Koldo Casla

I am Senior Lecturer in International Human Rights Law at Essex Law School, and I lead the 'Human Rights Local' project at the Human Rights Centre. Between 2017 and 2019, I was a Research Associate at the Institute of Health & Society of Newcastle University, working on legal pathways to enhance the legal status of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the UK. Between 2016 and 2019, I was the Policy Director of Just Fair, leading the organisation's research, strategic communications, partnerships and campaigning on economic and social rights in the UK. Between 2013 and 2019, I worked as an independent researcher for Amnesty International, authoring four reports on the rights to health, education and housing in Spain. Over the years, I have also been very involved in Amnesty's strategy-development and governance at the international, national and local levels. Between 2011 and 2013, I was the Chief of Staff of the Human Rights Commissioner of the Basque Country (“Ararteko”). I am a member of the steering committee of the working group on strategic litigation of the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net), the steering group of UK ESCR Network, and the advisory committee of Gentium, a Madrid-based law firm specialised in strategic human rights litigation. I hold a PhD in European and International Studies from King’s College London (2017), a Fulbright MA in International Studies from the University of Denver (2011), a MA in Theory and Practice of Human Rights from the University of Essex (2009), and a Law Degree from the University of the Basque Country (2008). I am the author of "Politics of International Human Rights Law Promotion in Western Europe: Order versus Justice" (Routledge 2019), and "Spain and Its Achilles' Heels: The Strong Foundations of a Country's Weaknesses" (Rowman & Littlefield 2021), and co-editor of "Social Rights and the Constitutional Moment: Learning from Chile and International Experiences" (Hart 2022) and “The European Social Charter: A Commentary, Volume 3” (Brill 2024).