EU's external policy tools to address modern slavery and forced labour in third countries.
Ergul was the Co-Investigator of a project funded by Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, analysing the use of digital payment methods in cases of online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) in Europe and the Philippines. This project aimed to identify how financial transactions can be used to improve the investigation and prosecution of OSEC cases.
Ergul is currently the Principal Investigator on a project funded by Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre. This project examines how children and young adults are identified as victims, or at risk of, modern slavery in the UK and what works to support early identification, prevent (re)exploitation, and maintain contact.
Expertise Summary
Ergul has a strong research expertise in the intersection between modern slavery and criminal justice through a variety of research projects, in which he worked as a lead researcher or project investigator. His research focuses on doctrinal, socio-legal, and empirical analysis of the criminal justice dimension of modern slavery at domestic, comparative, regional, and international levels.
As a qualified Turkish lawyer, Ergul also has a research background on European and comparative law and policy related to life imprisonment and prisoners' rights.
Teaching Summary
Introduction to Law & Legal Theory
Legal Skills
Research Summary
Identification and prevention of child trafficking and child modern slavery: Dr Celiksoy works as a Principal Investigator on this project funded by Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and… read more
Selected Publications
Current Research
Identification and prevention of child trafficking and child modern slavery: Dr Celiksoy works as a Principal Investigator on this project funded by Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre. This project is a collaboration between the University of Nottingham's Rights Lab and ECPAT UK to examine how children and young adults are identified as victims, or at risk of, modern slavery in the UK and what works to support early identification, prevent (re)exploitation, and maintain contact. The project maps existing identification and prevention initiatives across the UK and the current state of knowledge on programme effectiveness. Findings will be integrated to inform the co-development of toolkits and recommendations for improved identification and prevention in the UK. This will deliver an important step change in understanding what initiatives are taking place to support prevention and identification, what works, and for whom.
Past Research
Investigation and Prosecution of Financial Transactions in OSEC Cases: Dr Celiksoy was the Co-Investigator in this project funded by the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery as part of the Nowhere to Hide: Turning Illicit Financial Flows Against Human Trafficking in the Philippines project. In collaboration with Dr Katarina Schwarz, Dr Celiksoy explored the investigation and prosecution of digital payments and cryptocurrencies used by criminals to facilitate online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) in Europe, specifically focusing on the UK, the Netherland and Norway as demand side and the Philippines as supply side.
Modern Slavery and UN Security Council: Dr Celiksoy worked as a Lead Researcher in a project funded by ESRC Impact Acceleration Account. This project examined the intersections between modern slavery, human trafficking, and key agendas of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to support improved efforts to combat modern slavery in security contexts, improving advocacy, policies, and operations. The analysis covered the existing interests of the UNSC in addressing modern slavery in conflict in its key global agendas, focusing on Women, Peace and Security, Children and Armed Conflict, and Protection of Civilian in Armed Conflict.