

LawPod
Queen's University - School of Law
LawPod is a weekly podcast based in the Law School at Queen’s University Belfast. We provide a platform to explore law and legal research in an engaging and scholarly way.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 19, 2021 • 33min
Episode 78 – Informers and Transitional Justice
In this podcast, Prof Kieran McEvoy and Prof Mark Drumbl explore the intersections between informers and transitional justice. Drawing in particular on Mark and Dr Barbora Hola's research on informers and collaborators in the former Czechoslovakia, this podcast explores the role of informers in transitional justice so far and considers what transitional justice should do with informers.
Kieran and Mark discuss the complex motivations behind informing, reactions to informing, and the implications for victims of the activity of informants.
https://law.wlu.edu/faculty/full-time-faculty/mark-drumbl
https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/kieran-mcevoy

Jan 12, 2021 • 23min
Episode 77 – Contact tracing apps and Data Privacy
In this episode, Arianna McBurney and Megan Burns talk to Professor Daithi Mac Sithigh about the contact tracing apps in the UK. Professor Mac Sithigh discusses the implication for data privacy law, whether we should be concerned about data breaches, and what his ideal contact tracing app would look like.
Professor Daithi Mac Sithigh is a professor of Law and Innovation at Queen's University Belfast. His research interests are in law and technology, with recent work addressing audiovisual media law, legal issues in the creative industries, the 'sharing economy', and data privacy issues. Further details are available here: https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/daith%C3%AD-mac-s%C3%ADthigh

Dec 10, 2020 • 38min
Episode 76 – The origins of human rights at Queen’s: student activism, the study of human rights law and the Human Rights Centre
In this episode, Professor Tom Hadden and Professor Brice Dickson discuss the origins of human rights research at Queen's. The episode discusses the history of the human rights centre at Queen's, the role students play in human rights movements, researching and applying human rights law during the troubles, and the future of human rights research.https://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/human-rights-centre/

Dec 8, 2020 • 48min
Episode 75 – Northern Ireland: The Constitutional Conversation.
In this episode, Professor Colin Harvey reflects on the constitutional arrangement here in Northern Ireland with Emer Smyth, a Master of Laws student at QUB. At the end, Colin is asked five quickfire questions about himself - the answers can only be one word or one sentence.
In this episode we cover: - The Good Friday Agreement - its rights-based and constitutional promises. ( the Agreement itself can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-belfast-agreement
The Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. You can follow the activity of the Ad Hoc Committte on a Bill of Rights here: http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/assembly-business/committees/2017-2022/ad-hoc-committee-on-a-bill-of-rights/
& the Northern Ireland Human Right's Commission's advice to the British Government on a Bill of Rights can be accessed here: https://www.nihrc.org/publication/category/Bill-of-Rights?
Brexit & the European Union - the implications of Brexit for Northern Ireland & how Brexit alters the debate in that if there were a referendum on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and people voted for re-unification, Northern Ireland would automatically rejoin the EU.
Colin Harvey's paper (mentioned in the episode) with Barrister Mark Bassett can be accessed here: https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/publications/the-eu-and-irish-unity-planning-and-preparing-for-constitutional-
The South/Republic of Ireland - how that factors into the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. - The role of academics in the constitutional conversation.

Dec 1, 2020 • 1h 19min
Episode 74 – Defamation and Privacy Law in Northern Ireland
In this podcast, Dr. Mark Hanna talks about Defamation and Privacy Law in Northern Ireland with media lawyers Paul Tweed, Peter Girvan and Oliva O'Kane, the journalist and author Sam McBride, and Jessica Ní Mhainín of the Index on Censorship organisation

Nov 24, 2020 • 21min
Episode 73 – Apologies and Transitional Justice
In this episode, Prof Kieran McEvoy and Dr Anna Bryson discuss the findings of their ESRC-funded research project, Apologies, Abuses and Dealing with the Past. Focusing on apologies for harms related to the Northern Ireland conflict, they consider what makes a good apology, some of the specific apologies that have been made in relation to the conflict, and the relationship between apologies and other transitional justice mechanisms. You can learn more about the project here and access the report the project team prepared for the UN here.

Nov 17, 2020 • 25min
Episode 72 – Disappearances in Cyprus with Dr Iosif Kovras
In this episode, Dr Iosif Kovras (University of Cyprus) explores issues relating to disappearances in Cyprus.
He discusses the context of disappearances, mobilisation by families of the disappeared, the work of the Committee on Missing Persons, and the challenges of recovering the remains of those who have been disappeared.
You can learn more about Iosif's work on his website.
His monograph, Grassroots Activism and the Evolution of Transitional Justice, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2017.

Nov 12, 2020 • 32min
Episode 71 – Conflict Textiles: Following the Footsteps of the Disappeared
In this episode we welcome Roberta Bacic and Breege Doherty to discuss the Conflict Textiles archive and the current exhibition, Following the Footsteps of the Disappeared.
Drawing on descriptions of specific pieces from the exhibition, Roberta and Breege explore the role of textiles in activism and in the memorialisation of the disappeared. Four pieces are discussed in this episode:
For PaulWhere are the “disappeared”?
Stitching the Search
The Earth Always Remembers
Learn more about the Conflict Textiles archive here and on Twitter @conflicttextiles
You can watch a video about the archive here
View the exhibition here and access a list of the textiles here

Nov 10, 2020 • 27min
Episode 70 – Ex-combatants and Transitional Justice
In this episode, Dr Lauren Dempster interviews Prof Kieran McEvoy about the role of ex-combatants in transitional justice processes. Kieran discusses the notion of the ex-combatant as a 'spoiler', the role of ex-combatants in transforming cultures of violence and building peace, and what the Northern Ireland experience suggests for other transitional contexts.

Nov 3, 2020 • 26min
Episode 69 – Amnesties in Transitional Justice
In this episode, Prof Kieran McEvoy interviews world-leading amnesties expert Prof Louise Mallinder and Dr Lauren Dempster about the role of amnesties in transitional justice processes. In particular they discuss what Louise has learned about these mechanisms through the process of compiling her database of some 700 amnesty laws. You can access Louise's amnesty database here.


