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Ms Merris Amos, BEc (Sydney) LLB (Sydney) BCL (Oxon.) Solicitor, Supreme Court of NSW and Supreme Court of England and Wales

Merris

Professor of Human Rights Law

Email: m.e.amos@qmul.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7882 3938
Room Number: Mile End

Profile

Merris Amos is Professor of Human Rights Law in the Department of Law, and Director of the Human Rights Law Centre for the School of Law.

Professor Amos graduated in Economics and Law from the University of Sydney and as a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford. She has been admitted as a solicitor in NSW and in England and Wales. Following her studies, Professor Amos practiced as a solicitor in employment law at Freehills (now Herbert Smith Freehills). She subsequently worked as a research assistant in the House of Lords for Lord Lester of Herne Hill, and as a policy adviser in the area of racial discrimination at the Australian Human Rights Commission.

In 1997 Professor Amos commenced her academic career at Westminster Law School, University of Westminster. In 2000 she was appointed as a Lecturer in Law at Essex Law School, University of Essex where she became Deputy Director of the Human Rights Centre. In 2007 she joined the Department of Law, Queen Mary University of London where she is currently Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Human Rights Law Centre. During her time in the Department she has held the posts of Senior Tutor, Director of Education and Director of Graduate Studies.

Professor Amos’ research and writing focusses on the protection of human rights through law at the national and European levels. She is an expert on the UK Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights. Her book Human Rights Law Third Edition(Oxford: Hart, 2021) is the leading work on the Human Rights Act. She has numerous publications in the fields of national and European human rights law including ‘The Value of the European Court of Human Rights to the United Kingdom’ (2017) 28 European Journal of International Law 763-785. Recently Professor Amos’ research has focussed on methods of human rights law reform in states experiencing democratic backsliding. She is regularly invited to present her work at national and international conferences and in 2022 convened the Society of Legal Scholars Annual Seminar ‘The Human Rights Act After Twenty-Two Years: Evolution, Impact, Future Directions’.

Professor Amos is a longstanding member of the Executive Committee of the UK Constitutional Law Association and also holds the post of Treasurer. In 2018 she was appointed to the Executive Committee of the International Association of Constitutional Law.She is a member of a number of editorial boards including: Diritto Pubblico Comparato Ed Europeo (Comparative and European Public Law); Teoria y Realidad Constitucional(Constitutional Theory and Practice); Routledge Studies in Law, Rights and Justice; andReview of British and Irish Constitutional Affairs. From 2006-2013 she was the Editor of Human Rights Law Reports UK Cases. Her work is frequently cited in official reports including J. George The Modern Bill of Rights Bill (London: The Constitution Society, 2022) and The Independent Human Rights Act Review (2021). Since 2021, Professor Amos has sat as a part-time judge in the First Tier Tribunal.

Languages: English (native language); French (B1 CEFR)

Undergraduate Teaching

Research

Publications

Books

• Human Rights Law Third Edition (Oxford: Hart, 2021) 800 pages (Second Edition 2014; First Edition 2006).
• With Harrison and Woods (Eds.) Freedom of Expression and the Media (Leiden: Brill, 2012) 264 pages.

Articles

• ‘Reality amidst rhetoric: implementation of European Court of Human Rights judgments in the UK’ (2024) ECHR Law Review 1-15.
• ‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and UK human rights law: prospects for an imaginative future’ (2024) European Human Rights Law Review 39-48.
• ‘Democratic state, autocratic method: human rights law reform in the UK’ (2024) 73 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 1-27.
• ‘Derechos Humanos Y La Pandemia Del Covid-19 En El Reino Unido’ (Human rights law and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Kingdom) (2021) 48 Teoría y RealidadConstitucional (Constitutional Theory and Practice) 125-152.
• ‘A UK Bill of Rights Fit for Purpose’ (2019) 3 Howard Human and Civil Rights Law Review 41-78.
• ‘The future of human rights protection in the United Kingdom’ (2019) 6 Journal of International and Comparative Law 87-115.
• ‘From Dynamic to Static: The United Kingdom and the European Court of Human Rights’ (2018) 42 Teoría y Realidad Constitucional 161-186 (Constitutional Theory and Practice).
• ‘The Value of the European Court of Human Rights to the United Kingdom’ (2017) 28 European Journal of International Law 763-785. (European Journal of International Law Talk podcast interview, December 2017)
• ‘The Second Division in Human Rights Adjudication: Social Rights Claims under the Human Rights Act 1998’ (2015) 15 Human Rights Law Review 549-568.
• ‘Transplanting human rights norms: the case of the United Kingdom’s Human Rights Act’ (2013) 35 Human Rights Quarterly 386-407.
• ‘The dialogue between United Kingdom courts and the European Court of Human Rights’ [2012] International and Comparative Law Quarterly 557-584.
• ‘The principle of comity and the relationship between British courts and the European Court of Human Rights’ in P. Eeckhout and T. Tridimas (Eds.) Yearbook of European Law2009 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2009).
• ‘Problems with the Human Rights Act and how to remedy them: is a bill of rights the answer?’ (2009) 72 Modern Law Review 883-908.
• ‘Huang v. Secretary of State for the Home Department and Kashmiri v. Secretary of State for the Home Department –Separating Human Rights Adjudication from Judicial Review’ [2007] European Human Rights Law Review 679-697.
• ‘The Impact of the Human Rights Act on the United Kingdom’s performance before the European Court of Human Rights’ [2007] Public Law 655-676.
• ‘R. v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex p. Anderson – Ending the Home Secretary’s Sentencing Role’ (2004) Modern Law Review 108-123.
• ‘Can we speak freely now? Freedom of expression under the Human Rights Act’ [2002] 6 European Human Rights Law Review 750-763.
• ‘Extending the Liability of the State in Damages’ (2001) 21 Legal Studies 1-14.
• ‘The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, redress and damages for wrongful administrative action’ [2000] Public Law 21-30.

Chapters

• ‘Law making in the rights hostile environment of the United Kingdom’ in J. Dbeljak and L. Grenfell (Eds.) Law Making and Human Rights (Sydney: Thomson Reuters, 2020).
• ‘The Positive Right to Freedom of Expression and Party Anonymity in Legal Proceedings’ in A. Kenyon and A. Scott Positive Free Speech: Rationales, Methods and Implications (Oxford: Hart, 2020).
• With M. Canto-Lopez and N. Jansen-Reventlow ‘Ruusunen v Finland’ in L. Hodson (Ed.) Feminist Judgments in International Law (Oxford: Hart, 2019).
• ‘Can European consensus encourage acceptance of the European Convention on Human Rights in the United Kingdom?’ in P. Kapotas and V. Tzevelekos (Eds.) Building Consensus on European Consensus (Cambridge: CUP, 2019).
• ‘The influence of British courts on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights’ in R. McCorquodale and J. Gauci (Eds.) British Influences on International Law 1915-2015 (London: BRILL, 2016).
• ‘An unprincipled mess: party anonymity in legal proceedings in the United Kingdom’ in A. Koltay (Ed.) Comparative Perspectives on Freedom of Expression (Budapest: Wolters Kluwer, 2016).
• ‘Damages for violations of human rights law in the United Kingdom’ in E. Bagińska (Ed.) Damages for Violations of Human Rights – A Comparative Study of Domestic Legal Systems (Warsaw: Springer, 2016).
• ‘The impact of human rights law on measures of mass surveillance in the United Kingdom’ in F. Davis, N. McGarrity and G. Williams (Eds.) Surveillance, Counter-Terrorism and Comparative Constitutionalism (Oxford: Routledge, 2014).
• ‘What has the Human Rights Act done for the media?’ in M. Amos, J. Harrison and L. Woods (Eds.) Freedom of Expression and the Media: (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff, 2012).
• ‘Utilising a human rights framework’ in M. Amos, J. Harrison and L. Woods (Eds.) Freedom of Expression and the Media: (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff, 2012).
• ‘From monologue to dialogue – the relationship between UK courts and the European Court of Human Rights’ in R. Masterman and I. Leigh (Eds.) The UK’s Statutory Bill of Rights: Constitutional and Comparative Perspectives (Oxford: OUP/British Academy, 2012).
• ‘Eurotorts and Unicorns: Damages for Breach of Community Law in the United Kingdom’ in Fairgrieve, Andenas and Bell (Eds.) Tort Liability of Public Authorities in Comparative Perspective (London: British Institute of International and Comparative Law, 2002).

Invited Papers (since 2018)

2024

• 12 June 2024: Presenter – ‘Freedom of expression and academic freedom in the UK’ SLS Annual Seminar, University of Central Lancashire.
• 17 May 2024: Presenter – ‘Rewriting Ruusunen v Finland’, Feminist Judgments in the European Court of Human Rights, University of Leicester, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg.
• 3 May 2024: Discussant – ‘R. Fasel More Equal Than Others: Humans and the Rights of Other Animals’, Book Launch, QMUL.
• 23 January 2024: Presenter – ‘Human Rights: universal moral values or a political construct?’ A debate to mark the 75th Anniversary of the UDHR, Westminster United Nations Association, Westminster Hall, London.

2023

• 15-16 June 2023: Rapporteur – ‘The Principle of Equality: New and Old Challenges’ IACL Roundtable, University of Siena, Italy
• 5 June 2023: Presenter – ‘Democratic state, autocratic method: human rights law reform in the UK’ UKCLA and Italian Devolution Club Annual Meeting, London.
• 25 May 2023: Presenter – ‘Human rights, judges and the private law barrier in the UK’ 27th Biennial Colloquium of the Italian Association of Comparative Law, University of Bari, Italy.
• 28 April 2023: Presenter – ‘The UDHR and UK human rights law: prospects for an imaginative future’’ The UDHR 75th Anniversary: Making Rights Real in the UK, Centre for European Law and Internationalisation, University of Leicester.
• 18 January 2023: Presenter – ‘UK Methods for Constitutional Change: Human Rights Act Reform’ UK Constitutional Law Association Annual General Meeting and Roundtable, London.

2022

• 20 October 2022: Presenter – ‘Climate litigation in the European Court of Human Rights: possibilities and problems’ Environment, Climate Change and Constitutionalism, IACL Roundtable, Ankara, Turkey.
• 3 March 2022: Presenter - ‘Fact or fiction? Positive duties and human rights reform’ Reforming the Human Rights Act, Human Rights and Public Law Centre, University of Durham.
• 4 February 2022: Presenter - ‘The Human Rights Act and social rights’ Feminist Review of the Human Rights Act, University of Liverpool and Feminist Legal Studies.
• 26 January 2022: Presenter - ‘Performance and Reform: The Consultation on a Bill of Rights’ The Future of Human Rights Protection in the UK, Centre for European Law and Internationalisation, University of Leicester.

2021

• 15 December 2021: Presenter - ‘UK human rights law and curriculum design’ Teaching Public Law, UK Constitutional Law Association, Durham University.
• 18 November 2021: Presenter - ‘Human rights and artificial intelligence’ Exploring the future of biometrics in a post-Covid world, Centre for Bioethics and Emerging Technologies, St Mary’s University, London.
• 17 November 2021: Presenter - ‘Protest, human rights and the Police Bill’, Amnesty International Society, QMUL.
• 13 October 2021: Presenter - ‘Human rights and state duties’ QMUL Alumni Seminar Series, QMUL Department of Law.
• 24 February 2021: Presenter – ‘Lessons for human rights law from the COVID-19 Pandemic?’ Human Rights in a Pandemic, McGill University, Lawyers Without Borders.
• 23 January 2021: Presenter – ‘COVID-19 and human rights in the UK’ Human Rights Research Group, Meiji University, Tokyo.

2020

• 11 November 2020: Presenter – ‘Why the UK still needs the ECHR’ The UK, European Human Rights and the Rule of Law: Seventy Years of the ECHR and Twenty Years of the HRA – A Time for Celebration? University of Leicester, Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law.
• 3 September 2020: Presenter – ‘Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic for the UK human rights law framework’, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Section, 2020 Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference.
• 22 April 2020: Presenter – ‘Clashing human rights law duties during the COVID-19 Pandemic’, The State’s Obligation to Protect Webinar, University of Liverpool, University of Leeds, Strasbourg Observers.

2019

• 17 June 2019: Presenter – ‘The evolving jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights’, Scottish Public Law Group Annual Conference, Edinburgh.

2018

• 27 November 2018: Presenter - ‘The impact of Article 2 ECHR in the UK’, Knowing Our Rights Symposium, British Academy, London.
• 1 October 2018: Presenter – ‘What are the human rights and fundamental rights challenges after Brexit?’, Civil Society in a Post Brexit Democracy, Public Law Project, BonaveroInstitute of Human Rights, Liberty, Oxford.
• 5 September 2018: Keynote – ‘The future of human rights law in the United Kingdom’, Public Law Section, 2018 Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, London.
• 4 September 2018: Keynote – ‘Brexit and human rights protection’ Annual Seminar of the British Association of Comparative Law, London.
• 19 June 2018: Presenter – ‘The United Kingdom’s proposed derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights’, IACL World Congress, Seoul.
• 22 May 2018: Presenter – ‘What should a UK bill of rights look like?’ Human Rights Law at a crossroads: what directions after Brexit? Centre for European Law and Internationalisation, University of Leicester.
• 22 February 2018: Discussant - Noel Malcolm Human Rights and Political Wrongs: a New Approach to Human Rights Law Yeoh Tiong Law Centre for Politics, Philosophy and Law, Kings College London.

Supervision

Professor Amos welcomes supervision enquiries in the areas of national and European human rights law. Her current PhD students are:

  • Jingxi Liu – Artificial intelligence and sex discrimination in employment
  • Tamara Katamine – Reducing breed-related welfare challenges for dogs
  • Stefania Rainaldi Redon – International human rights courts and structural discrimination

Public Engagement

Public Engagement

Conferences Organised

• Workshop 8 – Constitutionalism, the COVID-19 Pandemic and Recovery, IACL World Congress of Constitutional Law, Johannesburg, (33 participants), 7-8 December 2022, Co-Convener with Professor Kate O’Regan (Oxford).
• Society of Legal Scholars Annual Seminar 2020, 3 and 4 November 2022, The Human Rights Act After Twenty-Two Years: Evolution, Impact, Future Directions (60 participants), Convener
• WG Hart Legal Workshop 2018, Building a 21st Century Bill of Rights (60 participants), Co-Convener with Professor Roger Masterman (Durham) and Dr Helene Tyrrell (Newcastle).

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