I'm looking for...

Courses Research People Something else

Prefer to see our subject areas?

Browse courses by subject

Looking for funded postgraduate opportunities?

View doctoral training partnerships Browse postgraduate research opportunities

We are different and we are the same. #WeAreEssex

Courses

Prefer to see our subject areas?

Browse courses by subject

Research

Looking for funded postgraduate opportunities?

View doctoral training partnerships Browse postgraduate research opportunities

People

We are different and we are the same. #WeAreEssex

Something else

Human Rights Clinic Research project

Business and Human Rights Unit

Principal Investigators

Dr Anil Yilmaz
Dr Jessica Lawrece
Dr Justin Jos Poonjatt

A photograph of the river Thames and the city of London

The Business and Human Rights Unit (BHRU) is a specialised ongoing unit launching within the Human Rights Centre Clinic in the 2025-26 academic year. It marks a collaboration between the Clinic and the Essex Business and Human Rights Project (EBHR). The BHRU builds on two decades of business and human rights scholarship and education expertise at Essex Human Rights Centre and Essex Law School.

BHRU participants will work with academic supervisors and partner organisations to conduct research and develop outputs that support the advancement of human rights and environmental protection in the context of business operations across the globe. Students will have the opportunity to work on a range of projects, including conducting investigative research on corporate human rights reporting and carrying out background research on potential court claims for remediation of corporate harms. The work will allow students to develop their understanding of human rights challenges in the world of corporations, develop skills in assessing facts and determining their pertinence to a given human rights issue, identifying possible legal pathways to hold corporations accountable, and understand practical challenges involved in tackling human rights and environmental harm caused by business activity. Students will strengthen their research and writing skills while working on practical business and human rights issues.

The BHRU is led by Dr Anil Yilmaz and supported by Dr Jessica Lawrence and Dr Justin Jos Poonjatt.

Applications for 2025-2026 will open on 2 October 2025, after the Introduction to the Human Rights Centre Clinic session.

How to apply for 2025-26

About RAID (Rights and Accountability in Development)

In 2025-26, we are partnering with RAID (Rights and Accountability in Development). RAID is a UK-based NGO that investigates and exposes corporate wrongdoing, environmental harm, and human rights abuses. They work alongside local communities and victims to hold companies to account using both hard and soft law, including strategic litigation, public campaigns, and rigorous research. Their investigations are grounded in both field and forensic desk research, and they bring complaints and cases before supervisory bodies, courts, and international institutions. RAID seeks not only to document harm but to achieve justice by testing new legal approaches and pushing the boundaries of what is possible through law and advocacy.

How to apply

Applications to join all Clinic projects in 2025-26 will open on 2 October 2025. Please submit your application by Monday 6 October at 5pm to humanrightscentreclinic@essex.ac.uk. Please send your application documents in PDF format with the file name [SURNAME]_[First name]_HRCC application.

Interviews

Interviews will take place via Zoom during the week commencing 6 October 2025. You will be allocated a time slot for a short conversation with the HRC Clinic Director and Dr Anil Yilmaz. We will communicate the decision during the week of 13 October 2025.

Who can apply?

The BHRU is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students at Essex from any discipline (it is not restricted to law and human rights students).
When applying for this stand-alone project, you do not need to take HU902, but can opt to do so.

Thank you for your interest in this project, and we look forward to receiving your application.

Supervisors

Dr Anil Yilmaz Vastardis

Senior Lecturer

Essex Law School, University of Essex

Dr Jessica Lawrence

Senior Lecturer

Essex Law School, University of Essex

Justin Poonjatt

Lecturer

Essex Law School, University of Essex