Bangor Law Lecturer wins prestigious research award

Bangor Law School's Evelyne Schmid and fellow prize winners David Roth-Isigkeit (left) and Bernhard Blumenau (right) receiving their awards at the annual conference of the Academic Platform Switzerland UN in Geneva.Bangor Law School's Evelyne Schmid and fellow prize winners David Roth-Isigkeit (left) and Bernhard Blumenau (right) receiving their awards at the annual conference of the Academic Platform Switzerland UN in Geneva.Bangor Law Lecturer Evelyne Schmid has been awarded a prestigious research prize by the Academic Platform Switzerland UN.

Based in Geneva, the Academic Platform Switzerland UN is a network that aims to foster innovation and excellence in research on issues pertaining to international relations and the United Nations. The Academic Platform Switzerland UN Award is its annual competition which awards outstanding essays by young researchers on a topic which serves as a catalyst for wider attention.

Ms. Schmid, who is currently completing a PhD in public international law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, was one of three winners this year, receiving the prize in the PhD students’ category for her essay entitled "Economic, Social and Cultural Rights after Conflict: The Analysis of the United Nations Committee on ESCR and Potential Synergies with Transitional Justice". The other winner in the PhD category was Bernhard Blumenau, while the winner of the Masters’ category was David Roth-Isigkeit.

“Receiving this award, especially at such a high-ranking conference, is a great honour”, says Ms. Schmid, who joined Bangor Law School in November 2011. “Winning the award motivates me to continue my research on economic, social and cultural rights and the United Nations system. More importantly, the award has already stimulated an exchange with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, where the essay has been received with much interest. I am enthusiastic to continue this on-going dialogue so that the suggestions and recommendations formulated in the essay can be taken into account in the state-reporting procedure before the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.”

The award was presented to Ms. Schmid at the Academic Platform Switzerland UN’S annual conference held in Geneva on 1st December 2011. The topic of this year’s conference was commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions of the United Nations. Speakers included Michael Bothe, President of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission; Reed Brody, member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Democratic Republic of Congo 1997; Andrew Clapham, Professor of International Law; Philippe Kirsch, former President of the International Criminal Court and Head of Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Human Rights Council to investigate human rights violations in Libya 2011; and Vitit Muntarbhorn, Head of Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Human Rights Council on Côte d’Ivoire.

Publication date: 14 December 2011