Erica Howard is Professor of law. She joined Middlesex in 2007 and previously briefly taught European Union Law at the University of Hertfordshire. She holds a doctorate in law from the University of London on the subject of race and racial discrimination within the European Union.
Erica's areas of research are equality and discrimination law, human rights and European law. She has published widely on topics within this area including racial discrimination, religious discrimination and freedom of religion, freedom of speech, multiple discrimination and the right to equality. She has been involved in two projects for the British Equality and Human Rights Commission, a project on the right to freedom of religion or belief and its intersection with other rights for ILGA-Europe and two major European research projects on multiple discrimination; and a EU funded project on homo and transphobia in small and medium cities in Europe.
Erica has written a research study for the EU Parliament Research Service on the implementation of Directive 2000/78/EC with regard to the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of religion or belief. She has also written a report commissioned by the European Network of Legal Experts in Gender Equality and Non-discrimination for the European Commission, on 'Religious Clothing and Symbols in Employment'. Her recent research includes freedom of expression and religious hate speech.
Erica has supervised to completion six PhD students studying freedom of speech and defamation, disability discrimination, vulnerable domestic workers, age discrimination, the refugee pay gap and vulnereable groups and protection of social rights.
PhD European Law (Queen Mary, University of London - 2007); LLM International Law (University of Hertfordshire - 1999); MA Sociology and Law (Brunel University - 1985); Masters in Law (Tilburg University, Holland - 1979); Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2018). Post-graduate Certificate of Higher Education (Middlesex, 2009).
See also Middlesex University research repository
Books:
Howard, E., Headscarves and the Court of Justice of the European Union An Analysis of the Case Law, (London, New York, Routledge 2024). ISBN 9781032426990
Journal Articles (refereed):
LF v SCRL and the CJEU’s Failure to Engage with the Reality of Muslim Women in the Labour Market, Industrial Law Journal 52, 4, 2023, 997-1014.
Headscarf-wearing Employees and the CJEU: What Employers Can and Cannot Do, ERA Forum (Journal of the Academy of European Law), 22, 3, 2021, 687-698.
Headscarves and the CJEU: Protecting Fundamental Rights or Pandering to Prejudice, Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law 28, 5, 2021, 648-666.
Human Dignity Princple in the United Kingdom, Global Human Dignity project.
Headscarves Return to the CJEU: Unfinished Business, Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, 27, 1, 2020.
Moving Hate Speech to the Civil Courts, Anti-Discrimination Law Review, 1, 3, 80-97, 2019.
Protection des personnes LGBT+ en Europe: le cadre juridique national et de l’EU, in: La vie des personnes LGBT en dehors des grandes villes, Droit et Cultures, 77, 1, 21-37, 2019. (LGBT+ Protection in Europe: The EU and National Legal Framework).
Chapters in book:
Hate speech. In: Elgar Encyclopedia of Human Rights. Binder, Christina, Nowak, Manfred, Hofbauer, Jane A. and Janig, Philipp, eds. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK. 2022. ISBN 9781789903614, e-ISBN 9781789903621. (published on line).
Religious Clothing. In: Elgar Encyclopedia of Human Rights. Binder, Christian, Nowak, Manfred, Hofbauer, Jane A. and Janig, Philipp, eds. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK. 2022. ISBN 9781789903614, e-ISBN 9781789903621. (published on line)
Political rhetoric, freedom of expression and hate speech against religious believer, in: European populism and human rights. J. Vidmar, ed. International Studies in Human Rights, 130. Brill | Nijhoff. ISBN 9789004416017, 193-214.
Affirmative Action in the UK and in South Africa, in: N Baez and E. Dominguez-Redondo (eds) The Existence and Efficacy of Affirmative Action measures in UK, South Africa, India, China, Latin America and Brazil (Joacaba, Editora UNOESC, 2018) 185-215.
Conference Papers (refereed):
Other publications (refereed):
German Headscarf Cases at the ECJ: a Glimmer of Hope?, European Law Blog, 26 July 2021, https://europeanlawblog.eu/2021/07/26/german-headscarf-cases-at-the-ecj-a-glimmer-of-hope/
Dutch (mother tongue) and English, working knowledge of German and French
Research areas:
Author of report commissioned by the European Network of Legal Experts in Gender Equality and Non-discrimination for the European Commission, on 'Religious Clothing and Symbols in Employment' (2017).
Author of research study for the EU Parliament Research Service on the Implementation of Directive 2000/78/EC with regard to the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of religion or belief (2016.
Consultant for two EHRC projects, main contractors NatCen: Call for evidence (with Alice Donald) and drafting guidance documents (with Alice Donald and David Keane).
Argument from article: Reasonable Accommodation of Religion and other Discrimination Grounds in EU law European Law Review 38, 3, 360-375 (2013), used by the UK Supreme Court in Bull and Bull v Hall and Preddy [2013] UKSC 73, para 45). This argument was then referred to in the Northern Ireland 'gay cake' case (Lee v Ashers Baking Co Ltd, County Court Northern Ireland, 19 May 2015).
Presentation of evidence on the current legislation concerning religion or belief to the Commission on Religion and Belief in Public Life (May 2015).
Member of:
