News
Landmark ruling for Turkish conscientious objector
Human rights lawyers have won a landmark ruling in the
European Court of Human Rights regarding the way conscientious objectors
are treated in countries with compulsory military service.
The case involved 35-year-old Turkish conscientious objector Osman
Murat Ûlke, the first in Turkey to openly declare his refusal to perform
military service for reasons of conscience.
Professor Kevin Boyle from the Human Rights Centre at the University and
Tony Fisher, of Fisher Jones Greenwood Solicitors, had been working with a
team of lawyers on the case for around eight years.
The European Court ruled that the Turkish government’s decision to
continue to prosecute Mr Ûlke for refusing to wear a military uniform or
to perform military service amounted to degrading treatment within the
meaning of Article 3 of the Convention relating to torture.
This is the first time the Court has found the operation of a law
concerning compulsory military service as being in breach of the
Convention. Mr Ûlke was awarded damages and costs for the violation.
However, in view of this finding, the Court decided not to consider the
wider question of whether failure of a state to provide alternatives to
military service always amounts to a violation of the provisions in the
Convention which protect freedom of conscience.
Mr Ûlke was first arrested in 1994. In 1997 he was adopted by Amnesty
International as a Prisoner of Conscience.
School pupils prepare for sea disaster
As part of an Essex Aimhigher initiative, 70 year ten
students took part in a training exercise on campus which saw them manage
a hypothetical shipping crisis off the coast of Harwich.
The pupils, from Clacton County High, Bishops Park, The Colne,
Manningtree, and Colbayns, were able to work on developing key skills,
including problem solving and teamwork, in a university setting while also
learning about growing employment opportunities within the Haven Gateway.
The event was organised by the Essex Education Business Partnership in
conjunction with the Haven Gateway Partnership and Harwich International
Port.
Richard Morton, Haven Gateway
Partnership Manager, and the winning team made up of pupils from each of
the participating schools
Students worked in mixed school groups with an undergraduate mentor and
were asked to play out a scenario in which several vessels are damaged in
the Harwich Haven. Each student was assigned the role of one of the six
sectors which would be involved in an emergency response - these included;
Harwich International Port, Stena Line, Essex County and Tendring District
Councils, Essex Police, Trinity House and Harwich Haven Authority. The
students were asked to make important decisions regarding passenger
safety, customer service, logistical issues, and resource management. Each
group worked together to create a short presentation detailing the
measures each sector representative would take to manage the disaster.
New faculties to streamline decision-making
structures
New faculties will replace the University's schools of
study as a streamlined decision-making structure is introduced for the new
academic year.
Four faculties will cover taught undergraduate and postgraduate degree
schemes at the Colchester campus, one will cover the University's schemes
at Southend and East 15, and a Faculty Board for Learning Partnerships
will oversee all the University’s collaborative provision.
The four Colchester-based faculties, from autumn 2006, will be: Social
Sciences; Humanities and Comparative Studies; Science and Engineering,
which includes Health and Human Sciences and Mathematical Sciences; and
Law and Management, comprising the Departments of Law and Accounting,
Finance and Management.
The aim of the new structure is to deliver efficient decision-making
with improved processes for consultation within departments.
It will also provide University-wide quality assurance procedures, and
greater consistency in procedures and practices across different
departments.
Degree schemes and their students will be formally associated with
departments or centres rather than schools of study.
Faculty boards will be responsible for approving, monitoring and reviewing
taught degree schemes, while Undergraduate and Graduate School Boards - of
which all Heads of Departments will be members - will take university-wide
decisions about such issues as rules of assessment.
The changes form part of a wider review of University processes and
procedures aimed at improving the student experience and ensuring the
University adapts to its growth both at Colchester and across the region.
Also in the printed February edition of Wyvern:
- Smart software could solve congestion misery
- Go ahead for GP surgery
- New collection for library
- Babyshambles gig is no shambles
- Enterprising students attend MIT programme
- Essex Book Festival
