A Fireside Chat with the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery
22 October 2024
The Human Rights Law Centre was delighted to have UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Professor Tomoya Obokata, join us for a fireside chat co-hosted with the University of Nottingham Rights Lab.
Professor Obokata shared insight on his important fact-finding work as UN Special Rapporteur, reflecting on his two terms in the position. He answered questions from our students & staff on his career and mandate, moderated by Rights Lab Associate Director Katarina Schwarz.
About the Speaker
Prof. Tomoya Obokata was appointed as the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences in March 2020. He is a Japanese scholar of international law and human rights, specialising in transnational organised crime, human trafficking and modern slavery. Prof. Obokata currently serves as Professor of International Human Rights Law at York Law School, and previously taught at Keele University, Queen's University Belfast and Dundee University (all in the United Kingdom Great Britain and Northern Ireland). He is a graduate of the University of Nottingham School of Law, where he completed his PhD in 2004.
Prof. Obokata has extensive experience of working on the issues of transnational crime, human trafficking and modern slavery with relevant stakeholders, including the UK Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, the Northern Ireland Assembly All Party Group on Human Trafficking, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, the International Organisation for Migration and the European Union. Mr. Obokata also worked as a legal clerk for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Japan. He has published widely on the topics mentioned.