University of Akureyri

Rachael Lorna Johnstone is senior lecturer in law at the University of Akureyri.
Lecture Mars 3., 2010
At 12.00h in L201 Sólborg

Human Rights in Crisis
The financial crisis of 2008 had serious implications for a number of European states that had hitherto enjoyed enviable socio-economic conditions and seldom doubted their own capacity for unchecked growth which would in turn facilitate continuous improvements in terms of economic, social and cultural rights. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights, to which 160 States are parties (including Iceland) is modelled on each state's responsibilities to "progressively realise... to the maximum of its available resources" the full range of rights and implicitly assumes that states will be in a position of continuous economic advancement. In her lecture, Rachael will address the questions: what happens to economic, social and cultural rights in times of economic crisis? How can states continue to "progressively realise" economic, social and cultural rights when the "available resources" are dramatically reduced? On what basis should states make difficult decisions about economic, social and cultural services within a rights framework in order to continue to meet their international obligations under the Covenant?


Rachael Lorna Johnstone is senior lecturer in law at the University of Akureyri. Her research interests include international human rights law, international law, feminist theory and comparative law. She obtained the degree of Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) from the University of Toronto in 2004, an LL.M. in legal theory from the European Academy of Legal Theory in Brussels, in 2000 and an LL.B.(hons) in law from the University of Glasgow in 1999. She has published in the United States, the United Kingdom and Iceland in the fields of human rights law and international law, with particular emphasis on the United Nations treaty bodies and the law of state responsibility.