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  1. Biography

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Professor Ursula Kilkelly

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University College Cork

  1. Adopt a child-centred approach, and amplify children’s perspectives
  2. Understand more broadly the value of international standards
  3. Continue to learn from each other – there is no one source of good practice
It’s vital that we remember always to remain open, to avoid thinking that any one source or part of the ecosystem has a monopoly on knowledge, and that we continue to look for ways to share experiences, approaches, and views.

Biography (Back to top)

Ursula Kilkelly is a Professor of Law and Vice President Global Engagement at University College Cork (UCC). Her life’s scholarship has been in international children’s rights law focused on youth justice and detention, access to justice, independent children’s rights institutions, and the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. She has published multiple monographs, edited collections, and peer reviewed articles in this field, undertaking commissioned research and receiving research grants from international, European, and Irish bodies. Ursula has also given invited keynotes on children’s rights and youth justice all over the world, lecturing at universities in dozens of countries including the US, Australia, New Zealand, China, Mexico and all across Europe.

In 2023, Ursula published an inter-disciplinary analysis of youth justice research with fellow UCC colleagues – Children in Conflict with the law, Rights, Research and Progressive Youth Justice – with Palgrave Macmillan, and she produced this Academic Insights paper for the inspectorate: Evidence-based core messages for youth justice – HM Inspectorate of Probation. She also recently finished 10 years as Co-Editor in Chief of Youth Justice – an International Journal – published by Sage. In addition, Ursula has a track record in public service leadership, as Chairperson of the Board of Management of Oberstown Children Detention Campus, Ireland’s national facility for the care of children in detention (2015-2023).

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