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Colin Caughey (ESR 14)

Colin Caughey

ESR Project Title: Amplifying Disability Voices: The Role of National Human Rights Institutions

Email: colin.caughey@outlook.com

On 22 November 2022, Colin Caughey successfully defended his PHD thesis: Amplifying Disabled People’s Voices: the role of national human rights institutions. In his thesis Colin explores the ways in which national human rights institutions are collaborating with disabled people’s organisations and analysis whether these collaborations are influencing changes in laws and policies relating to disabled people. The thesis reviews how national human rights institutions have adapted their ways of working to ensure that they are supporting the claims of disabled people’s organisations. The thesis explores the experience of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission in England & Wales. In his findings Colin identifies that whilst national human rights institutions have taken initial steps to include disabled people in their ways of work, overall there is a need for further reflection as to how the principle of nothing about us without us can be operationalised within national human rights institutions. 

As part of his PHD Colin will work with the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities.

Prior to commencing his PHD Colin was  Director for Legal, Research , Investigations and Advice to Government with the NI Human Rights Commission. At the Commission Colin engaged with a number of UN Treaty Bodies and represented the Commission before the UN Human Rights Council. Colin co-ordinated the Commission’s input to the negotiations on the UK exiting the European Union. Colin was a member of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions Working Group on the UN CRPD. Colin also served as Vice Chair of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Working Group on Aging. 

Colin has contributed to a number of publications, including the Essex Autonomy Project’s Three Jurisdiction Report on compliance with Article 12 UN CRPD. Colin has worked with a number of national human rights institutions internationally.