Bill Bowring

February 24th 6.30pm BPP Red Lion Street Holborn London

Bill Bowring is Professor of Law at Birkbeck College, University of London, where he teaches public international law, human rights and minority rights. He was previously at University of East London (1990-1996) as Principal Lecturer, Essex University (1996-2000) as Reader, University of North London then London Metropolitan University (2000 to 2006) as Professor. He has more than 70 publications: his recent book is “The Degradation of the International Legal Order?” (Routledge, 2008). As a practising barrister he has taken many cases to the Strasbourg Court. In 2003 he founded and is now Chair of the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC), representing many Chechen victims against Russia, as well as cases against Azerbaijan, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Spain. He is also International Secretary of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, and President of the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights. He speaks fluent Russian (and is married to a Tatar – his two younger children are John (8), known as Vanya, and Mary (2), known as Masha), and has been a frequent visitor to Russia since 1983. He has the distinction of having been thrown out of Russia twice, in 2005 – following which he took successful judicial review proceedings in a Russian court – and 2007. He is now an expert on a joint EU-Council of Europe programme on minority rights in Russia, and once again has a multi-entry visa.