LSE has an impressive tradition of specialism in the fields of international and regional human rights law as well as human and constitutional rights law of the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions. Our strength derives from our commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship which employs philosophical, comparative, and critical approaches while remaining rooted in law as our primary discipline. The professors’ specialist expertise in various aspects of human rights is reflected in their publications as well as in the courses offered and relates, for example, to international law and the movement of persons and populations (Prof. Beyani), women’s rights (Prof. Chinkin), terrorism and human rights (Prof. Gearty), climate change and human rights (Prof. Humphreys), the theory of constitutional rights and comparative constitutional rights law (Prof. Möller, Prof. Webber), and socio-economic rights (Prof. Salomon).

The Department has a close association with LSE's Centre for the Study of Human Rights, a trans-disciplinary centre of excellence for international academic research, teaching and scholarship on human rights. The Centre has a number of Law Department members among its core team and is home to cutting-edge initiatives that engage with human rights law, including the Laboratory for Advanced Research on the Global Economy and the Human Rights Futures Project.

Law Department members have engaged in many intellectual pursuits related to human rights, including giving distinguished university and NGO lectures, training domestic and international judges, and arguing cases before all levels of court within the United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Many Department members have been involved in the promotion of human rights in official capacities, including as UN Special Rapporteur on Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (Prof. Beyani) and as members of the Kosovo Human Rights Advisory Panel (Prof. Chinkin), the FCO’s Advisory Group on Human Rights (Prof. Marks), and the Commission on Multi-Faith Britain (Prof. Klug).