A professor of law at Queen’s University Belfast, she was nominated for her work in advising the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and civil society, informing and shaping the policy and legal work being progressed on the protection of social and economic rights and the rule of law following the Good Friday Agreement.

Since 2017, she has been the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. The UK government, in announcing her honorary KC, said it also strongly supports this work.

As an academic, Professor Ní Aoláin’s teaching and research interests are in the fields of international law, human rights law, national security law, transitional justice, and feminist legal theory.

She has published widely in the fields of emergency powers, conflict regulation, transitional justice, and sex-based violence in times of war and continues to write extensively on theoretical aspects of transition.

In addition to her role at QUB, she is also regents professor and Robina professor of law, public policy and society at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Honorary KCs are awarded by the King on the advice of the Lord Chancellor. The title will be formally bestowed at a ceremony at Westminster Hall in March 2024.