Rose Sandford is a Junior Researcher working on civil, political and minority rights, specifically examining sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) rights in restrictive political environments. Rose holds an LL.M. in International Law: Protection of the Individual (summa cum laude) at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Her LL.M Thesis, supervised by Prof. Vincent Chetail is titled “Degrading by Degrees: Exploring the European Court of Human Rights’ Application of Article 3 to the Principle of Non-Refoulement,” and analyses how the Court interprets risk, harm, and state responsibility as pertaining to climate refugees under Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
Before joining the Academy, Rose worked with UNHCR as part of her LL.M Legal Clinic, providing research on Memoranda of Understanding between international organisations and states under public international law. She has also interned at HURIDOCS, supporting legal projects, contract review, and GDPR compliance, and at l’Association pour la forêt vierge where she supported environmental and indigenous rights initiatives in the Amazon.
Rose also holds a First Class Honours LLB in Law and International Relations from the University of Edinburgh. Her dissertation titled “Does Scotland Need a Right to a Healthy Environment?”, which also received First Class honours, examined the constitutional and rights-based implications of recognising a right to a healthy environment in Scotland based on a comparison to France and the ECHR. During her undergraduate degree she completed an academic exchange at Sciences Po Paris, focusing on public international law, human rights, and international relations (cum laude).