UCL podcast: Why we need an Institute for Human Rights

• UCL Institute for Human Rights
• Dr Saladin Meckled-Garcia

Dr Meckled-Garcia (UCL School of Public Policy is co-founder of the UCL Institute for Human Rights. The institute was established earlier this month to bring together expertise from UCL Laws, Political Science, Economics, Philosophy, Epidemiology and Public Health with student activitsts, non-governmental organisations and other parties to undertake rounded research with the aim of influencing human rights policy around the world.

Listen to the discussion by clicking on the player below

• Why the institute was set up (00:30)
• Why the time is ripe for an institute for human rights (00:42)
• Examples of work undertaken by the institute (02:55)
• Student involvement in the institute (07:08)
• The benefits of a cross-disciplinary approach (08:53)
• David Cameron's commitment to scrap the Human Rights Act (10:11)

UCL context

UCL Laws has launched two other new centres in recent weeks.

• The Centre for Ethics and Law was established on 21 October to reflect the growing need for enhanced collaboration between academics, practising lawyers and industry, given the fast-changing and increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the global issues at the intersection between law and ethics. The work of the Centre focuses on the broad themes of professional ethics, ethics of risk and distributive justice.
• The Centre for Criminal Law, directed by Ian Dennis (Professor of English Law), was launched on 27 October. It stands alongside UCL Crime Science, with its broad interdisciplinary focus on crime prevention, and its work similarly addresses including the issue of security in UCL's Grand Challenges research programme.

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