Wednesday 30th January 2013, Keynes Library Birkbeck College.

Walking into the Keynes library being handed a glass of wine (or a soft drink) there was an air of sophistication the book launch for the new Cambridge Companion to Human Rights Law book. Edited by Conor Gearty from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Costas Douzinas from Birkbeck College, with each chapter written by a different author this book will be destined to pack a punch.  

After some time of mingling with other people and catching up with those who you see every now and then, the launch was kicked off with some inspiring short talks. Speakers included Baroness Helen Kennedy QC, Michael Mansfield QC, Costas Douzinas, and Conor Gearty.  Each talk drew on some of the same arguments, which is that Human Rights both here in the United Kingdom and worldwide has gone from a small microcosm of law which was often referred to by the judge as “persuasive but not binding” to a phenomenon that is considered in every part of life; starting with arguments of abortion to end of life issues.

However, from each of the speakers there was a note of caution, that with the influx of human rights in both the legal profession and political parties, there are those who have different levels to which human rights should be considered. Two groups are instantly apparent; there are those who fall into the group of human rights in a “pure” form who consider every aspect of a person’s rights. Whereas the other group jump onto the more fashionable articles of Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights. Those who spoke last night and those who attended, the majority were in the former. In that human rights should not be forced upon after invading a country nor should a confession be made after some “coercive treatment.”

The book sparks intellectual discussion from the cover, with the picture chosen; the fall of Icarus. A landscape used in the bankruptcy court in Holland. It was argued and agreed upon by the book editors that this had a meaning when it comes to human rights. This is the fact that the notion of human rights has become devalued. The media, the general public, the Government all throw about the line “what about our human rights?” However, these same people want to be selective about who gets human rights and who doesn’t. There are often news stories in both left and right wing press that elude a hierarchy of who deserves human rights. This is where human rights become vulnerable to being used as a form of deception.

This book launch allowed for motivational and intellectual stimulus, something that is continued throughout the book itself. It is through this that I feel privileged to have been amongst something fantastic last night. On behalf of the Birkbeck Law Review team, I’d like to say thank you to all the speakers last night, the authors and editors of this book and to Cambridge University Press for giving such a memorable evening.

N.B

If you are interested in purchasing this book, it is available at this link:

http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item6939523/?site_locale=en_GB

Assignment time

Happy New Year to all returning and new students .As most of us are in the throes of writing assignments, here are some reminders of essential elements to put in your work. Please note that some of these will seem obvious but are quite often forgotten.

1.       Planning your work.

It is always best to plan your work, rather than jumping straight into writing, usually the actual writing is one of the final things you should do. Ensure that you have a plan that can be used as a logical guide of your argument from introduction to conclusion. At this stage is it also best to have done all your research, so that you can pick the relevant parts out straight away and have them ready when you start to write.

2.       Proof reading.

This is always good practice, as you can give a more of a “polished” feel to your work, and will stop being marked down on the basis of presentation. This can be done in a number of ways, a couple of examples are to get a friend to read your essay to ensure they think it makes sense, and they will be more likely to point out mistakes such as spelling and/or grammar. The second is to read your essay allowed yourself and when reading if it doesn’t make sense then you will know that it needs to be changed.

3.       Bibliography

This is where all your references go, even if they have not been cited in a footnote. Note that your bibliography must be in the same reference style as those cited in your essay.

4.       Referencing.

Referencing is essential to your work, lack of referencing can lose marks. In addition a lack of referencing can mean that you will be up on a plagiarism charge with in the school of law, if found guilty this will go on your academic record. As far as I am aware the school of law does not have a preferred reference style, different styles can be found at the link at the bottom of this blog. If your lecturer as asked for a specific reference style than please use it.

Reference link:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities/support/bibliography

All the best with your assignments.