
Rights, Equality, Citizenship and Empowerment
The collaborative nature of our research develops real-world applications to global issues.
Our research interests include:
- EU citizenship and welfare rights
- Human rights
- Legal empowerment
- Refugees, displacement and free movement
People
Contact us
Professor Charlotte O'Brien
Cluster convenor
charlotte.obrien@york.ac.uk
Related links

Project spotlights
- Older LGBT+ people and COVID-19
- The Verandah of Protection: the protection of Rohingya refugees
- Humanitarian protection in an age of asylum
- EU Settlement Scheme
- Generating Respect for Humanitarian Norms: The Influence of Religious Leaders on Parties to Armed Conflict
- The law of asylum in the Middle East and Asia: Developing legal engagement at the frontiers of the international refugee regime
- Marginalisation and the law
- Noma, human rights and global health
- Realising EU welfare rights: administrative gatekeeping and the accessibility of EU law
Recent publications
- Cowan, D, Dymond, A, Halliday, S & Hunter, CM 2017, 'Reconsidering Mandatory Reconsideration', Public Law, pp. 215-234.
- Etherington, LM 2017, 'Canons of Environmental Law: Pollution of Churches and the Regulation of the Medieval ‘Environment’', Legal Studies, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 566-590.
- Meers, JG 2019, 'Discretion as blame avoidance: Passing the buck to local authorities in ‘welfare reform’', Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 41-60.
- O'Brien, CR 2018, ''Done because we are too menny': the two-child rule promotes poverty, invokes a narrative of welfare decadence, and abandons children's rights', International Journal of Children's Rights, vol. 26, no. 4.
- Wright, K 2016, 'The Ambit of Judicial Competence After the EU Antitrust Damages Directive', Legal Issues of Economic Integration, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 15-40.
Research degrees
Push the boundaries of knowledge in our supportive and stimulating environment.
Study with usMasters degrees
Learn how to make voices heard with our MA in Applied Human Rights.
Explore our courseContact us
Professor Charlotte O'Brien
Cluster convenor
charlotte.obrien@york.ac.uk