Centre for Governance and Human Rights Members

In 2024, Ruslan began his PhD at Swansea University with the research title "States and Dataveillance: Balancing Power and Privacy”.

Before that, he practiced law in Azerbaijan, serving as a legal specialist at the State Social Protection Fund. He also gained experience at the Appeal Court of Baku, the Prosecution Office, and several district courts. Ruslan holds a bachelor's degree in law from Baku State University, where he graduated from the SABAH groups, a special program for talented students. Additionally, he earned an MA in Diplomacy and International Affairs from ADA University.

Ramil Gachayev joined Swansea University in 2021 and the title of his research is 'The Impact of International Investment Law on the Territoriality Principle in International Intellectual Property Law: A Critical Examination of the Impact of Intellectual Property Provisions in Investment Treaties of Middle-Income Countries'. Before joining the PhD program of Swansea University, he was practising law in Azerbaijan and worked as a corporate lawyer in many commercial structures in the telecommunication, construction, food production, media, warehouse, and other fields. Ramil graduated from Samara State Academy of Economics (now University) with distinction. Moreover, he attained a Level 7 Diploma in International Business Law (postgraduate certificate) from one of the British schools and participated in many courses related to mediation, human rights, advocacy etc.

Anne has been a PhD candidate in Law at Swansea University since October 2023. She is part of the TRUE project, which seeks to explore the impact of deepfakes on trust in user-generated evidence in accountability processes for human rights violations. Her research focuses on user-generated evidence (information recorded by an ordinary citizen and used in legal adjudication) in the domestic prosecution of core international crimes. Anne explores the strategies employed to challenge the authenticity of user-generated evidence and the impact of deepfakes on trust in user-generated evidence.

Anne has previously worked for a German NGO in science communication, at a law firm in Berlin, and has completed several internships at international organisations. Anne holds an LLM in International Criminal Law and Human Rights Law from Bangor University, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of European Studies from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

Kate is a PhD student at the law school at Swansea University, researching the legal and human rights framework in Wales, as it relates to learning-disabled and autistic children and young people.

Kate graduated with a BA degree in Journalism, Film and Broadcasting at Cardiff University in 2005 and is also a qualified teacher having completed the PGCE in 2010.

However, as the mother of a severely learning-disabled, autistic son, she has experienced first-hand, a raft of systemic inequalities and discrimination and therefore, adopted a different career path, with aspirations for changing the disability landscape for the better.

Kate subsequently completed the GDL at Swansea University in 2017, before going on to complete the LPC and LLM, in 2019.  During her studies, she worked on a number of both paid and pro-bono roles, including as a legal assistant for the ‘Infected Blood Inquiry’, and provided support to ‘litigants in person’ at the Swansea University ‘litigant helpdesk,’ based at Swansea Civil and Family Justice Centre.  She won an academic scholarship (3+1 DTP Studentship) from the Economic and Social Research Council and completed an MSc in Social Research Methods in 2022, before embarking on the PhD in Law. 

Piotr Mikuli is a PhD student working on his thesis entitled ‘Scope and Procedures of Holding Judges Accountable. A Comparative Perspective.’

His research aims to systematize the most important institutions and mechanisms for holding judges accountable. The analysis will cover stable democracies (UK, France, Italy, and the United States) and European post-communist countries in which, over the last several years, the rule of law infringements could be observed (Poland and Hungary).

The tasks undertaken within the project aim to examine whether, and to what extent, the scope and procedures for holding judges accountable show similarities or certain connecting elements. The project will focus on those normative solutions that relate to the assessment of the proceedings and acts of persons holding judicial positions within their professional activity.

Piotr is also a Professor of Law at the Jagiellonian University in Poland, and is conducting his research while on sabbatical.

Alun Thomas is a PhD student working on a thesis entitled 'Developing Welsh Law to Protect the Liberty of the Mentally Ill'. His thesis is exploring how Welsh specific legislation might provide additional rights to patients and thus redress for those who may end up detained where services have failed to deliver to reasonable expectations.

He is working part-time on this thesis alongside his day job as Chief Executive of Hafal, Wales’ leading charity for people with serious mental illness and their carers. Hafal is a membership-led organisation which supports over 1,500 people every day across all 22 local authorities in Wales. Alun is a Registered General Nurse who has worked in the NHS, developed a neurological rehabilitation service in the private healthcare sector, and now with Hafal has led the organisation through to the development of a user-led in-patient facility run by the charity.

Fariha has been a PhD student at Swansea University since July 2024. Her research focuses on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on the Islamic veil. In particular, it seeks to examine the portrayal of Muslim women as victims in public discourse relating to bans on the hijab and niqab, which has the effect of denying their agency and is often paternalistic in nature. Her research aims to fill in gaps in the empirical research in this area and to propose socio-legal solutions that can be implemented to allow these women to have a voice in the decision making process.

Fariha graduated with a first class in law from Cardiff University in 2019 and graduated with a master’s degree from the University of Oxford in 2021. During her studies, she completed various pro bono projects, such as working on the Family Law Assistance and Self-Help Programme, the Global Justice Scheme and the Environmental Law Foundation at Cardiff University. She has also completed an internship at the Welsh Parliament’s legal service directorate and recently worked as an assistant professional officer at Sheffield City Council.

Mary joined Swansea University in 2019 and is currently undertaking a PhD researching vulnerability in the International Criminal Court. Before joining the PhD programme, she studied an LLB in Law and Spanish plus an LLM in Human Rights. During this time, she studied a variety of human rights related topics, such as children’s rights, humanitarian law and bioethics. In September 2024, she completed her Masters’ dissertation titled ‘A Socio-legal Review on the Adequacy of Healthcare in Wales for Disabled People under the UNCRPD Right to Health’. Moreover, she has also conducted research alongside Swansea University and the Children’s Legal Centre for Wales as part of an internship to determine the use of children’s voice in schools. She also works with the Literacy Project for Spanish Speakers at the university, helping the integration of asylum seekers in Swansea. As a queer, autistic woman, Mary has also experienced vulnerability first-hand and has a personal awareness of the implementation gaps in public policy and governance that leave vulnerable people unprotected and at risk of discriminatory treatment.