Staff profile

Jane is Associate Professor in International Law at Durham Law School having previously worked at Bristol University (2016-2020). 

Feminist Constitutionalism, Abortion, Ireland

She is writing a book with Bristol University Press entitled, Feminist Revolt and the Constitution: Abortion Activism on the Island of Ireland. This project uses narrative interviews on peoples' experiences in reform of abortion law in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to provide a theory of feminist constituent power. The book contains original data collected in the course of a British Academy funded research project: 'Bridging the Local and Global: Women’s Collectives and the ‘Spaces of Action/Reflection’'.

Jane was co-author (with Dr Sheelagh McGuinness) of an impact case study submitted by Bristol University Law School to REF2021, entitled: ‘Reforming Maternal Healthcare and the Decriminalisation of Abortion in Northern Ireland’. She put forward the argument that it was legitimate for Westminster to repeal 1861 legislation on abortion in Northern Ireland and legislate for the provision of abortion services in that jurisdiction.

Jane was Primary Investigator in the Society of Legal Scholars funded project: International Human Rights Law and Devolution in the UK. A special issue was published in the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly which can be found here. The online webinars from the project can be found here. The project brings together scholars from across the devolved nations to consider the division of competence and responsibility for interpreting and ensuring the implementation of international human rights obligations. It includes her article: International Human Rights Law, Devolution, and Democratic Legitimacy: the Case Study of Abortion in Northern Ireland.

Extractive Industry and Human Rights

Jane is co-investigator on the project, The Extractive Industry and Foreign Security Network (with Dr Lee McConnell, Bristol University) (2022-2025). The project partner is NGO, Rights and Accountability in Development. The project investigates the interactions between multinational corporations (MNCs) engaged in the extraction of natural resources and security forces. It explores the causes and effects of violence between security forces that act in the interests of MNCs local communities in resource-rich territories.  Please visit our blog series cross-posted by Durham Law School and Bristol Law School. Please visit our project website.

European Human Rights Law

Jane was awarded no corrections for her PhD completed at Durham law School entitled The Paradox of Extraterritoriality at the European Court of Human Rights: A Global Constitutionalist Approach  

Together with Dr Dimitrios Kagioras she is leading a project hosted by the Human Rights and Public Law Centre on 30 years of the European Court of Human Rights. This project reflects on the challenges, achievements, and future of the Court as it turns 30 in 2028.

Esteem Indicators

She was awarded Hauser Global Research Fellow at the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice, New York University 2020 and is an Associate of the Oxford Human Rights Hub. She was book review editor of the European Human Rights Law Review (2017-2022). She is on the editorial board of Journal Cadernos de Relações Internacionais, Brazil. She is member of Durham University AHRC Liaison Group and an expert reviewer for the Wellcome Trust Fund. She is External Examiner at Edinburgh University and Deputy Chief Examiner at University of London.

Research groups

• Law and Global Justice at Durham
• Gender and Law at Durham
• Human Rights Centre

Research Interests

• Transnational Corporate Liability
• Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights
• Feminist constitutionalism
• Devolution in the UK and International Law

Selected Grants

2022, £43236.80, CI, Arts andHumanities Research Council Networking Fund, the Extractive Industry and Foreign Security Network

2021, £27,188.00, CI, Equality Commission of Northern Ireland, EU developments in Equality and Human Rights: Impact of Brexit on the divergence of rights and best practice on the island of Ireland

2021, £9343.00, PI, British Academy Virtual Sandpit Follow-On Funding, Primary Investigator, Bridging the Local and Global: Women’s Collectives and the ‘Spaces of Action/Reflection

2019, £3000.00, PI, Society of Legal Scholars Small Projects and Events fund, ‘Devolution in the UK and International Law’ workshop

2019, £1000.00, PI, Internationalisation Strategic Fund, Bristol University, Hauser Global Research Fellow, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice

2019, £500.00, CI, Bristol University Strategic Research Fund, Partnership Launch: ‘Memorandum of Understanding between Bristol University and UN Population Fund Agency (UNFPA)

2018, £3000, CI, FSSL Gender Research Group, FSSL Health, Science and Technology Research Group, the Law School Strategic Research Fund, University of Bristol FSSL Strategic Research Fund, 'Global Challenges in Securing Reproductive Rights and the Empowerment of Women and Girls'

2012-2015: £36,000, Durham Law School PGR Scholarship.

Teaching and Administration

Authored book

• Feminist Revolt and the Constitution: Abortion Activism on the Island of Ireland (Forthcoming Bristol University Press 2024)
  
  Rooney, J. (n.d.). Feminist Revolt and the Constitution: Abortion Activism on the Island of Ireland (Forthcoming Bristol University Press 2024) [Contracted by publisher]. Bristol University Press.

Book review

• Lilian Chenwi and Takele Soboka Bulto, Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligations from an African Perspective
  
  Rooney, J. (in press). Lilian Chenwi and Takele Soboka Bulto, Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligations from an African Perspective. African Journal of International and Comparative Law, 27(1), 170-174.
• Wouter Vandenhole (ed), Challenging Territoriality in Human Rights Law: Building Blocks for a Plural and Diverse Duty-Bearer Regime
  
  Rooney, J. (2016). Wouter Vandenhole (ed), Challenging Territoriality in Human Rights Law: Building Blocks for a Plural and Diverse Duty-Bearer Regime. European Human Rights Law Review, 3, 326-328.
• Anne Peters, Beyond Human Rights: The Legal Status of the Individual in International Law
  
  Rooney, J. (2016). Anne Peters, Beyond Human Rights: The Legal Status of the Individual in International Law. Irish Yearbook of International Law, 2016-2017, 249-257.
• Dalia Palombo, Business and Human Rights: the Obligations of the European Home States (Hart 2020)
  
  Rooney, J. (n.d.). Dalia Palombo, Business and Human Rights: the Obligations of the European Home States (Hart 2020). European Human Rights Law Review, 1, 130-132.

Chapter in book

• The Extraterritorial Application of Constitutional Rights
  
  Rooney, J. (2018). The Extraterritorial Application of Constitutional Rights. In Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Comparative Constitutional Law. Oxford University Press.
• Multinational Corporations, Human Rights, and Global Governance
  
  Rooney, J. (n.d.). Multinational Corporations, Human Rights, and Global Governance. In R. Houghton, A. O’Donoghue, Y. Brunger, C. Weixia Chen, & D. Ngira (Eds.), Edward Elgar Research Handbook on Global Governance [Contracted by publisher]. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Journal Article

• The Democratic Function of Extraterritorial Human Rights Adjudication
  
  Rooney, J. (in press). The Democratic Function of Extraterritorial Human Rights Adjudication. European Human Rights Law Review, 626-642.
• A Legal Basis for Non-Arbitrary Detention: Serdar Mohammed v Secretary of State for Defence
  
  Rooney, J. (in press). A Legal Basis for Non-Arbitrary Detention: Serdar Mohammed v Secretary of State for Defence. Public Law, 2016(6), 563-572.
• International human rights law and devolution in the UK
  
  Rooney, J., & McCormick, C. (2023). International human rights law and devolution in the UK. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 74(1), iii-xxxi. https://doi.org/10.53386/nilq.v74i1.1092
• International Human Rights Law, Devolution, and Democratic Legitimacy: the Case Study of Abortion Reform in Northern Ireland
  
  Rooney, J. (2023). International Human Rights Law, Devolution, and Democratic Legitimacy: the Case Study of Abortion Reform in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 74(1), 28-62. https://doi.org/10.53386/nilq.v74i1.1021
• Crown Act of State and Detention in Afghanistan
  
  Rooney, J. (2020). Crown Act of State and Detention in Afghanistan. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 71(2), 109-133.
• Standing and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
  
  Rooney, J. (2019). Standing and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. Modern Law Review, 82(3), 525-548. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12417
• Extraterritorial Corporate Liability For Environmental Harm: Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell
  
  Rooney, J. (2019). Extraterritorial Corporate Liability For Environmental Harm: Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 70(1), 157-162.
• Abortion in Northern Ireland: a missed opportunity to consider article 3?
  
  Rooney, J. (2019). Abortion in Northern Ireland: a missed opportunity to consider article 3?. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 41(2), 225-228. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2019.1590909
• Extraterritorial Derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights in the UK
  
  Rooney, J. (2016). Extraterritorial Derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights in the UK. European Human Rights Law Review, 2016(6), 656-663.
• The relationship between jurisdiction and attribution after Jaloud v. Netherlands
  
  Rooney, J. (2015). The relationship between jurisdiction and attribution after Jaloud v. Netherlands. Netherlands International Law Review, 62(3), 407-428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40802-015-0041-y

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• A Legal Landmark in Reproductive Rights: The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020
  
  Rooney, J., & McGuinness, S. (in press). A Legal Landmark in Reproductive Rights: The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 [Blog].
• 'Clearing the Fog' recommends 'No Fault' Full Compensation
  
  Rooney, J. (in press). ’Clearing the Fog’ recommends ’No Fault’ Full Compensation.
• Standing and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
  
  Rooney, J. (in press). Standing and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
• The High Court of Northern Ireland: Northern Irish Abortion Law Incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights
  
  Rooney, J. (in press). The High Court of Northern Ireland: Northern Irish Abortion Law Incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
• The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020
  
  Rooney, J., & McGuinness, S. (in press). The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 [Blog].
• The Extraterritorial Application of the Human Rights Act: Overseas Military Operations and Beyond
  
  Rooney, J. (2022, November 22). The Extraterritorial Application of the Human Rights Act: Overseas Military Operations and Beyond.
• Abortion in Northern Ireland: The Ewart Judicial Review Judgment
  
  Rooney, J. (2020, November 30). Abortion in Northern Ireland: The Ewart Judicial Review Judgment [Blog].
• Rooney on Hassan v UK: 'symbiotic approaches', 'subsequent practices' and amicus curiae
  
  Rooney, J. (2014). Rooney on Hassan v UK: ’symbiotic approaches’, ’subsequent practices’ and amicus curiae.
• Rooney on Hassan v United Kingdom and Extraterritorial Derogations
  
  Rooney, J. (2014). Rooney on Hassan v United Kingdom and Extraterritorial Derogations.
• The Fog of Juridification, Functionality and Everything Foreign.
  
  Rooney, J. (2013). The Fog of Juridification, Functionality and Everything Foreign.

Report

• EU developments in Equality and Human Rights: Impact of Brexit on the divergence of rights and best practice on the island of Ireland, 140pp
  
  Murray, C., Horne, A., Frantziou, E., Deb, A., Craig, S., Rice, C., & Rooney, J. (in press). EU developments in Equality and Human Rights: Impact of Brexit on the divergence of rights and best practice on the island of Ireland, 140pp.
• European Union Developments in Equality and Human Rights: The Impact of Brexit on the Divergence of Rights and Best Practice on the Island of Ireland
  
  Frantziou, E., Horne, A., Rooney, J., Deb, A., Craig, S., & Murray, C. (2022). European Union Developments in Equality and Human Rights: The Impact of Brexit on the Divergence of Rights and Best Practice on the Island of Ireland. Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.