Pádraig Hughes

Legal Director

Pádraig Hughes is a London-based lawyer who represents victims of human rights violations before international courts and tribunals. He has been involved in a number of high profile cases concerning extraordinary rendition, torture, arbitrary detention and freedom of expression.

Participating Sessions

HARDBALL SEASON

Recent years have brought an intensification of brass-knuckle tactics to shut down investigative reporting in print and film. In the skies over Belarus, a commercial plane was forced to land and turn over the investigative journalist, Roman Protasevich on board, while Russian operatives poisoned the journalist and opposition figure Alexei Navalny, ultimately throwing him in prison upon his return home. In Turkey, China and elsewhere, reporters are disappearing, with families...

UNDER COVER OF COVID

The coronavirus pandemic is reshaping the ground rules for accountability journalism. In the U.S., the pandemic has nudged the judiciary toward greater acceptance of cameras in the courtroom and virtual attendance of trials, while also rendering it more difficult for journalists, filmmakers and the public to access physical materials related to trials. In much of the world, the new era is proving especially harsh. Contact tracing apps, laws and other...