The European Convention of Human Rights and migration – where are we now?
Sir Tim Eicke KC
Wednesday, 27 May 2026, 5pm to 6pm
Seminar Room 1, Oxford Department of International Development, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB
RSC Public Seminar Series, Trinity Term 2026
Series convened by Associate Professor Catherine Briddick and Dr Uttara Shahani
This talk is co-hosted with the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights
About this talk
Sir Tim, former judge in respect of the United Kingdom on the European Court of Human Rights (2016-2025), will reflect on the Court’s recent case-law on and its overall approach to the situation of refugees, and migrants more generally, as he experienced it during his time at the Court, including during his four years as a duty judge deciding on application for interim measures. He will situate these reflections in the increasing criticism – whether well-founded or not – and calls for “reform” of the Court’s approach – in particular to Articles 3 and 8 ECHR - “in the context of the contemporary challenges posed both by irregular migration and by the situation of foreigners convicted of serious offences, taking duly into account in particular governments’ fundamental responsibility to ensure national security and public safety”. This is particularly timely as, by the time of this event, these calls will most likely have culminated (at least for the time being) in the adoption of a political declaration on this topic at a Ministerial conference, representing all 46 States Parties to the Convention, to be held in Chișinău on14-15 May 2026.
About the speaker
Sir Tim Eicke K.C. is a barrister practising from Essex Court Chambers in London. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1993 (Northern Ireland in 2025) and appointed Q.C. (now K.C.) in 2011.
From September 2016 to September 2025, Sir Tim was the judge at the European Court of Human Rights elected in respect of the United Kingdom. He was knighted “for services to the protection of Human Rights in Europe” in the 2026 New Year’s Honours List.
During his term at the Court, Sir Tim was involved in more than 900 reported decisions and judgments, including the Grand Chamber judgments in ND and NT v Spain, Khasanov and Rakhmanov v Russia and Mansouri v Italy, and acted as a duty judge in more than 800 cases.
Before he was elected to the Court, Sir Tim was considered one of the leading advocates at the Bar of England and Wales, focussing on international and domestic disputes involving public international law, European Union law, International Human Rights law as well as Public and Constitutional Law, including refugee law.
In 2017, he was awarded an honorary doctorate (LLD (h.c.)) by the University of Dundee.
The seminar will be followed by drinks in the Hall.
Registration not required.
All enquiries should be directed to rsc-outreach@qeh.ox.ac.uk