A presentation by Yordan Nugraha, Nürnberg Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg, and Nazila Ghanea, University of Oxford and UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. This event is part of the Fundamental Rights Research Colloquium under the „Leading Cases in UN Human Rights Law: Novelty, Harmonisation and Contestation“ cluster hosted by the Centre for Fundamental Rights in collaboration with the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford, Maastricht University, and the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU CHREN).
What is genuinely novel about the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies‘ interpretation of freedom of religion and belief? To what extent have the Treaty Bodies developed a harmonised body of jurisprudence across different treaties and regional human rights jurisprudence? Where do we see contestation—between Treaty Bodies, between regional human rights courts and Treaty Bodies?
This colloquium cluster will discuss the contributions of the UN Human Rights Treaty Body decisions to the development of international human rights law. The colloquium is based on the DFG funded project, Deep Impact through Soft Jurisprudence? The Contribution of United Nations Treaty Body Case Law to the Development of International Human Rights Law, hosted by the Centre for Fundamental Rights at the School with the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights and the Maastricht Human Rights Centre as collaborating partners.
Speakers:
Yordan Nugraha is a postdoctoral researcher at the Nürnberg Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg. He obtained his doctorate degree at Hasselt University on 30 January 2024 with a thesis titled ‘Understanding Conflicts between Constitutions and International Human Rights Law: Sexual Minority Rights as a Case Study’. Dr. Nugraha has a broad expertise in the fields of international human rights law and comparative constitutional law. His research interests include UN human rights law, ECHR law, proportionality, popular sovereignty and constituent power, Indonesian constitutional thought, and the relationship between domestic and international laws. As part of his PhD, he has also conducted research on Russian constitutional law, Ecuadorian constitutional law, Sharia and the constitution, and Inter-American human rights law.
Nazila Ghanea is Professor in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford. She serves as Associate Director of the Oxford Human Rights Hub and is a Fellow of Kellogg College (BA Keele, MA Leeds, PhD Keele, MA Oxon). She serves as a member of the OSCE Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief and on the Board of Trustees of the independent think tank, the Universal Rights Group. She has been a visiting academic at a number of institutions including Columbia and NYU, and previously taught at the University of London and Keele University, UK and in China. Nazila’s research spans freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression, women’s rights, minority rights and human rights in the Middle East. She has facilitated international human rights law training for a range of professional bodies around the world, lectured widely and carried out firsthand human rights field research in a number of countries including Malaysia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. She is a regular contributor to the media on human rights matters.
