Daniel Blackburn, Director

Daniel is Director of ICTUR and Editor of International Union Rights journal. Coming from a working class trade union background in northern England, Daniel has a life-long interest in trade union rights. He moved to London in the 1990s and qualified as a barrister, joining ICTUR as a researcher in 1999. While working at ICTUR Daniel completed a human rights master’s degree for which he was awarded a distinction and the Patrick Thornberry prize. He has spent more than twenty years working on and around the international trade union movement, and has also carried out academic research into the early history of human rights law and the transatlantic slave trade. His other main area of interest is in historical and contemporary aspects of the liability of international businesses for human rights violations. Daniel also provides technical advice and research services on human rights, legal and labour issues to national and international unions around the world. Daniel worked on Trade Unions of the World as co-Editor for the 6th edition in 2004 – 2005, and as Editor for the revised and expanded 7th Edition in 2015, and again for the latest 8th edition, released in 2021. In addition to his legal qualifications, Daniel has a BA degree in philosophy and literature.