Rights & Justice Festival
Tuesday 8 July 2025
Know your Rights? What is Justice?
The Rights and Justice Festival is a one-day celebration of human rights, social justice, equality, and so much more, and it is open for everyone to attend. It is a great opportunity to learn about new ideas, get involved in interactive activities and to hear from a wide range of speakers who are leaders in their fields.
Join us for some fantastic free talks from experts on areas as diverse as colonialism, the law, the death penalty, the jury system, human rights, children's rights, family law, social rights in the criminal justice system, judges, last year's summer riots, and the US constitution.
The Festival is a collaboration between the University of Worcester's Constitutions, Rights and Justice Research Group and The Hive. Our speakers include Law and Criminology academics from within the University's School of Law and School of Criminology, academics from other departments like History and Psychology, a former judge, and external academics.
We welcome members of the public, as well as colleges and sixth forms to attend. If you are representing an educational group and have any questions about this event, please contact programming@worcestershire.gov.uk
Schedule
10am-10:40am – Session 1
10:40am-11:20am – Session 2
11:20am-12pm – Keynote 1
12pm-1pm – Lunch break
1pm-1:40pm – Session 4
1:40pm-2:20pm – Session 5
2:20pm-3pm – Session 6
3pm-4pm – Session 7
4pm-6pm – Break
6pm-7:30pm – Keynote 2
Please note: There are 2 options available for most sessions. Please do not book for two sessions at the same time.
Session 1A: Dr Michael Lane
Human Rights and Children’s rights: What are they and why do they matter?
Book this session here
Session 1B: Dr Chris Monaghan
The Not So Swinging 60s: When Britain Exiled Islanders from their Homeland
Book this session here
Session 2A: Nicola Monaghan
When Jurors Go Rogue
Book this session here
Session 2B: Dr Isabel Gilbert
Colonial Legacies in Museums and the Pursuit of Narrative Justice
Find out more and book this session here
Keynote 1: Dr Beverley Gilbert
The Impact of Systemic Failure on Communities of Women with Experience of Complex Disadvantage and Trauma
Find out more and book this session here
Session 4A: Dr Nkem Adeleye
Inordinate Delays: An Inmate’s Journey on Death Row
Find out more and book this session here
Session 4B: Dr Mikahil Azad
From Violence to Unity: A Criminological Analysis of the UK Summer 2024 Riots and the Rise of Hate Narratives
Find out more and book this session here
Session 5A: Dr Wendy Toon
The “American Experiment”
Find out more and book this session here
Session 5B: HH Daniel Pearce-Higgins KC
Ask a Judge: Does the punishment fit the crime?
Find out more and book this session here
Session 6A: Jenny Watkins
Family Law: Fact or Fiction?
Find out more and book this session here
Session 6B: Dr Clive Sealey
Wrongs to Rights: The Importance of Social Rights to the Criminal Justice System
Find out more and book this session here
Session 7: Sarah Lloyd
Mock Jury: You Decide – Guilty or Not Guilty
Find out more and book this session here
Keynote 2: Professor Jon Yorke
International Law and Alabama’s Executions by Nitrogen Gas Asphyxiation
Find out more and book this session here