Dr Laura Hughes-Gerber
Lecturer in Law (Human Rights)Profile
Dr Laura Hughes-Gerber is a Lecturer in Law (Teaching and Scholarship), specialising in public international law and international human rights law, including in particular diplomatic law, as well as in legal skills and legal education more broadly.
Laura completed her PhD at the University of Cologne, Germany, following which her research monograph was published by Springer. Laura's work has inter alia been published in leading national and international journals, such as Erasmus Law Review and Air and Space Law, as well as in edited collections. She has also presented at prestigious national and international conferences, with both a legal and a pedagogical focus.
Laura's current scholarship in the context of legal education focuses on the role of resilience in the legal curriculum, as well as fostering a sense of community in the Law School setting. Laura is also exploring the pedagogical value of mooting in the context of the curriculum, building upon her own experience of successfully participating in, coaching, and judging international student moot court competitions and organising their national rounds. In the context of public international law, Laura's current scholarship includes a chapter contribution to a forthcoming commentary on the Chicago Convention.
Laura is the Programme Lead for the LLB Law Programme in the Law School. Laura is also the Co-Lead of the newly established Legal Education Lab.
Outside of the Law School, Laura is a member of the Athena Swan Faculty Self-Assessment Team, the Faculty Representative on the Inclusive Education Practice Policy Working Group and an ATLAS reviewer.
Externally, Laura is a member of the SLS Executive Committee, a member of the SLS Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and a Stream Convenor for the SLSA's Law and Emotion Stream. She is also an External Examiner at the University of Salford.
Laura also holds Advance HE Fellowship and is a fluent German speaker, with experience of the legal translation of academic texts from German into English.
Current Teaching
2026/2027:
- LAWS4001 Legal Systems and Sources: Workshop Tutor
- LAWS4002 Legal Systems and Justice: Lecturer and Workshop Tutor
- LAWS5017 International Law: Lecturer
- LAWS5022 International Law on Force, Territory and Human Rights: Lecturer and Workshop Tutor
- LAWS6010 Undergraduate Dissertation: Module Convenor and Supervisor
- LAWS6022 Human Rights, Mass Atrocities and Transitional Justice: Lecturer
Previous Teaching:
- LAW.337 International Human Rights Law: Module Convenor, Lecturer and Seminar Tutor
- LLM.5213d International Human Rights (Distance Learning): Module Convenor and Lecturer
PhD Supervisions Completed
- Ahmed Fahmy: Human rights law at the hands of the powerful: an interdisciplinary legal analysis of the regional human rights system of the League of Arab States (2025)
- Monica Gyimah: The Malta Declaration and the applicability of the principle of non-refoulement: The EU-Libya cooperation on external border governance and irregular migrant control (2025)
PhD Supervision Interests
Laura is interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of International Diplomatic Law, International Human Rights Law and Public International Law.
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12/05/2021 → 27/11/2023
Research
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14/05/2020 → 04/06/2024
Research
Membership of committee
Membership of committee
Examination
Publication peer-review
Participation in conference - Academic
Examination
Member of an organisation
Membership of committee
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Member of an organisation
Member of an organisation
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Other
Invited talk
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Other
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Business Engagement
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Examination
Other
Other
Oral presentation
Membership of network
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Oral presentation
Other
Publication peer-review
Invited talk