Dr Richard Martin

Policing Human Rights

Policing Human Rights (Oxford University Press) draws on a year of fieldwork with the Police Service of Northern Ireland to produce an account of how human rights law is interpreted and applied, but also re-defined and resisted, by a variety of officers conducting routine police. Deploying concepts from socio-legal studies, criminology and anthropology, it examines the role of human rights norms in everyday police practices and vernaculars. Policing Human Rights is animated by the country’s recent conflict and lingering ethno-politics; contestation over human rights abounds.

The Statutory Reform of Pre-Charge Bail

The Policing and Crime Act 2017 overhauled the law governing police use of pre-charge bail. It established a presumption in favour of a suspect’s release from custody without bail, introduced new statutory tests of ‘necessity’ and ‘proportionality’ and instigated a rigorous internal police authorisation process. The reforms have resulted in a dramatic reduction in the use of pre-charge bail and been hotly contested by senior police and victims groups. Working with a police force in England and Wales, this project draws on qualitative and quantitative data to explore how police are interpreting and applying the new statutory tests, and the impact on investigatory practices and decision-making in custody.

In Pursuit of ‘Ethical Duties’

This British Academy funded project sought to compare the crafting and performance of the statutory duties to have ‘due regard’ to equality commitments in England (s149(1) Equality Act 2010) and to give ‘proper consideration’ to human rights in Victoria (s38(1) Victoria Charter of Rights and Responsibilities). Doctrinally, the project analyses how the courts interpret and apply these duties. Empirically, it constructs an account of public law from the ground-up. It sought to use qualitative methods to elicit equality and rights practices, vernaculars and assumptions that animate the administration of state power and allocation of resources. The research hopes to encourage greater appraisal of the particular role and capacity of public authorities as actors involved in equality and rights ‘dialogues’ alongside the judiciary and legislature.

LL106 Public Law

LL108 Criminal Law

LL284 Topics in Sentencing and Criminal Justice

Reports

• The Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report, No. 6, ‘Dimension Two: Safety and Security’(with J. Topping), Community Relations Council (2024).
• ‘Comments on the Human Rights Committee’s Revised Draft General Comment No. 37 on Article 21(Right of Peaceful Assembly) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’ with Gunatilleke, G., Lazarus, L., Butler, O., Atrey, S., Theil, S. and Samantani, S. (Oxford, Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, 2020).
• ‘Unauthorised Disclosure of Protected State Information and ‘Whistleblower’ Protections: An Overview of the Law in Five Countries’ (2017) in Protection of Official Data: A Consultation Paper- Appendix A, Law Commission.
• Making and Breaking Barriers: Assessing the value of mounted police units in the UK: Summary report(with C Giacomantonio, B Bradford and Davies M) (Santa Monica, CA, RAND Corporation, 2014)
• The Key Drivers of Public Confidence in Northern Ireland (with J Topping and J Byrne) (Belfast, Northern Ireland Policing Board, 2014).
• The Influence of Politicians, Community Leaders and the Media on Confidence in the Police in Northern Ireland (with J Topping and J Byrne) (Belfast, Northern Ireland Policing Board, 2014).

Online publications

• ‘lliberal Britain: The latest amendments to the protest provisions of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill’Verfassungsblog,29.12.21.
• Global Perspectives on Human Rights, 3rd edn, (with S Areff and V Miyandazi) (Oxford, Oxford Human Rights Hub, 2016) (printed by Hart Publishing).
• Global Perspectives on Human Rights, 2nd edn, (with L Hilly) (Oxford, Oxford Human Rights Hub, 2015) (printed by Oxford University Press).
• ‘High Court in Belfast Finds the Northern Irish Executive Failed its Statutory Duty to Adopt a ‘Strategy’ to Tackle Poverty Based on ‘Objective Need’’ Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog 28/08/15.
• 'The Oxford Centre of Criminology’s Thames Valley Police Seminar 2015'Oxford Centre for Criminology Blog, 30/09/15.
• ‘Thinking about "Re-thinking Police Legitimacy"’ Oxford Centre for Criminology Blog, 24/03/15.
• ‘Northern Ireland’s Human Rights Commission Granted Leave for Judicial Review to Challenge the Country’s Near-Blanket Ban on Abortion’Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog, 09/02/15.
• ‘Nonsense on Stilts? Tommy the Chimp’s Legal Battle for ‘Non-Human Person Rights’ in the New York Courts' Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog15/01/15 andCentre for Criminology Blog 21/01/15.
• ‘Trusting your 'neighbour': Police horses and friendly officers in the search for police legitimacy' Oxford Centre for Criminology Blog, 27/11/14.