Human Rights in Practice
Over the years, the HRLC has supported and inspired a community of academics, students, and alumni who are now working at the forefront of global human rights advocacy and standard-setting.
Many of our centre members and alumni have gone on to serve in influential roles, from human rights expert positions within the United Nations to members of regional human rights bodies, to key roles in IGOs, international NGOs, national human rights institutions and grassroots organisations.
Their contributions span diverse areas of law reflecting the HRLC’s emphasis on real-world application of human rights principles. Their work reflects the HRLC’s commitment to promoting justice and upholding the Rule of Law.
Human Rights Leadership
Over the course of its existence, the HRLC has cultivated a distinguished network of scholars and practitioners who have made a substantial impact in the field of international human rights. Many former HRLC members now hold influential positions within major international organizations, including the United Nations and the Council of Europe.
Professor Robert McCorquodale
Member UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights
Robert McCorquodale is a member of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, a five-member group of independent experts. He is also Emeritus Professor of International Law and Human Rights at the University of Nottingham, and a barrister and mediator at Brick Court Chambers, London. He has an LLB from the University of Sydney, Australia, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK.
Robert has 30 years of experience working in business and human rights. He has published widely in this area, including by empirical research, has advised business of all sizes and assisted governments around the world. He has been involved with civil society, industry sectors and other organisations in drafting legal changes and in litigation.
His work has included capacity building, legislative proposals and training, as well as interviewing and qualitative research. He has appeared as an advocate before the International Court of Justice and the United Kingdom Supreme Court, and as a legal expert before United Nations bodies.
Professor Aoife Nolan
President of the Council of Europe's European Committee of Social Rights
Aoife Nolan is President of the Council of Europe's European Committee of Social Rights, the leading European monitoring mechanism on economic and social rights, having joined the Committee in 2017 and served as Vice-President in 2021-2.
She is an internationally recognised expert in human rights law, with a particular focus on economic and social rights and children's rights. She is a Professor of International Human Rights Law at the School of the Law, University of Nottingham, where she is also Director of the Human Rights Law CentreAoife Co-leads Doughty Street Chambers' Children's Rights Group and is a member of the Doughty Street International Steering Group.
Aoife has served as an expert advisor to numerous international and national organisations on a wide range of human rights issues, including the UN Special Procedures, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
From 2021 to 2023, she was a member of the advisory committee for the UNCRC’s upcoming General Comment No. 26 on children's rights and the environment. In 2022, she acted as an academic partner in a collaboration with the CESCR to mainstream child rights and ensure child participation in developing its General Comment on sustainable development and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including leading the production of a child-friendly version of the Covenant.
Aoife’s research has been widely cited by international human rights bodies, including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteurs on extreme poverty, safe drinking water, housing, and health, and the UN Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights.
Professor Tomoya Obokata
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
Tomoya Obokata a scholar of international law and human rights, specialising in transnational organised crime, human trafficking and modern slavery. He is a Professor of International Human Rights Law at York Law School, and previously taught at Keele University, Queen's University Belfast and Dundee University. Tomoya is a graduate of the School of Law, University of Nottingham, where he completed his PhD in 2004.
Tomoya was appointed as the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences in March 2020. Within this role he has submitted several thematic reports to the Human Rights Council and the United Nations General Assembly, most recently on the role of workers’ organizations in preventing workers from being subjected to contemporary forms of slavery, and the contemporary forms of slavery affecting currently and formerly incarcerated people. As the current mandate holder, Tomoya has conducted country visits, responded to allegations of human rights violations and engage with a number of stakeholders formally and informally with a view to enhancing responses to contemporary forms of slavery globally.
Past HRLC Student Assistants have supported Professor Obokata with his mandate, by providing research assistance that contributed to his UN reports.
Professor Michael O’Flaherty
Commissioner for Human Rights of Council of Europe
Michael O’Flaherty is the current Commissioner for Human Rights of Council of Europe, having been elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in January 2024. He is a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Nottingham and a former Director of the Human Rights Law Centre. O'Flaherty has additionally served as an Established Professor of Human Rights at the University of Galway and as director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights.
An Irish human rights lawyer, O'Flaherty has previously served as Director of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (2015-2023), as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, latterly as Vice-Chair (2004-2012), as Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (2011-2013), and in various posts at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, notably in setting up operations in conflict-affected countries such as Sierra Leone and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He has also previously served as the Chairperson of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, and as Vice-Chair of the Universal Rights Group. A solicitor of the Irish Courts, O’Flaherty received the Higher Doctorate of Laws from the National University of Ireland and also holds degrees in international relations, philosophy, and theology.