Stockholm Centre for International Law and Justice invites you to a lecture by

Sally Longworth

on

Freedom of expression in armed conflict

Sally Longworth will present parts of her doctoral dissertation which focuses on how the application of international humanitarian law affects the scope of the right to freedom of expression during armed conflict.

Freedom of expression is a right established under international human rights law. It has been recognised by international monitoring bodies and courts as having a central role in ensuring accountability and transparency for State actions. This does not stop with the outbreak of armed conflict. Indeed, the right can take on a new importance, where access to information on the conduct of hostilities and holding parties to the armed conflict to account for their actions gain an even greater significance in the decisions individuals take about their lives. Whilst there has been considerable research into the relationship between international humanitarian law and international human rights law generally and in relation to certain human rights, there is relatively little research into how the right to freedom of expression applies during armed conflict. Sally’s thesis considers the relationship between these two bodies of law in the understanding scope of the right to freedom of expression during armed conflict and identifies how the application of international humanitarian impacts both on the substance and the exercise of the right.

During the seminar, Sally will give a short presentation of her research followed by a discussion with Maria Sjöholm, Senior Lecturer in Legal Science, Orebro University, who will provide comments on the manuscript. Following this, there will be time for questions and discussions from the wider audience.

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Sally Longworth is a doctoral candidate at Stockholm University Faculty of Law where her research focuses on freedom of expression during armed conflict. She researches and teaches in the fields of international human rights law, international humanitarian and international criminal law. Previously, she has worked as a lecturer and researcher in international law applicable in military operations at the Swedish Defence University. She has also worked in defence teams in international criminal trials, with governments, non-governmental and international organisations and with the British Red Cross Society on a broad range of legal issues. She was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 2010 and holds an LLM in international human rights law from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.