HRIC PhD researchers

• Afiya France
  Afiya’s research utilizes the concept of genealogy to look at how and why mental capacity laws have developed to reflect new international disability rights norms in some countries but not in others. Specifically, she considers the journeys of 2 previously British colonies: Ireland, which has progressive mental capacity legislation, and Trinidad and Tobago, which is generally representative of the wider Commonwealth Caribbean in having un-developed mental capacity laws. She hopes for her research to identify pathways to legal change, contributing to the improvement of the lives of people with mental disabilities. Prior to starting her PhD studies at the University of Bristol Law School, Afiya France was a practicing attorney, and lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago Campus. She holds an LLM from Columbia Law School NY and an MSc from Cardiff University.

• Christopher Gray
  Christopher’s PhD research looks at the relationship between international human rights law and criminal procedure in The Gambia. Focusing specifically on the right to silence, his project looks at the historical formation of a constitutionally-protected right, and how transnational and international influences are articulated in right in practice. His interests more broadly include criminal justice, minority rights, and critical approaches to human rights.

• Ashleigh Guest
  Ashleigh's research is concerned with international human rights law and criminal justice. Her research focuses on sexual exploitation in travel and tourism committed by UK citizens in The Gambia, and the use of the UK's extraterritorial jurisdiction to tackle the problem.

• Ms Anamaria Santos Fonseca Sousa
  Anamaria’s research is focused on forced migration, ethnicity, integration and citizenship and hostile environment, sex work, women’s rights, intersectionality, and Marxist feminism. She is currently an assistant teacher in Law at the University of Bristol, and she has also been a visiting lecturer at University of the Gambia and Editor-in-Chief of the Gambia Law Review.

• Ms Sophia Soares
  Sophia’s research focus is on torture prevention for liberty-deprived refugees and asylum seekers, specifically examining the mandates of the mechanisms established under the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. She teaches international law and human rights and acts as an independent prison monitor. Previously, she worked with the UN Refugee Agency and with the UK Home Office’s refugee resettlement programme.

• Illia Chernohorenko
  Illia’s Ph.D. research focuses on inter-State applications before the European Court of Human Rights. He previously occupied senior positions at the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine as well as acted as a Visiting Professional at the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court. Illia has been advising various international organisations in a number of justice sector projects in Ukraine and internationally. He was graduated from the University of Oxford and the Queen Mary University of London and is visiting the University of Bristol under the Visiting Ukrainian Doctoral Scholarship scheme.

• Daphne Guelker
  Daphne's research is in the areas of international human rights law, the law of the sea, and international labour law. Her PhD is focused on the global fishing industry and understanding what protections are available for distance water fishers under international law and to what extent these are able to provide meaningful protection for fishers.

• Yefan Xu
  Dr Yefan Xu is interested in Company Law and Corporate Governance, in particular, worker participation in the company decision-making process by conducting doctrinal, social-legal and comparative research between different legal systems. Yefan completed her PhD in Law and Masters of International Law at the University of Bristol, and obtained her Bachelor of International Economic Law from the Dalian Maritime University.

• Arpeeta Mizan
  Arpeeta is interested in qualitative studies of the human experience and understanding of law as a lived reality. Her PhD project uses the theoretical framework of legal consciousness and postcolonial studies to investigate why people in Bangladesh tend to uphold religious normativities while defying state laws, which often has serious consequences for fundamental freedoms of citizens. Arpeeta has nearly 10 years' experience of organising street law legal awareness campaigns and has introduced human rights fact-finding simulation workshops in Bangladesh to promote clinical education. She has closely worked with various at risk and marginalised communities in Bangladesh, including the LGBTQI and Dalits. Arpeeta has an LLM from Harvard Law School and has published in a number of Bangladeshi and international peer-reviewed journals. She is currently on study leave from the University of Dhaka Department of Law, where she is an Assistant Professor.

• Gianna Eckert
  Gianna's research centres on asylum law, deportation practices and their human rights implications. Her PhD project investigates situations in which deportation orders cannot be enforced due to persisting legal and practical barriers. Focusing on the UK and Germany, her research examines the legal frameworks and policies applicable to such cases. Based on empirical data, the inquiry will assess the extent to which these regulations are geared towards indirectly inducing the return of 'unreturnable' migrants. In doing so, the study hopes to conceptualise the role of 'indirect deportation practices' across both countries before examining their lawfulness under international human rights law.