Fellows

Visiting Fellow

Iain Byrne is a former graduate of the MA from 1994 and has been working in various capacities with the Centre ever since. Iain Byrne is the Chairman of the International Justice Resource Centre Board of Directors, and policy adviser on economic, social and cultural rights with Amnesty International. Previously, he was acting Legal Practice Director and Senior Lawyer with lead responsibility for leading litigation work on economic and social rights at INTERIGHTS, the international centre for the legal protection of human rights, based in London. He has taught on both the LLM and MA Human Rights Modules focusing on economic, social and cultural rights. 

Visiting Fellow

Dr Haim Abraham is a Lecturer in Laws. Dr Abraham holds a Doctor of Juridical Science degree from the University of Toronto, a Master of Law degree from the University of Cambridge, and a Bachelor of Law degree combined with the Interdisciplinary Honours Program in the Humanities from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was on the editorial board of the Israel Law Review. Dr Abraham was Co-Chair of the Institute for Law, Politics and Philosophy in 2023-23. Prior to joining UCL Faculty of Laws in 2021, Dr. Abraham was a Lecturer in Law at the University of Essex School of Law, and before his return to academia, Dr Abraham served as a Law Clerk at the Israel State Attorney Office, Civil Department. In addition to his academic work, Dr Abraham consulted various Ministries and Non-Governmental Organizations in the areas of tort law, surrogacy, and parental status, such as the Ministry of Health of Israel and Israel's LGBT Task Force.

Visiting Fellow

Rebecca Schleifer, JD/MPH, is a globally respected advocate, researcher and scholar working in the field of health and human rights. Over the last ten years, her work at Human Rights Watch helped define the contours of this emerging field, particularly with regard to establishing core research methods, identifying and helping to set the scope of applicable standards, and opening up new sites for action and policy change in national and international settings.

Dr Claire Simmons is a Fellow of the Human Rights Centre and Essex Armed Conflict and Crisis Hub. She is also Senior Lecturer in the Department of International Affairs, Faculty for the Study of Leadership, Security and Warfare at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Claire completed her PhD at the University of Essex Law School in 2021, on the independence and impartiality of military investigations into violations of international humanitarian law. She was previously a researcher in the Essex Armed Conflict and Crisis Hub, working on various projects related to international humanitarian law and human rights. She is one of the authors of the "Guidelines on Investigating Violations of International Humanitarian Law: Law, Policy, and Good Practice" published by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Claire has experience working on international humanitarian law and human rights in academic institutions and non-profit organisations in Thailand, France and the UK.

Honorary Fellow

Alberto Vásquez Encalada is a Peruvian lawyer and disability rights advocate. He holds an LLM in International and Comparative Disability Law and Policy from the National University of Ireland, Galway. Having worked as a research coordinator for the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities and with various UN entities, he is a senior advisor at the Center for Inclusive Policy (CIP) and the President of Sociedad y Discapacidad – SODIS. In Peru, he has been actively involved in drafting, advocating, and monitoring laws and policies relating to persons with disabilities. He also serves as a board member of the Disability Rights Fund, the Bank Information Center, and the Latin American Network of Psychosocial Diversity.