Past Projects

Brazil

• Researched the culpability of doctors who collaborated with Brazil’s military regime

Bulgaria

• Researched European Court of Human Rights case law on the right to private and family life under Article 8 of the European Covenant on Human Rights

Cambodia

• Compiled reports on state parties to CEDAW

China

• Looked into how different countries deal with the privacy and discrimination implications of pre-employment examinations and composed memos on the relevant law in the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, France, and Germany
• Performed comparative research on lawyer registration mechanisms, in continental Europe and in in current and former one-party states, to promote reform of the Chinese system, which has become a means of chilling human rights and criminal defense work
• Researched legal basis for action against a corporation that “outed” the identity of a human rights activist, subjecting him/her to harassment

Czech Republic

• Reviewed literature to map the countries which have made efforts to desegregate schools and analyzed the effectiveness of their effort
• Developed case studies of countries that have been generally regarded as successful in their efforts to desegregate schools
• Researched innovative efforts to transform special schools into more inclusive education centers

Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Performed a comparative analysis of the mixed chamber military tribunal model as it has functioned in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Kosovo, and East Timor and evaluated whether this model makes sense for the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Egypt

• Researched international and comparative jurisprudence regarding legal protections for undocumented immigrants, particularly those who are victims of crime

Hungary

• Researched East European criminal justice systems to assist Roma plaintiffs in bringing their cases before the European Court of Human Rights

India

• Compiled cases on tort liability and offenses related to HIV-transmission
• Assisted legal representation of AIDS patients by researching law on discrimination against HIV-positive persons
• Identified cases on HIV, worker’s rights, and criminal law
• Researched laws on food safety, education, competition, property rights, money laundering, and commodity exchanges/market regulation in six countries
• Conducted comparative research into the process for legally changing one’s gender for purposes of government identification and access to benefits

Israel

• Researched case law on discrimination in public transportation and other public facilities
• Provided information on bilingualism and constitutional rights in Canada, Belgium, and Switzerland

Liberia

• Researched comparative codes of conduct and legislation aimed at ensuring government accountability and transparency, as well as a policy analysis of best practices for combating government corruption through legislation
• Conducted research on eight corporations with interests in Liberia’s extractive industries, focusing in particular on environmental and human rights lawsuits related to these corporations’ operations in other countries where they have operated
• Translated Liberian concessions contracts into plain language in order to better inform rural communities regarding industrial agriculture, logging, and mining companies’ expansion plans, the possibility that their communities will be resettled in the future, the provisions in place to compensate them for this displacement, and companies’ obligations to protect human rights and the environment
• Produced factsheets about palm oil concessions contracts for communities in the areas affected by the concessions

Malaysia

• Compiled statutes and international and domestic case law relating to rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and matrimonial property rights, to assist with brief preparation
• Compiled CEDAW country reports

Namibia

• Researched information on Namibia’s ratification of international treaties and conventions
• Provided information on U.S. rules of evidence concerning testimony by victims of sexual harassment and domestic violence, as well as domestic violence laws of a number of developing countries, in support of a proposal to reform Namibia’s domestic violence laws
• Researched origins of codified law in Namibia
• Researched Namibia’s Constitution, courts, judges, juries, individual rights, structure of the government, rules of criminal procedure, and compliance with international rule of law standards

Netherlands

• Conducted an extensive comparative study of res judicata in diverse legal systems

Peru

• Researched U.N. and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights material on Argentina

Philippines

• Assisted disabled plaintiffs by researching U.S. law on employment discrimination
• Examined California legislation on hazardous waste and legal rules of liability for environmental degradation and mining-related injury
• Compiled leading cases on the abolition of the mandatory death penalty in the United States

Russia

• Compiled reports of violations of journalists’ rights in Chechnya

Sierra Leone

• Researched the basis for naming a company as a respondent in a case brought by community alleging human rights abuses committed by the company

South Africa

• Researched comparative case law, legislation, and policy statements from the U.S., Australia, and the EU on the obligation of states and municipalities to ensure child safety
• Researched environmental tort claims in the United States that addressed the issue of government accountability
• Researched US standards for testimony by victims of child abuse for an amicus brief to the high court in South Africa
• Investigating public procurement procedures and reviewing such procedures in the US, Europe and a number of developing countries, with a view to identifying international best practices in public procurement

Sweden

• Researched accounts of the involvement of children in armed conflict for inclusion in an organization’s publication

Taiwan

• Examined domestic case law on violations of the Genocide Convention and on the duty of governments to investigate and prosecute human rights violations, to assist preparation of a report recommending that the Taiwanese government redress human rights violations which occurred during a period of martial law

United States

• Conducted research on Alien Tort Claims Act cases, customary international environmental law, and non-profit organizations representing clients under contingency fee arrangements
• Supported an asylum-seeker by researching human rights conditions in Afghanistan
• Researched human rights conditions in Zaire
• Assisted a Liberian citizen’s gender persecution claim
• Researched discrimination against persons of Lebanese descent in Cote D’Ivoire and a question of resettlement of Lebanese nationals in West Africa
• Studied demonstrations and political protests in Ghana
• Researched human rights conditions in Montenegro, Cote D’Ivoire, Mauritania, Senegal, and the Punjab
• Researched landmark Latin American decisions concerning sexual and gender-based violence
• Compiled criminal, civil, administrative, and constitutional laws regarding violence against women from several countries for a database
• Researched standards for mandates of force for the UN Security Council
• Examined multilateral treaties for transfer and sale of arms
• Provided legal and factual research on human rights violations in various Latin American countries
• Produced working papers summarizing sanctionable human rights violations
• Researched the feasibility, requirements, and potential complications of bringing a civil case under Hawaii’s Prostitution Coercion Liability Act

Uruguay

• Provided information on the Inter-American system for the protection of human rights

Miscellaneous Projects

• Researched treaties and materials on the rights of the child with an Argentinean Columbia Law School alumnus
• Researched legal education practices for a presentation to visiting East European Scholars at Columbia Law School
• Conducted a survey of existing human rights case law databases to come up with a proposal for a new online database
• Prepared summaries of decisions from the 2010 session of the UN Human Rights Committee
• Researched “the right to the city and its public places” in Latin America
• Studied the legacy of the International Criminal Court

If your organization would like to request research from Rightslink, please submit a research request form or contact us for more information.