This ongoing series profiles the brilliant work being done by lawyers from Ireland and Northern Ireland worldwide. For this edition, we spoke with Dr Susan Power, Head of Legal Research and Advocacy at Al-Haq, a human rights organisation based in the West Bank of Palestine.

In the latest in our series profiling the brilliant work being done by lawyers from across the island of Ireland, we spoke with Gráinne Mellon, a barrister specialising in public law, human rights and equality law at Garden Court Chambers in London.

In the latest in our series, profiling Irish and Northern Irish people who work in the legal sphere, we spoke with Lynn Sheehan, Chief of Staff at EUCAP Sahel Niger. EUCAP Sahel Niger is an EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) mission based in Niamey, Niger. 

In the latest in our series, profiling Irish and Northern Irish lawyers and jurists who have worked abroad, or are working abroad, we spoke with Barrister Tara O’Leary, from County Kerry, who was called to the bar in England and Wales. She now practices in chambers in London, specialising in public law. Before that, Tara spent five years working on human rights and international criminal law in Ireland, the UK, Uganda and the Balkans.

In the latest in our series, profiling Irish and Northern Irish lawyers and jurists who have worked abroad, or are working abroad, we spoke with Paul Bradfield, who grew up in County Meath, and now works as a Prosecutor in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Dublin.

In the latest in our series profiling Irish and Northern Irish lawyers who have worked abroad, or are working abroad, we spoke with Jack Pope, from Sligo, who is a Human Rights Officer with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and currently based in Kosovo. Jack has been working in human rights and international law for the past four years with both NGOs and international organisations, mainly on the analysis, monitoring and reporting of human rights issues. He previously worked on protection issues related to human rights defenders and journalists and on women, peace and security, including combatting gender-based violence in the DRC. A large part of his work involves writing on the implementation of human rights legislation by states and providing recommendations on how best to uphold human rights standards.

In the latest in our series profiling Irish and Northern Irish Lawyers who have worked, or are working abroad, we spoke with John Coughlan from Carlow town. John is working in Cambodia at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, having previously worked in Bangladesh with Rohingya refugees who had fled Myanmar. He studied law at University College Cork and afterwards did a Masters at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUIG, graduating from Queens University in Belfast.

By Andrea Vizsolyi

By Éilis Brennan

by Jessica O'Neill, chairperson of IRLI's Blackhall Trainee programme.

This blog post was first published in the Cambridge University Human Rights Law Society Blog and draws upon research conducted at IRLI on Malawi's compliance with its obligations under international human rights law.