Sean Coyle’s research examines the nature of law and justice in the context of the human condition. Drawing upon historical, political and theological sources, his research challenges many of the most intimate assumptions of modern jurisprudential though, specifically from the natural law/virtues angle.  Martin Borowski's work centres upon the philosophical justification of human rights in modern society the philosophical justification of human rights, the distinction between legal and moral rights, and the analysis of the structure of balancing as a form of legal interpretation, while Gulara Guliyeva engages with justice and equality in examining the protection of minority rights in the European Union. Marie Fox’s research examines public heath responses to the HIV/AID crisis through a lens of social justice and also addresses questions of justice raised in human/animal relations.

The School of Law also has a long tradition of work in criminal justice – on plea bargaining, jury trials, prosecutions, criminal legal aid, and police powers which raise key issues of justice and security. For instance Andrew Sander’s research looks at ways to integrate victim, suspect and defendant perspectives in the criminal justice system, using the ‘freedom perspective’ he developed with Richard Young in Criminal Justice. Rob Cryer’s work takes up the theme of justice in prosecutions under international criminal law, while Marianne Wade examines comparative prosecution policy and Bharat Malkani’s research addresses the protection of human rights in the criminal justice system. Devika Hovell’s research in the field of state compliance with international human rights includes a project examining models for procedural fairness in UN Security Council decision-making on sanctions. Jean McHale and Sheelagh McGuinness are examining the growth  of patient mobility as a means of bypassing domestic health crimes and the question of extra-territorial enforcement Kate Gooch’s research interests focus on youth justice and children’s experience of imprisonment, while Kate Doolin is researching restorative justice.

Iain Law approaches justice from his interests in political philosophy and applied ethics. Heather Widdows   has particular interests in issues of gender justice, including trafficking, prostitution, and medical tourism. Nicola Smith is currently undertaking a Leverhulme trust project on male and transgender sex work in the UK and the Netherlands. Christopher Finlay has written numerous articles on the ethical dimensions of terrorism. Heather Widdows has also run an ESRC seminar series on 'Ethics and the War on Terror'.  Jussi Suikkanen approaches justice from a political philosophy perspective and is particularly concerned with theories of justice. Tom Sorell is an expert on security and ethics. He is currently concluding a major project on the ethics of emergencies.

POLSIS has a long and established tradition in the field of security studies with specialist knowledge in both the theoretical dimensions of conflict, and the practical approaches to conflict mediation and resolution. Anand Menon heads an ESRC funded research project on European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) to assess the nature of European security strategy. Mark Webber has research interests in European security with a focus on the changing dynamics of NATO. On the subject of peacebuilding and conflict resolution, Asaf Siniver specializes in the Arab-Israeli conflict and is currently investigating mediation strategies through a Leverhulme research fellowship. Edward Newman has written numerous articles and books on peacebuilding with a particular focus on the United Nations and human security. Michelle Pace is a specialist in the field of democracy promotion, and is currently the principal investigator on an ESRC funded project analyzing EU democracy promotion in the Middle East. Stefan Wolff writes widely on the prevention and settlement of ethnic conflicts with a particular focus on post-conflict reconstruction in war-torn societies. Paul Jackson focuses on post-conflict reconstruction and its governance challenges.

A key area of research is conflict transformation and one of our priority areas is mediation, understood as the intervention of a third party in the dispute of two or more parties, for the purpose of improving the nature of interaction between the disputants. Mediation is the most popular form of contemporary conflict resolution, present in nearly 60 per cent of all post-1945 international and intrastate disputes. We are interested in studying the role of international mediation in resolving some of the most protracted conflicts around the world. Current projects include the Arab-Israeli conflict (Asaf Siniver), the 5+2 negotiations on the conflict in Transnistria (Stefan Wolff), the Minsk process in relation to Nagornyi Karabakh (Lala Bayramli; Stefan Wolff), the emerging National Dialogue in Yemen (Stefan Wolff), and negotiations with Maoist guerrillas in Nepal (Paul Jackson). Our academics have been and are also involved practically in supporting mediators in actual conflict settlement negotiations, such as in Nepal, Kirkuk, Moldova, and Yemen.

Cerwyn Moore is an expert in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism initiatives in the North Caucasus, and is currently working on a collaborative project with a variety of UK universities on designing new counter-terrorism frameworks. 

All of these research interests are brought together in the new Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security (ICCS) directed by Nicholas Wheeler. The latter specializes in theories of cooperation and trust-building in global politics.

A variety of academics within POLSIS share research interests in the contemporary economic crisis currently affecting society. André Broom specializes in economic governance with a focus on institutional responses to financial crises. Ronen Palan has written extensively on financial regulation with a specialization in the politics of offshore finance. Colin Thain has written a number of articles on the contemporary economic crisis, and has recently completed an ESRC funded project on the role of the treasury and the Bank of England.

Regarding challenges to the environment and future energy needs, David Toke is a specialist in renewable energy policy having written for a variety of academic and policy communities, he is currently the principle investigator on the SEANERGY project to investigate and disseminate best practice in marine spatial planning for offshore renewables. He is also a co-investigator of an ESRC project on examining the impacts of devolution on the provision of renewable energy.

Impact of criminal process on health care (Sanders, AHRC-funded, with University of Manchester)

Comparative prosecution systems (Wade, funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung and carried out in co-operation with Washington and Lee University)

The need for and the needs of a European criminal justice system (Wade - co-funded by the Hercule programme of the European Commission and the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law)

Microfinance (Sorell, AHRC Research Network)

Delivering renewable energy under devolution (Toke, funded by the ESRC, with Cardiff University, Robert Gordon University, Queens University Belfast 2011 - 13)

SEANERGY 2020 (Toke, funded by European Wind Energy Association €90,000, 2010 - 12)

Paradoxes and Contradictions in EU Democracy Promotion Efforts in the Middle East (Pace and Kostadinova, funded by the ESRC £368,290, 2008 - 12)

Institutions, Institutional Change, and the Defence Policy of the European Union (Menon, funded by the ESRC £320,944, 2010 - 13)

Male and Transgender Sex Work in the UK and Netherlands (Smith and Pilcher, funded by the Leverhulme trust, 2011 - 12)

Regional insurgency, including the use of particular methods of terrorism (Moore, funded by the British Academy, 2003). Dr Moore is also the lead researcher on a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional project that brings together expertise in disaster management, engineering and urban planning, to address areas such counter terrorism. The initial phase of the project was funded by an £905k EPSRC and ESRC grant, while the second and third phases have been funded by further grants of £180k.

Enhancing UK Conflict Management Capacity (Stefan Wolff, funded by the ESRC)

Conflict Resolution in Moldova (Stefan Wolff, funded by the ESRC)

The European Union as a Global Conflict Manager (Stefan Wolff, funded by the ESRC)

‘The Challenges to Trust-Building in Nuclear Worlds’ (Wheeler, ESRC/AHRC under RCUK’s Global Uncertainties Programme: Security for All in a Changing World’, £394,000, 2009-2012).