Christopher Kevin Boyle (23 May 1943 – 25 December 2010) was a Northern Irish-born human rights activist, barrister and educator. He was among the first in the academic law community to engage in human rights activism. Born and brought up in

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

, Boyle studied law at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. He was a lecturer in law at Queen's when he took part in the 1969 People's Democracy march from Belfast to Derry which was attacked by loyalists at

Burntollet Burntollet Bridge was the setting for an attack on 4 January 1969 during the first stages of the Troubles of Northern Ireland. A People's Democracy march from Belfast to Derry was attacked by Ulster loyalists whilst passing through Burntollet. ...

. He was later involved in the

Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association ) was an organisation that campaigned for civil rights in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967,

. Boyle's brother
Louis Boyle
also an alumnus of Queen's, was at the time active as a Catholic Unionist, and unsuccessfully sought to be the Unionist and Conservative candidate for South Down in the 1969 Stormont elections. In the 1970s Boyle took up a post at

University College, Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

(UCG, now the National University of Ireland, Galway). He became dean of the Faculty of Law in 1978, and in 1980 established the UCG human rights centre. In the 1980s he helped to develop the Essex Human Rights Law Centre, founded by Professor Malcolm Shaw, at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

in Colchester, England. Boyle was involved in several missions on behalf of Amnesty International in the 1980s. Later, he served as the first director of the human rights NGO Article 19 from 1986–1989. In 1990 he became director of the Human Rights Centre at Essex, holding that position until 2001. In 1998, Boyle was named

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

's Lawyer of the Year, alongside Françoise Hampson, for their work advancing human rights claims before the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

. He was based in Geneva from 2001–2002 as a special advisor to

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson ( ga, Máire Mhic Róibín; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who was the 7th president of Ireland, serving from December 1990 to September 1997, the first woman to hold this office. Prior to her electi ...

during her time as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, returning to Essex University Human Rights Centre, where he again served as director in 2006–07. Boyle was called to the bar in Northern Ireland, in the Republic of Ireland, and in England and Wales. The archives of Kevin Boyle's work are housed at the

James Hardiman Library The James Hardiman Library ( ga, Leabharlann Shéamais Uí Argadáin) serves the University of Galway in Ireland. It is a legal deposit or "copyright library", which means that publishers in the country must deposit a copy of all their publicat ...

at the National University of Ireland, Galway. These archives consist of over one hundred boxes of printed books and manuscripts and are a major resource for the teaching and study of human rights. A biography, ''Are you with me? Kevin Boyle and the rise of the human rights movement'', by Mike Chinoy will be published in March 2020.

Awards

* Liberty and Law Society Gazette, Lawyer of the Year (shared with Françoise Hampson), 1998.

Writings

* Kevin Boyle and Tom Hadden (1985), ''Ireland – A Positive Proposal''. * Kevin Boyle (1995), "Stock-Taking on Human Rights: The World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna 1993" in David Beetham (ed.), ''Politics and Human Rights'', Wiley-Blackwell, . * Kevin Boyle and Juliet Sheen (1997), ''Freedom of Religion and Belief: A World Report'', Taylor & Francis, . * Kevin Boyle and

Cherian George Cherian George is a Singaporean academic, currently a professor of Media Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. Early life and education Cherian George studied at Hwa Chong Junior College for his pre-university education. He then graduated fr ...

(2008)
"Free speech: The emerging consensus"
''Straits Times'' (Singapore), 10 December 2008, A26.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyle, Kevin (political activist) 1943 births 2010 deaths Academics of Queen's University Belfast Academics of the University of Essex Free speech activists Irish activists Irish educators People from Newry Place of death missing 20th-century people from Northern Ireland British barristers