Virginia Mantouvalou
vmantouvalou.bsky.social
Virginia Mantouvalou
@vmantouvalou.bsky.social

Professor of Human Rights& Labour Law at UCL; Articles Editor, Modern Law Review; Co-Editor, UK Labour Law Blog; Chair of Kalayaan

https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/22589

Political science 57%
Sociology 19%

Just found out about Tap Social
and placed an order. An unexpected benefit of presenting a paper to colleagues on work in prison and post-release. Thanks
@timcauser.bsky.social!

Great initiative to support prisoners and prison leavers. tapsocialmovement.com
Tap Social | Criminally Good Beer | Oxford
Change is Brewing! Shop now for Criminally Good Beer. We’re passionate about great craft beer and social justice. Free local delivery & nation-wide shipping.
tapsocialmovement.com

I worked on the book with a brilliant team, including Lucy Briggs, Hazel Genn, Paul Ayris, Lara Speicher, and an outstanding project manager, Robert Davies. We also had a great Advisory Group of senior academics, as well as the input of many colleagues from across UCL.

Happy 200th Birthday, UCL! @uclnews.bsky.social

An honour for me to be Lead Editor of the book UCL at 200: Two Centuries of Insight and Impact. It contains over 100 pieces on groundbreaking research from across UCL the last two centuries.

It is available here www.ucl.ac.uk/about/ucls-b...

On Friday we had a wonderful full day symposium at LSE Law School celebrating the life and work of Conor Gearty. It was very special and full of emotions. We all agreed that Conor would have loved it.

Many congratulations and thank you to Luke McDonagh and Gerry Simpson for organising it.

Much looking forward to welcoming the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, at UCL Laws @laws.ucl.ac.uk

He will give the Institute for Human Rights Annual Lecture on the topic: 'Big Tech: A Human Rights Perspective'.

Join us on 18 March at 1.45pm.

www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
Big Tech: A Human Rights Perspective
This UCL200 event, organised by the Institute for Human Rights, explores how digital technologies intersect with human rights to shape a fair and inclusive society.
www.ucl.ac.uk
30 years ago (1996) I published An Introduction to Political Philosophy. I thought I had about 5 years until something came along that would replace it. Well, very proud to say it's still standing. Now in 4th edition. The final chapter changes with each edition but the rest much the same.

Reposted by Steve Peers

I have a new article in the Howard Journal of Crime & Justice: 'The UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery on the Labour Rights of Incarcerated People: A Case Study of England and Wales'.

Thanks to Rob Jones & Greg Davies for inviting me.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery on the Labour Rights of Incarcerated People: A Case Study of England and Wales
This article presents the 2024 Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, entitled ‘Contemporary Forms of Slavery as Affecting Currently and Formerly Incarcerat...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Just published, my “The Philosophers Have Only Interpreted the World.”Philosophy and Society 36 (4): 985–1000. Open access.

journal.ifdt.bg.ac.rs/index.php/fi...
View of The Philosophers Have Only Interpreted the World
journal.ifdt.bg.ac.rs

Warmest congratulations to Jack Beadsworth who successfully defended his PhD at @laws.ucl.ac.uk with two incredible examiners, @cbarnard.bsky.social & ACL Davies.

It was an absolute joy to be Jack's supervisor on 'Migrant Labour Law' with Nicola Countouris.

Congratulations again, Dr Beadsworth!
Congratulations to Professor @vmantouvalou.bsky.social for being selected Runner Up at the @innertemple.org.uk Book Prize 2025, a major triennial competition for outstanding authorship. ⚖️ 📖
➡️ Read the news story: www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/news/pr...
A huge thank you to @hinabokharild.bsky.social for tabling & helping pass the London Assembly motion calling for more rights for migrant domestic workers to help them avoid exploitation! Thanks also to the other members for voting in support! Read the motion here: www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/w...

We were presented with our prizes by Princess Anne (more photos to follow!) in a delightful ceremony.

Warmest congratulations to @aileenkavanagh.bsky.social for the main prize, to Sean Coyle and Liron Shmilovits who also received prizes, and to Brooke Marshall for the new author prize.

Truly honoured that my book Structural Injustice and Workers' Rights was selected as Runner Up for the @innertemple.org.uk book prize, a major triennial competition for outstanding authorship.

This Thursday we're celebrating the work of Honorary Professor Lord Hendy in our event 'Class Struggle and the Law'. Join us.

www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
Class Struggle and the Law: An evening in conversation with Lord Hendy KC
A joint UCL Labour Rights Institute - Institute of Employment Rights (IER) event
www.ucl.ac.uk
Judgments from the @echr.coe.int have influenced policy in areas like mental health, reproductive rights and access to essential medical treatments.

Leaving the #ECHR would be a blow for health, justice and accountability, writes @martinmckee.bsky.social👇

🔗 www.bmj.com/content/391/... via @bmj.com

A video of our UCL event on 'Reforming Human Rights after the Independent Review of the Human Rights Act' is available below.

www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
Reforming Human Rights after the Independent Review of the Human Rights Act
Organised by the Human Rights Institute and the Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism.
www.ucl.ac.uk
I've been investigating the huge levels of exploitation faced by workers on the seasonal worker visa for the last few years, and have often asked myself why the trade union movement has ignored these workers.

So I spoke to unions, big and small, to try and answer that question.
New post

Prompted by an excellent conference at @biicl.bsky.social marking the ECHR's 75th anniversary, I reflect in this piece on key themes about the likely trajectory of the UK's human rights debate, given the current (and developing) political climate.

publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/07/t...
The ‘othering’ of human rights and the agenda underlying calls for UK withdrawal from the ECHR
A recent conference marking the 75th anniversary anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights provided a sobering opportunity for reflection on possible trajectories of human rights prote…
publiclawforeveryone.com
Two weeks left to apply for a PhD at UCL Laws — ranked the UK’s top law school for research quality (REF 2021). 🎓

Deadline: 18 Nov, 5pm (UK)
Apply: buff.ly/YRdH08Q

Join our research community and help shape the future of law. 🌟

#LawSky #PhDOpportunity
Applying
Find out how to apply to study an MPhil/PhD programme at the Faculty of Laws
buff.ly

And in relation to it, much looking forward to this event in Oxford tonight:

www.law.ox.ac.uk/content/even...
Symposium on 'Human Rights at Work: Reimagining
About the event Employment today is marked by deepening tensions: between worker autonomy and
www.law.ox.ac.uk

Reposted by Steve Peers

Join UCL Laws for an upcoming UCL Labour Rights Institute event:

📢 Class Struggle and the Law: An evening in conversation with Lord Hendy KC

📅 27 November 2025 | ⏰ 6pm | 🏛️ UCL Laws

🔗 Book for free www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...

Join us at UCL on Monday 17/11, 1-2pm, for an exciting event on 'Cities and Human Rights', with Marius Pieterse as a speaker, and Elena de Nictolis as commentator. I'm very much looking forward to chairing it.

www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...
Cities and Human Rights
Organised by the Human Rights Institute and the Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism.
www.ucl.ac.uk

Join us for symposium on our book Human Rights at Work (with @thebigbogg.bsky.social, H Collins, ACL Davies) on 5 November, at the Bonavero Institute, Oxford, with Jeremias Adams-Prassl, Claire Darwin KC & Kate O' Regan. Chaired by @marijajovanovic.bsky.social

www.law.ox.ac.uk/content/even...
Symposium on 'Human Rights at Work: Reimagining
About the event Employment today is marked by deepening tensions: between worker autonomy and
www.law.ox.ac.uk
Very proud of Joy* a long-standing member of Kalayaan's campaign group, winning the Human Trafficking Foundation Award for Best Opinion Piece on Modern Slavery in parliament earlier this week.

Read Joy's story here:

metro.co.uk/2025/04/07/t...

#AntiSlaveryDay #ModernSlavery #SurvivorLeadership

A typically powerful and very alarming piece by Conor Gearty on domestic courts and the Human Rights Act:

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Conor Gearty · Unwelcome Remnant: Erasing the Human Rights Act
The Supreme Court is quietly editing the Human Rights Act out of existence. In cases where human rights cannot be...
www.lrb.co.uk

A true honour that my monograph, Structural Injustice and Workers’ Rights, is shortlisted for the Inner Temple Book Prize 2025, a triennial book prize for outstanding authorship.

It is shortlisted with three other outstanding books by Sean Coyle, @aileenkavanagh.bsky.social &Liron Shmilovits

A snippet from our short film by One Umbrella Productions, featuring the talented Kellie Shirley. 💙

Watch the full short film here: fairchecks.org.uk/fairchecks-a...

#FairChecks #CriminalRecords #Justice
FairChecks | A short film - #FairChecks
A short film highlighting the experiences of those facing the life-long barrier of a criminal record. Join our campaign for criminal records reform today.
fairchecks.org.uk