Staff profile
| Affiliation | Room number | Telephone |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant Professor in International Law in the Durham Law School | ||
| Fellow in the Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy |
Biography
I joined Durham Law School as Assistant Professor in International Law in September 2020. Prior to joining Durham, I was a Lecturer in Law at Bristol University (2016-2020).
My research considers issues that involve human rights abuses where there is impunity and lack of accountability. I consider how rules on jurisdiction and attribution obfuscate responsibility and give rise to impunity. Further, how the existence of multifarious legal regimes on the domestic and international plane also facilitate impunity and mean that individuals continue to be subjected to human rights violations. I adopt a normative global constitutionalist frame that advocates ensuring that those most affected by human rights abuses participate in the law-making process. I adopt methodologies that help me to access and listen to people who are most affected by a legal regime that gives rise to human rights abuses in order to critically evaluate rules on responsibility and legal standards. Methodologies include legal doctrinal research, interdisciplinary approaches, narrative interviews, and ethnographic. The two subject areas that I am involved with are the Extractive Industry and Foreign Security Forces and Abortion Reform on the Island of Ireland.
I am co-investigator on the project, The Extractive Industry and Foreign Security Network (with Dr Lee McConnell, Bristol University). Our project partner is NGO, Rights and Accountability in Development. We investigate the interactions between multinational corporations (MNCs) engaged in the extraction of natural resources and security forces. It explores the causes and effects of violence between security forces the act in the interests of MNCs local communities in resource-rich territories. We examine relevant legal and policy frameworks and aim to propose reforms aimed at remedying past harms and strengthening the observance of human rights. Please see our website for further information and research briefs.
I am writing a book entitled, Feminist Revolt and the Constitution: Abortion Activism on the Island of Ireland. This project uses narrative interviews on peoples' experiences in reform of abortion law in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to critically evaluate whether constitutions and constitutionalism can accommodate feminist demands. This book contributes to contemporary thinking on feminist constitutionalism. It critically engages with acts of revolt to argue for the existence of a feminist constituent power. The book argues that acts of feminist revolt include (i) Changing Subjectivities (ii) Diffusing, Ignoring, and Laughing at aggression (iii) Breaking the Law and Performing the Law. Further, feminist methodologies for a feminist constitutionalism are identified: acknowledging plural subjectivities in constituent power; pragmatism; and reckoning with the emotional and physical toll of a feminist constitutionalism. The book contains original data collected in the course of a British Academy funded research project: 'Bridging the Local and Global: Women’s Collectives and the ‘Spaces of Action/Reflection’'.
Jane is Primary Investigator the Society of Legal Scholars research project entitled: ‘Devolution in the UK and International Law’. The project brings together scholars from across the devolved nations to consider the division of competence and responsibility for interpreting and ensuring the implementation of international obligations.
Jane was co-author (with Dr Sheelagh McGuinness) of an impact case study submitted by Bristol University Law School to REF2021, which ranked 3rd in legal research in the UK, entitled: ‘Reforming Maternal Healthcare and the Decriminalisation of Abortion in Northern Ireland’.
She was awarded Hauser Global Research Fellow at the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice, New York University 2020 and is an Associate of the Oxford Human Rights Hub. She was book review editor of the European Human Rights Law Review (2017-2022). She is an Academic Fellow of the Durham Energy Institute, Member of the Sustainable Development Research Centre, Member of Public Interests in Private Relationships Network, Member of the Society of Legal Scholars and Member of The International Society of Public Law (ICON-S).
Teaching and Administration
Jane teaches International Human Rights Law, Public International Law, EU Constitutional Law, International Criminal Law, and Public Law. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has lectured internationally including at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, NYU, and Hebron University, Palestine. Previously she was a mentor at the Human Rights Implementation Centre, Bristol Law School facilitating student participation in writing reports for international human rights organisations.
Jane has been Quality Coordinator and Faculty Liaison at Bristol University and Deputy Director of Admissions at Durham, leading on widening participation initiatives. She assists the Deputy Director of Internationalisation in developing international research collaborations.
Research groups
- Law and Global Justice at Durham
- Gender and Law at Durham
- Human Rights Centre
Research Interests
- Transnational Corporate Liability
- Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights
- Feminist constitutionalism
- Devolution in the UK and International Law
Selected Grants
2022, £43236.80, CI, Arts andHumanities Research Council Networking Fund, the Extractive Industry and Foreign Security Network
2021, £27,188.00, CI, Equality Commission of Northern Ireland, EU developments in Equality and Human Rights: Impact of Brexit on the divergence of rights and best practice on the island of Ireland
2021, £9343.00, PI, British Academy Virtual Sandpit Follow-On Funding, Primary Investigator, Bridging the Local and Global: Women’s Collectives and the ‘Spaces of Action/Reflection
2019, £3000.00, PI, Society of Legal Scholars Small Projects and Events fund, ‘Devolution in the UK and International Law’ workshop
2019, £1000.00, PI, Internationalisation Strategic Fund, Bristol University, Hauser Global Research Fellow, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice
2019, £500.00, CI, Bristol University Strategic Research Fund, Partnership Launch: ‘Memorandum of Understanding between Bristol University and UN Population Fund Agency (UNFPA)
2018, £3000, CI, FSSL Gender Research Group, FSSL Health, Science and Technology Research Group, the Law School Strategic Research Fund, University of Bristol FSSL Strategic Research Fund, 'Global Challenges in Securing Reproductive Rights and the Empowerment of Women and Girls'
2012-2015: £36,000, Durham Law School PGR Scholarship.
Teaching and Administration
Jane teaches International Human Rights Law, Public International Law, EU Constitutional Law, International Criminal Law, and Public Law. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has lectured internationally including at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, NYU, and Hebron University, Palestine. Previously she was a mentor at the Human Rights Implementation Centre, Bristol Law School facilitating student participation in writing reports for international human rights organisations.
Jane welcomes PhD applications in public international law and international human rights law.
Jane has been Quality Coordinator and Faculty Liaison at Bristol University and Deputy Director of Admissions at Durham, leading on widening participation initiatives.
Publications
Authored book
- Rooney, J.M, (Accepted). Feminist Revolt and the Constitution: Abortion Activism on the Island of Ireland (Forthcoming Bristol University Press 2024). Bristol University Press.
Book review
- Jane Rooney (2021). Dalia Palombo, Business and Human Rights: the Obligations of the European Home States (Hart 2020). European Human Rights Law Review (1): 130-132.
- Jane Rooney (2019). Lilian Chenwi and Takele Soboka Bulto, Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligations from an African Perspective. African Journal of International and Comparative Law 27(1): 170-174.
- Jane Rooney (2016). Anne Peters, Beyond Human Rights: The Legal Status of the Individual in International Law. Irish Yearbook of International Law 2016-2017: 249-257.
- Jane Rooney (2016). Wouter Vandenhole (ed), Challenging Territoriality in Human Rights Law: Building Blocks for a Plural and Diverse Duty-Bearer Regime. European Human Rights Law Review 3: 326-328.
Journal Article
- Rooney, J M (2023). International Human Rights Law, Devolution, and Democratic Legitimacy: the Case Study of Abortion Reform in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly
- Rooney, J (2020). Crown Act of State and Detention in Afghanistan. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 71(2): 109-133.
- Rooney, J (2019). Standing and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. Modern Law Review 82(3): 525-548.
- (2019). Extraterritorial Corporate Liability For Environmental Harm: Okpabi v Shell. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly 70(1): 157-162.
- Rooney, J (2019). The Democratic Function of Extraterritorial Human Rights Adjudication. European Human Rights Law Review 626-642
- Rooney, Jane (2019). Abortion in Northern Ireland: a missed opportunity to consider article 3? Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 41(2): 1-4.
- Rooney, Jane (2018). The Extraterritorial Application of Constitutional Rights. Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Comparative Constitutional Law
- Rooney, Jane (2016). Extraterritorial Derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights in the UK. European Human Rights Law Review 2016(6): 656-663
- Rooney, Jane (2016). A Legal Basis for Non-Arbitrary Detention: Serdar Mohammed v Secretary of State for Defence. Public Law 2016(6): 563-572.
- Rooney, Jane (2015). The relationship between jurisdiction and attribution after Jaloud v. Netherlands. Netherlands International Law Review 62(3): 407-428.
Other (Digital/Visual Media)
- (Accepted). The Extraterritorial Application of the Human Rights Act: Overseas Military Operations and Beyond.
- Rooney, Jane (2020). Abortion in Northern Ireland: The Ewart Judicial Review Judgment. Blog.
- Rooney, Jane, & McGuinness, Sheelagh (2020). The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020. Blog.
- Rooney, Jane, & McGuinness, Sheelagh (2020). A Legal Landmark in Reproductive Rights: The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020. Blog.
- Rooney, Jane (2019). Standing and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
- Rooney, Jane (2015). The High Court of Northern Ireland: Northern Irish Abortion Law Incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. European Futures; Inherently Human; Global Justice Academy
- Rooney, Jane (2015). 'Clearing the Fog' recommends 'No Fault' Full Compensation. humanrights.ie
- Rooney, Jane (2014). Rooney on Hassan v United Kingdom and Extraterritorial Derogations. humanrights.ie
- Rooney, Jane (2014). Rooney on Hassan v UK: 'symbiotic approaches', 'subsequent practices' and amicus curiae. humanrights.ie
- Rooney, Jane (2013). The Fog of Juridification, Functionality and Everything Foreign. humanrights.ie
Report
- Murray, Colin, Horne, Alexander, Frantziou, Eleni Deb, Anurag, Craig, Sarah, Rice, Clare & Rooney, Jane (Accepted). EU developments in Equality and Human Rights: Impact of Brexit on the divergence of rights and best practice on the island of Ireland, 140pp.