Author Archives: Tom Lewis

Avatar photo

About Tom Lewis

Tom Lewis is a Professor of Law at Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University and Director of the School’s Centre for Rights and Justice. He researches and writes on human rights, in particular the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief.

Toppled Statues: The View from Tasmania

Posted on: June 17, 2024 by Tom Lewis

On 15 May 2024 the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) rejected an appeal against the 2022 decision of Hobart City Council to remove a controversial statue (erected in 1889) of the colony’s one-time premier, William Crowther (d. 1885). Crowther, a medical doctor, is and, in his own day, was a controversial figure. He was […]

Artwork-Based Activism, Climate Change and the Right to Protest

Posted on: June 26, 2023 by Tom Lewis

On 12 June 2023 two environmental protesters were convicted by a Vatican court of aggravated damage  to the Laocoön statue, one of the most precious treasures of the Vatican Museums’ collection, believed to have been carved in Rhodes around 40-30 BCE. The protestors, Guido Viero and Ester Goffi, are members of the group Last Generation […]