Academic Publications
Explore HRJust’s academic publications, including peer-reviewed articles and research contributions examining how States use human rights justifications to defend their actions.
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Westlund, Martin and Olena Chernenko, ‘Why the Temporary Protection Directive was Activated: Solidarity, Geopolitics, and Humanitarian Considerations’, Europarättslig Tidskrift 2 (2026), pp. 185–200.
The activation of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) in 2022 was a historic first, granting immediate protection to millions of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion. The decision stands in contrast to the EU’s response during the 2015 migration crisis, when the same mechanism remained unused. This article examines the reasons behind the Directive’s activation and assesses…
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Nääv, Maria and Elica Ghavidel Olofsson, ‘From Open Hearts to Closed: Legitimizing Weaker Asylum Rights through Human Rights Justification’, Juridisk Tidskrift (2025–26), pp. 178–199.
This article examines how the Swedish Government in 2021 justified weakening the right to asylum through the language of human rights. Focusing on legislative changes that replaced permanent residence permits with temporary ones, the article explores the contradiction between claiming to protect the right to asylum while simultaneously restricting it. Using a discourse-historical approach, the…
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Maria Grahn-Farley. How to Counter Attempts by Authoritarian States to Redefine the Concept of Human Rights: Russia’s Use of Human Rights Justifications in Defense of its Invasion of Ukraine. In Klamberg, M & Svanberg, K. (eds). Reconstructing Power and Hegemony in Public International Law. (Springer Nature, 2026). pp. 520-537.
Abstract Human rights justification refers to when States activate human rights to justify their decisions and actions. Normally, it is the individual who invokes a human right against the State but with human rights justifications, it is the State that invokes human rights for its own benefits and in so doing turns human rights from…
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Maria Grahn-Farley, ‘The Silent Sound of Drowning: Human Rights Justifications and Complex Intersectionality’ (2025) 51 Brooklyn Journal of International Law 1
Abstract This Article presents a new concept, “Human Rights Justifications,” which captures instances in which states invoke human rights to defend and legitimize their own actions. Human Rights Justifications stand in contrast to cases in which human rights are activated by an individual holding the state accountable for its actions. The difference between when a…
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Laura Carlson. ‘The Changing Paradigm of Human Rights Justifications: Challenges for Civil Society’. Zbornik znanstvenih razprav (Ljubljana Law Review) 85 (2025): 135–164
ABSTRACT This article scrutinises the evolving paradigm of human rights justifications (HRJs) and the growing complexities encountered by civil society when states invoke human rights to legitimise restrictive migration policies. Originally conceived as a shield to protect individuals from state power, human rights have increasingly been appropriated by states as instruments of governance, particularly in…
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Catarina Milo, ‘Environmental and Human Rights Justifications in Investment Arbitration: Probing the Limits of ISDS for the Adjudication of Climate-Related Disputes’, Journal of World Investment & Trade (2025)
Abstract This article examines the capacity of investment arbitration to analyze cases concerning complex issues of public international law, focusing on the challenges connected to climate-related cases. Through the analysis of arbitral awards involving environmental and human rights justifications, this article evaluates ways in which non-economic arguments may be effectively raised in investor-State dispute settlement…
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Grahn-Farley, Maria, Child Rights, Legal Theory and Social Advocacy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024)
This publication by HRJust Project Coordinator, Professor. Maria Grahn-Farley explores how child rights are evolving in today’s shifting political and legal landscape, offering both a foundational overview and a critical perspective on their role in society. Child Rights, Legal Theory and Social Advocacy offers both an introduction to the field of child rights and a…
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Chiara Antionazzi, ‘Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligationsin the Area of Climate Change: Why the European Union Should Take Them Seriously’, European Papers Vol 9. No 2 (2024): pp. 479-512
Abstract While it is by now recognised that climate change is having and will increasingly have a devastating impact on human rights and that ill-conceived climate action can also have adverse repercussions, the legal implications of these dynamics are still debated. This is particularly the case for the apparent incompatibility between the global nature of…