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Teaching Interests

Michael has been teaching in higher education since 2018. He has experience teaching on a variety of modules on LLB and LLM courses, but has a particular interest in public law areas, notably constitutional law, international law, and human rights.

For the 23/24 academic year, Michael is leading Employment Law, and teaching on Criminal Law, and Contract Law. On the LLM, he leads the Public Law and Human Rights module, and teaches on the Legal Research Methods module.

Michael is accredited with the Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) and is currently working toward his HEA Fellowship.

Research Interests

Michael’s research concerns the role of international human rights law, and factors and conditions that affect its impact in states. He is especially interested in the United Kingdom and the interface between international human rights and domestic law. Michael’s research is empirical and interdisciplinary, drawing on theory from constitutional law, sociology, and international relations to interrogate state behaviour.

Michael has authored publications in a variety of journals, notably the , , and the . He has provided expert advice to various civil society organisations, and Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights; and provided written evidence to the UN Human Rights Council, and for select committee reports. In 2022-23, Michael , funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to provide support and training for civil society to engage with the UN’s ‘Universal Periodic Review’ (UPR). This Project led to a heightened awareness of the UPR in Parliament and was a catalyst for the .

Michael is currently working on a monograph, based on his PhD thesis, and an edited collection which will comprise papers presented at the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½’s ‘International Law in the UK Conference’.

Professional Bodies

Michael is a member of the (UPRAN), the (SLS), and the (SLSA). 

Michael is the co-convenor of the Public Law Section of the  along with his colleague Dr Chris Monaghan, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ of Worcester.

Publications

• Lane, M and Cowell, F. 'Using Universal Periodic Review Recommendations in UK Courts' [2024] Judicial Review <doi.org/10.1080/10854681.2024.2375940>
• Lane, M. ‘Navigating Devolution at the UPR – The Case of the United Kingdom’ forthcoming in Etone, D. Nazir, A. and Story, A. Human Rights and The UN Universal Periodic Review Mechanism: A Research Companion (Routledge 2024).
• Lane, M. Yorke J. Storey, A. Briefing: United Kingdom Universal Periodic Review: Responses to Fourth Cycle Recommendations (2023) Equality and Human Rights Commission Civil Society Project (https://www.bcu.ac.uk /Download/Asset/0c88fd46-07ce-ed11-ba77-28187824b604).
• Lane, M. The Universal Periodic Review: A Catalyst for Domestic Mobilisation (2023) 40 Nordic Journal of Human Rights 507.
• Lane, M. Written Evidence, Bill of Rights Bill (2022) to UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights ().
• Lane, M. Book Review: Damian Etone, The Human Rights Council: The Impact of the Universal Periodic Review in Africa (Routledge, 2021, xv + 215pp, £36.99) ISBN 9781032175317 (pb) (2022) 22 Human Rights Law Review ().
• Lane, M. Am I an Imposter? Overcoming Doubt and Self-disbelief as an Early Career Researcher (2022) Symposium on Early Career International Law Academia ().
• Yorke, J. Wood, J. Lane, M. Joint Stakeholder Submission to the Universal Periodic Review: Forth Cycle, 41^st Session of the UPR Working Group (United Kingdom) (2022) Submission to the UN Human Rights Council ().
• Lane, M. The UK Joint Committee on Human Rights and the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (2022) 14 Journal of Human Rights Practice 928.
• Lane, M. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s ‘Human Rights Tracker’: An Innovation in Progress Monitoring (2021) LinkedIn Blog ().
• Lane, M. Enhancing the UK Parliament’s Scrutiny of Human Rights: A Case for Improved Government Reporting (2021) Oxford Human Rights Hub ) 

Conference Presentations and Other Research Activity

• Lane, M. 'The Universal Periodic Review in the UK: Conceptualising the Role of the Judiciary (September 2024) Scottish International Law Conference, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ of Stirling <>
• Lane, M. and Cowell, F. 'Understanding the UPR for Legal Practitioners' (August 2024) Training delivered in conjunction with UPR Info, Geneva <>
• Lane, M. 'The Utility of International Human Rights Recommendations in Domestic Law' (April 2024) School of Law Spring Research Workshop, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ of Worcester
• Lane, M. 'Rethinking Human Rights Recommendations in Whitehall: A Case for a National Mechanism for Reporting, Implementation & Follow-up (NMIRF)?' (March 2024) Socio Legal Studies Annual Conference, Portsmouth
• ‘UN Treaty Body Findings in Parliamentary Deliberation: The Case of the United Kingdom Parliament’ (forthcoming at the ‘Rights and Justice: In Theory and Practice’ Conference, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ of Worcester, Sep 2023)
• Private Evidence Session with Joint Committee on Human Rights (UK House of Lords, Westminster, May 2023).
• ‘The United Kingdom and International Human Rights: The Fourth Universal Periodic Review Cycle’ (Conference at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ of Leicester, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ 75th anniversary – making (UDHR) Human Rights real in the UK, Apr 2023).
• ‘UPR and the UK’ (Civil Society Conference, STEAMHouse, Birmingham, February 2023).
• ‘The United Kingdom’s Receptivity to the United Nations Human Rights Standards: the Example of the ‘Universal Periodic Review’ (Invited Contribution at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ of Leicester’s UDHR and Social Justice Workshop, July 2022).
• ‘The UK and the UPR’ Poster Presentation (Midlands4Cities Digital Research Festival, June 2021).
• ‘Explaining the Implementation of Universal Periodic Review Recommendations: The Central Role of Domestic Politics’ (Society of Legal Scholars International Law Workshop, Apr 2021).
• ‘​Facilitating the Success of the Universal Periodic Review in the United Kingdom? An Analysis of the UK Parliament’s Involvement in the Implementation of Multilateral Recommendation’ (Birmingham City ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Research Seminar Series (Nov 2020), and ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ of Leicester’s Human Rights Cluster Research Meeting (Dec 2020).