A special issue of the Essex Human Rights Review (EHRR) has been published to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex.

The special issue reflects the high standards of scholarship on human rights at Essex over the last 25 years. It features articles by affiliates and associates of the Centre working in the fields of international human rights law and practice, sociology, political science, and philosophy. The online publication of ‘Human Rights Perspectives: What We Have Learnt So Far’, Vol. 5, No. 1, July 2008, is now available at http://projects.essex.ac.uk/ehrr/. It has also been published in print and is available on request from the EHRR Editorial team.

In the opening essay, Professor Kevin Boyle provides a snapshot of the study, teaching, and practice of human rights at Essex since the inception of the Human Rights Centre. This piece is complemented by Professor Françoise Hampson’s article on teaching of the International Law of Armed Conflict as part of human rights syllabi.

Other essays in the journal address underlying human rights principles. Professor Albert Weale and Dr Andrew Fagan provide insights on the right to the highest attainable standard of health and on suffering as a foundation of a theory of human rights respectively, while Professor Sir Nigel Rodley’s essay is a reflection on the implementation of the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Other articles include whether human rights are good or bad for conflict resolution, and the limitations of human rights law in addressing land and property rights of indigenous peoples. Contributors include Dr. Todd Landman, Dr. Ram Manikkalingam, Dr. Colin Samson, Professor Tom Sorell, Clara Sandoval, Professor Diane Elson and Professor Radhika Balakrishnan.

The Essex Human Rights Review would also like to announce a call for papers for its second special issue to be published in March 2009 on the theme ‘Preventing Torture in the 21st Century: Monitoring in Europe Two Decades On, Monitoring Globally Two Years On’.