Engin Firat

Overview

Engin Firat's (he/him) doctoral research, which began in October 2023, focuses on access to justice in rights-based climate litigation, with an emphasis on addressing procedural challenges within international human rights mechanisms. His aim is to identify strategies to overcome these hurdles, examining key concepts such as the environmental dimensions of climate change and its legal intricacies. Engin is supervised by Prof Tawhida Ahmed and Dr Mauro Barelli, and his research is funded by the City Law School Doctoral Scholarship.

Engin's interest in his current research topic was sparked during his LLM studies at Essex Law School, which was funded by the Jean Monnet Scholarship (2020). His master's dissertation delved into the effectiveness of the European Court of Human Rights in safeguarding human rights in the context of climate change, with a particular focus on the potential of litigation.

Prior to commencing his postgraduate studies in the UK, Engin served in the Turkish judiciary. During his tenure as an Assistant Rapporteur at the Constitutional Court, he was responsible for reviewing individual applications (constitutional complaints). Subsequently, he held a position as a judge of the Criminal Court of First Instance, gaining first-hand experience in applying Turkish criminal law, as well as transferring his previous knowledge in human rights law to domestic legal systems.

Qualifications

• Global Minority Rights Summer School (GMRSS-2024), The Tom Lantos Institute (Hungary, Budapest), the Ludovika University of Public Service (Hungary, Budapest), and the Human Rights Consortium (School of Advanced Study, University of London), Hungary, Jul 2024
• LLM in International Human Rights Law, University of Essex, United Kingdom, Oct 2020 – Oct 2021
• MA in Human Rights, Ankara University, Turkey, Sep 2019
• Mediation Certificate, Turkish Ministry of Justice, Turkey, Mar 2017
• Bar Training Course - Certificate in Legal Practise, Ankara Bar Association, Turkey, Feb 2010 – Feb 2011
• LLB, Dokuz Eylül University, Turkey, 2008

Employment

• Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), City, University of London, Jan 2025 – present
• Project Assistant, City, University of London, Feb – Jul 2024
• Research Assistant, City, University of London, Jun – Aug 2023
• Research Assistant, University of Essex, May – Aug 2022
• Judge, Turkish Ministry of Justice & Council of Judges and Prosecutors, Jun 2019 – Dec 2022
• Trainee Judge, Turkish Ministry of Justice, Dec 2017 – Jun 2019
• Assistant Rapporteur Judge, Turkish Constitutional Court, Mar 2012 – Dec 2017
• Attorney, Law Firm - Ankara Bar Association, Jun 2011 – Mar 2012

Memberships of professional organisations

• Law Internship, Ankara Bar Association, Feb 2010 – Feb 2011

Languages

English (can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review) and Turkish (can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review).

1^st supervisor

• Professor Tawhida Ahmed, Professor in Law

2^nd supervisor

• Professor Mauro Barelli, Professor of International Law

Publications by category