Edel Hughes graduated from University College Cork, Ireland, in 2002 with a BCL (Law and French). She was awarded an LLM and PhD degrees in International Human Rights Law from the National University of Ireland, Galway in 2003 and 2009 respectively.  Prior to joining the University of East London, she was a lecturer in law at the School of Law, University of Limerick, between 2006 and 2011. Edel has worked as a lecturer with Amnesty International (Irish Section) and in recent years has engaged in research and advocacy work for various non-governmental human rights organisations including Relatives for Justice and the Kurdish Human Rights Project.

Senior lecturer in law; Module leader for Constitutional and Administrative Law and Public Law: Rights and Remedies.

International human rights law; public international law

LLB

LA1050 Constitutional and Administrative Law

LA2600 Public Law: Rights and Remedies

Edel's research is in the area of international human rights law broadly speaking. She is particulary interested in freedom of religion and is currently conducting research on the European Court of Human Rights and Islam.  Recent publications include:

“Freedom of Religion in a Globalized World: The European Context” in Globalization, International Law and Human Rights, JF. Addicott, Md J Hossain Bhuiyan, and T M.R. Chowdhury (editors) OUP, 2011 http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780198074151.do

“The International Human Rights Law Framework as a Tool for Promoting Peace and Preventing Conflict: Progress and Challenges” Vol. 22 Irish Studies in International Affairs, November 2011

“The European Union Accession Process: Ensuring the Protection of Turkey’s Minorities?” (2010) Vol. 17.4 International Journal of Minority and Group Rights, at 561-578.

Turkey's Accession to the European Union: The Politics of Exclusion?  (Routledge: London & New York; 2010) http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415577854/

Previous publications include:

"The Secularism Debate and Turkey's Quest for European Union Membership" Vol. 3 No. 1 Journal of Religion and Human Rights (March, 2008), at 15-32.  

Atrocities and International Accountability: Beyond Transitional Justice (ed.) (with William Schabas and Ramesh Thakur) (United Nations University Press, 2007)

“Entrenched Emergencies and the ‘War on Terror’: Time to Reform the Derogation Procedure in International Law?” Vol. 20 No. 2 (Summer, 2007) New York International Law Review, at 1-65.

“Political Violence and Law Reform in Turkey: Securing the Human Rights of the Kurds?” Vol. XXVI No. 2 (Winter, 2006) The Journal of Conflict Studies, at 71-103.

“European Integration:  The Interaction Between European and National Law” (Book Review), Vol. 17.4 (December, 2006) Criminal Law Forum, at 361-365.

“The Right to Peace” in THE ESSENTIALS OF HUMAN RIGHTS, R. Smith and C. van den Anker (eds), Hodder Arnold, London, 2005, at 283-284 (with Kathleen Cavanaugh).

“Implementation of the ICCPR: Restrictions and Derogations”, EU-China Human Rights Network Working Paper, November 2004, available at http://www.nuigalway.ie/sites/eu-china-humanrights/seminars/ds0411.php        

“Hate Speech: A Restriction on Freedom of Expression” Vol. 4 (Autumn 2003) Kurdish Human Rights Project Legal Review, at 66-76.

Turkey’s accession to the European Union is undoubtedly one of the Union’s most contested potential enlargements. The narrative that dominates the debate surrounding this issue primarily relates to problems such as a lack of respect for fundamental human rights in Turkey, the Kurdish question and the continuing stalemate concerning northern Cyprus.

This book looks at these issues, but also proposes that a review of Turkey’s experience with the EU in its numerous incarnations suggests that these concerns may mask a deeper disquiet. Whilst there are several questions that Turkey must address, particularly in the area of human rights guarantees, the concerns which raise debates regarding Turkish membership are not issues that are unique to Turkey. Turkey’s EU experience also raises fundamental questions about religion and the EU project that have greater implication than simply Turkish accession. Through the lens of the Turkish example, this book addresses these broader questions, such as the nature of European ‘identity’, Europe’s Christian past, the limits of pluralism and the fundamental question of religion in the European public sphere.

This book will be of great interest to those engaged in research on European law and politics at undergraduate or postgraduate level. It is also aimed at academics with an interest in human rights and the European Union and with a regional interest in Turkey.

Turkey's Accession to the European Union: The Politics of Exclusion?  (Routledge: London & New York; 2010) http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415577854/