Samantha's research interests lie within criminal justice, minority (Traveller) rights, accommodation rights, housing law and European human rights law, specifically interpretation of the ECHR and the role of the European Court of Human Rights in times of economic crisis. Samantha is also interested in the intersection between law and criminology, specifically criminal justice and cultural rights and denialism and 'othering' of rights holders.
A graduate of UCC (BCL German, LLM, PhD), Samantha's doctoral research project was supervised by Dr. Fiona Donson and explores the 'interpretive ethic' of the ECtHR within austerity-based 'Crisis Law'. During her PhD Samantha was awarded the Aidan Synnott Travel Bursary in 2016 which fully funded a research trip to the Faculty of Law, University College London for the Autumn/Winter Term 2016. During her time in UCL Samantha was supervised by Professor Colm O' Cinneide.
Samantha also holds a PGCert and PGDip in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education and is currently undertaking a MA in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education. Within these, Samantha is exploring deficits in third-level Irish legal pedagogy– developing a “live client” approach to clinical level education in Ireland within the current legislative framings of the LSRA in order to respond to the unmet legal needs of Ireland's vulnerable rights-holders. In particular, Samantha seeks to respond to the challenges faced in developing a social justice oriented clinical legal education model and the approach taken by the TEJP to engage student attention not only on the day-to-day workings of the equality framework, but also the fundamental nature of access to justice in this area.
Human rights law, ECHR, criminal law, housing law, EU Law.
Undergraduate:
Lecturer:
LW1169 Introduction to the Legal System for Criminology
CR3010 Criminal Justice Policy
CR2015 Youth & Crime
Assistant lecturer (tutorials):
- LW1153 Criminal Law
- LW1001 Legal Writing
- LW1101 Legal Writing and Analysis
- LW1112 Constitutional and Institutional Law of the European Union
- LW2102 Economic Law of the European Union
Postgraduate:
Guest lectures:
LW6586 Human Rights Law in Practice (Clinic) on 'Regional Approaches to Human Rights: The ECHR System.'
LW6545 Penology 'Prisoner Disenfranchisement.'
LW6593 Contemporary Issues in ECHR Law. 'Effective Enforcement of ECtHR Judgments'
Biography
Dr Samantha Morgan-Williams is a Lecturer and the coordinator of the Traveller Equality & Justice Project at the Centre for Criminal Justice & Human Rights at UCC.
The TEJP, which Samantha founded during her PhD, was awarded an IRC New Foundations Award 2018-2019 and a Rights Equality and Citizenship Award by the European Commission in 2020 ( REC Award 2021-2023). TEJP is an innovative collaborative project between a Law School and the Free Legal Advice Centre which responds to the unmet legal needs of the Traveller Community and has established Ireland's only 'live-client' clinic within an Irish Law School.
As coordinator of TEJP, Samantha has led legal training workshops for Cork based Traveller Community organisations and has worked with Travellers of North Cork, the Traveller Visibility Group and the Cork Traveller Women’s Network. Samantha has presented and published research on the effects of the recession on provision of culturally appropriate housing at a number of international conferences, including the ‘Tenancy Law and Housing Policy in a Multi-level Europe (TENLAW)’ and ‘European Housing Law Network’ Conferences (2016 & 2017) and is considered an expert on access to rights for Irish Travellers, specifically within access to justice, non-discrimination and culturally-appropriate accommodation.
Samantha is also coauthor, with Dr. Fiona Donson, of 'Traveller Law in Ireland', the first text dedicated to key areas of law which affect Travellers and their rights, which will be released in 2023 with Clarus.
The TEJP, which Samantha founded during her PhD, was awarded an IRC New Foundations Award 2018-2019 and a Rights Equality and Citizenship Award by the European Commission in 2020 ( REC Award 2021-2023). TEJP is an innovative collaborative project between a Law School and the Free Legal Advice Centre which responds to the unmet legal needs of the Traveller Community and has established Ireland's only 'live-client' clinic within an Irish Law School.
As coordinator of TEJP, Samantha has led legal training workshops for Cork based Traveller Community organisations and has worked with Travellers of North Cork, the Traveller Visibility Group and the Cork Traveller Women’s Network. Samantha has presented and published research on the effects of the recession on provision of culturally appropriate housing at a number of international conferences, including the ‘Tenancy Law and Housing Policy in a Multi-level Europe (TENLAW)’ and ‘European Housing Law Network’ Conferences (2016 & 2017) and is considered an expert on access to rights for Irish Travellers, specifically within access to justice, non-discrimination and culturally-appropriate accommodation.
Samantha is also coauthor, with Dr. Fiona Donson, of 'Traveller Law in Ireland', the first text dedicated to key areas of law which affect Travellers and their rights, which will be released in 2023 with Clarus.
Samantha's research interests lie within criminal justice, minority (Traveller) rights, accommodation rights, housing law and European human rights law, specifically interpretation of the ECHR and the role of the European Court of Human Rights in times of economic crisis. Samantha is also interested in the intersection between law and criminology, specifically criminal justice and cultural rights and denialism and 'othering' of rights holders.
A graduate of UCC (BCL German, LLM, PhD), Samantha's doctoral research project was supervised by Dr. Fiona Donson and explores the 'interpretive ethic' of the ECtHR within austerity-based 'Crisis Law'. During her PhD Samantha was awarded the Aidan Synnott Travel Bursary in 2016 which fully funded a research trip to the Faculty of Law, University College London for the Autumn/Winter Term 2016. During her time in UCL Samantha was supervised by Professor Colm O' Cinneide.
Samantha also holds a PGCert and PGDip in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education and is currently undertaking a MA in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education. Within these, Samantha is exploring deficits in third-level Irish legal pedagogy– developing a “live client” approach to clinical level education in Ireland within the current legislative framings of the LSRA in order to respond to the unmet legal needs of Ireland's vulnerable rights-holders. In particular, Samantha seeks to respond to the challenges faced in developing a social justice oriented clinical legal education model and the approach taken by the TEJP to engage student attention not only on the day-to-day workings of the equality framework, but also the fundamental nature of access to justice in this area.
Research Interests
Samantha's research works across multidisciplinary themes but can broadly be defined as a human rights profile with criminal justice elements. This intersection of human rights and criminology is a niche field. All research interests are connected through the lens of access to justice for vulnerable or minority rights-holders, whether this is through non-discrimination, cultural or housing rights.
Samantha's has a strong interest in minority rights holders as ‘undeserving rights holders,’ e.g., the State’s framing of socially excluded individuals or collectives in allocation of resources (social, housing, education) considering how vulnerable rights holders fall foul of implementation gaps created when the State fails to uphold human rights. This research has arisen from a combination of her doctoral scholarship and work with the Traveller Community.
Samantha is also engaged in the emerging field of civil-courtroom based ethnography, and is currently undertaking ethnographic study in collaboration with the lived-experience of Traveller litigants to devise supports for Traveller litigants before the District Court.
Ancillary to this human rights research is Samantha's consideration of the pedagogy of clinical legal education. Samantha's research is victim-informed and social justice lead. In this regard, Samantha has undertaken a PGCert and PGDip in Teaching & Learning within which she has considered the role of clinical legal education, pro-bono and social justice/public interest work as an important part of formative legal education. She is currently completing her MA SoTL, using her PGDip and Cert studies as a departure point.
Samantha is also engaged in the emerging field of civil-courtroom based ethnography, and is currently undertaking ethnographic study in collaboration with the lived-experience of Traveller litigants to devise supports for Traveller litigants before the District Court.
Ancillary to this human rights research is Samantha's consideration of the pedagogy of clinical legal education. Samantha's research is victim-informed and social justice lead. In this regard, Samantha has undertaken a PGCert and PGDip in Teaching & Learning within which she has considered the role of clinical legal education, pro-bono and social justice/public interest work as an important part of formative legal education. She is currently completing her MA SoTL, using her PGDip and Cert studies as a departure point.
Publications
Books
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
(2023) | Traveller Law in Ireland. Dr Samantha Morgan-Williams, Dr Fiona Donson (eds) (2023) Traveller Law in Ireland. Dublin: Clarus. [Details] |
Book Reviews
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
(2017) | Book Review: ‘East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity’ by Philippe Sands. S. Morgan-Williams (2017) Book Review: ‘East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity’ by Philippe Sands. Book Reviews [Details] | |
(2016) | ‘Human Rights and the Criminal Justice System’. Samantha Morgan-Williams (2016) ‘Human Rights and the Criminal Justice System’. http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/law-journal/: Book Reviews [Details] |
Conference Publications
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
(2022) | SLSA Dr Samantha Morgan-Williams, Dr Fiona Donson (2022) Where is the justice? Reflections on developing social justice clinical legal education in Ireland SLSA [Details] | |
(2022) | SLSA Dr Samantha Morgan-Williams, Dr Fiona Donson (2022) “You don’t hear of Travellers getting any justice”: Barriers to Access to Justice for Victims of Discrimination in Ireland.' SLSA [Details] | |
(2021) | Irish Association of Law Teachers Dr Samantha Morgan-Williams (2021) Exploring the Unmet Legal Needs of Travellers within the Irish Legal System Irish Association of Law Teachers [Details] |
Published Reports
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
(2022) | 'Barriers to Justice for Irish Travellers: Rediscrimination within the Irish Equality System.'. Dr Samantha Morgan-Williams (2022) 'Barriers to Justice for Irish Travellers: Rediscrimination within the Irish Equality System.'. Traveller Equality & Justice Project, Cork, Ireland. [Full Text] [Details] | |
(2021) | Mapping Irish Frameworks for Non-discrimination of Irish Travellers. Dr Samantha Morgan-Williams (2021) Mapping Irish Frameworks for Non-discrimination of Irish Travellers. Traveller Equality & Justice Project, Cork, Ireland. [Full Text] [Details] | |
(2020) | Traveller Homelessness in the South-West: A Report from the Cork & Kerry Regional Traveller Accommodation Working Group. Dr. Samantha Morgan-Williams (2020) Traveller Homelessness in the South-West: A Report from the Cork & Kerry Regional Traveller Accommodation Working Group. the Cork & Kerry Regional Traveller Accommodation Working Group, Cork, Ireland. [Full Text] [Details] |
Blog
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
(2018) | An Analysis of Common Justifications for Prisoner Disenfranchisement. Samantha Morgan-Williams (2018) An Analysis of Common Justifications for Prisoner Disenfranchisement. Blog [Details] |
Book Chapters
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
(2022) | 'Barriers to Access to Justice for Members of the Traveller Community: Responding to Discrimination in Accessing Goods and Services' Dr Samantha Morgan-Williams, Dr Fiona Donson (2022) 'Barriers to Access to Justice for Members of the Traveller Community: Responding to Discrimination in Accessing Goods and Services' In: Dr Daniel Newman, Dr Faith Gordon (eds). Access to Justice in Rural Communities. Oxford: Hart. [Details] | |
(2019) | 'Reality vs. Rhetoric: An Analysis of the Implementation Gap in Provision of Traveller-specific Housing in Ireland' Samantha Morgan-Williams (2019) 'Reality vs. Rhetoric: An Analysis of the Implementation Gap in Provision of Traveller-specific Housing in Ireland' In: Vols, Michel; Schmid, Christoph U (eds). Houses, Homes and the Law: Studies in Housing Law, Vol. 3. The Hague, the Netherlands: Eleven Publishing. [Full Text] [Details] | |
(2016) | 'Justifying Acts of Denialism: The Case of Prisoner Disenfranchisement in the UK' Morgan-Williams, Samantha (2016) 'Justifying Acts of Denialism: The Case of Prisoner Disenfranchisement in the UK' In: Nelen, Hans; Willems, Jan C.M.; Moerland, Roland (eds). Denialism and Human Rights. Belgium: Intersentia nv. [Full Text] [Details] |
Practice Guideline
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
(2018) | Know Your Rights: Responding to Discrimination in Accessing Goods & Services. Samantha Morgan-Williams (2018) Know Your Rights: Responding to Discrimination in Accessing Goods & Services. Cork: Practice Guideline [Details] |
Professional Activities
Honours and Awards
Year | Title | Awarding Body | |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | University College Cork, Law Faculty PhD Scholarship | University College Cork | |
2019 | Head of Law Strategic Fund | Head of Law Strategic Fund | |
2017 | UCC CBL Work Placement Award 2017 | University College Cork College of Business & Law | |
2016 | Aidan Synnott Travel Bursary | School of Law, UCC. |
Professional Associations
Association | Function | From / To | |
---|---|---|---|
Socio-Legal Studies Association | Member | 01-OCT-15 / 01-OCT-17 | |
European Network for Housing Research | Member | 01-JAN-20 / 01-JAN-21 | |
Human Rights Consortium | Member | 13-NOV-16 / 12-NOV-17 |
Conference Contributions
Year | Publication | |
---|---|---|
(2017) | TENLAW Conference 'Current issues of housing law and policy.', S. Morgan -Williams (2017) Reality vs Rhetoric: Housing Rights of the Irish Traveller Community, Recent Developments,'. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], TENLAW Conference 'Current issues of housing law and policy.', University of Groningen , 28-SEP-17 - 29-SEP-17. [Details] | |
(2017) | Jean Monnet Module Closing Academic Conference, Sustainability of Socio-economic Rights in Times of Crisis, UCLan Cyprus, Samantha Morgan-Williams (2017) ‘Tracking austerity based “crisis law” before the European Court of Human Rights: the approach of the Court to Article 1 Protocol 1 in times of financial crisis’. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Jean Monnet Module Closing Academic Conference, Sustainability of Socio-economic Rights in Times of Crisis, UCLan Cyprus, UCLan Cyprus , 02-JUL-17 - 05-JUL-17. [Details] | |
(2017) | Housing Law Research Network 3rd Annual Housing Law Symposium, S.Morgan-Williams (2017) Housing Rights of the Irish Traveller Community: Expectation vs. Reality. [Invited Oral Presentation], Housing Law Research Network 3rd Annual Housing Law Symposium, Malmö University, Sweden . [Details] | |
(2017) | Law and its Boundaries Edinburgh Postgraduate Law Conference 2017, Samantha Morgan-Williams (2017) 'Crisis Law before the European Court of Human Rights.'. [Invited Oral Presentation], Law and its Boundaries Edinburgh Postgraduate Law Conference 2017, School of Law, Edinburgh University , 19-JAN-17 - 20-JAN-17. [Details] | |
(2016) | Human Rights Research Students’ Conference, Human Rights Consortium, University of London, Samantha Morgan - Williams (2016) Tracking Austerity Based Law before the ECtHR: A Comparative Study.'. [Oral Presentation], Human Rights Research Students’ Conference, Human Rights Consortium, University of London, Human Rights Consortium, SOAS, University of London , 11-NOV-16 - 11-NOV-16. [Details] | |
(2015) | Annual CCJHR PhD Symposium, Rights in Conflict: Socio-Legal and Critical Approaches to Human Rights, Samantha Morgan - Williams (2015) “Political Denialism and the Human Rights Act: The UK’s relationship to the ECHR.”. [Oral Presentation], Annual CCJHR PhD Symposium, Rights in Conflict: Socio-Legal and Critical Approaches to Human Rights, University College Cork . [Details] | |
(2015) | Denialism and Human Rights, Maastricht Centre for Human Rights Annual Conference, Samantha Morgan - Williams (2015) ‘Justifications for Prisoner Disenfranchisement in the UK: A Current Example of Denialism in Action.’. [Oral Presentation], Denialism and Human Rights, Maastricht Centre for Human Rights Annual Conference, Maastricht Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, Maastricht University , 21-JAN-15 - 22-JAN-15. [Details] |
Employment
Employer | Position | From / To | |
---|---|---|---|
University College Cork | Lecturer | 18-SEP-17 / 30-MAY-20 | |
Traveller Equality & Justice Project | Postdoctoral Researcher | 01-JAN-21 / 31-MAR-23 | |
Cork Kerry Regional Traveller Accommodation Working Group | Traveller Accommodation Campaigns Worker | 13-MAY-19 / 14-MAY-20 | |
Irish Journal of Legal Studies | Student Copy Editor | 09-FEB-15 / |
Education
Year | Institution | Qualification | Subject | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | University College Cork | PHD | European Human Rights Law | |
2013 | University College Cork | LLM | International Human Rights & Public Policy | |
2012 | University College Cork | BCL | Law & German |
Committees
Committee | Function | From / To | |
---|---|---|---|
Centre for Criminal Justice & Human Rights Board | Board Member | / | |
UCC School of Law Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team | Member | / | |
The Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights (CCJHR) Postgraduate Conference Organising Committee 2015 | Committee Member | / |
Languages
Language | Reading | Writing | Speaking | |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | Fluent | Fluent | Fluent | |
German | Functional | Functional | Functional | |
French | Functional | Functional | Functional | |
Spanish | Basic | Basic | Basic |
Consultancy
Client | Description | |
---|---|---|
Traveller Visibility Group | ||
Cork Traveller Women's Network |
Outreach Activities
Description | |
---|---|
The Traveller Equality and Justice Project (TEJP) at the Centre for Criminal Justice & Human Rights is a new initiative between the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights (CCJHR) in the School of Law, UCC staff and the Cork Traveller Women’s Network (CTWN). TEJP aims to highlight ongoing levels of discrimination experienced by Travellers in Cork, by mapping such cases and by providing legal research support to the CTWN. In doing so, the TEJP will shed light on stories that indicate exclusion or inequality through highlighting inequality in treatment of Travellers, promoting respect for the Traveller Community as an ethnic minority and will assist the Cork Traveller Women’s Network to respond to such inequality in a timely and effective manner. | |
I published and disseminated a guide on how Travellers may represent themselves at the District Court and WRC, responding to discrimination when accessing goods and services. The guide is intended to inform members of the Travelling Community of their rights and how to defend these through the relevant legal avenues. The guide was identified as a manner through which to support and further the rights of Travellers, and the difficulties which Travellers face in accessing legal supports. |
Journal Activities
Journal | Role | To / From | |
---|---|---|---|
Irish Journal Of Legal Studies | Member of Editorial Board | - |
Teaching Activities
Teaching Interests
Teaching Interests:Human rights law, ECHR, criminal law, housing law, EU Law.
Undergraduate:
Lecturer:
LW1169 Introduction to the Legal System for Criminology
CR3010 Criminal Justice Policy
CR2015 Youth & Crime
Assistant lecturer (tutorials):
- LW1153 Criminal Law
- LW1001 Legal Writing
- LW1101 Legal Writing and Analysis
- LW1112 Constitutional and Institutional Law of the European Union
- LW2102 Economic Law of the European Union
Postgraduate:
Guest lectures:
LW6586 Human Rights Law in Practice (Clinic) on 'Regional Approaches to Human Rights: The ECHR System.'
LW6545 Penology 'Prisoner Disenfranchisement.'
LW6593 Contemporary Issues in ECHR Law. 'Effective Enforcement of ECtHR Judgments'
Research Information
Internal Collaborators
Name | Institute | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr Fiona Donson | Centre for Criminal Justice & Human Rights | IRELAND |