Professor Jo Carby-Hall

I was educated at the Soeurs Franciscaines, Missionaires de Marie in Jerusalem, a French Jesuit School (Université St. Joseph, Lyon), at an English Public School (Kings School, Sherborne) and at the Universities of Aberdeen, Cambridge, Birmingham and Northlands (Canada). My academic qualifications include a Master of Arts in languages (Italian and French), a Bachelor of Laws LLB (higher degree) – each of which was obtained at King’s College and St Mary College, respectively, University of Aberdeen. Awarded three Doctorates: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) for my thesis entitled “the juridical nature of the collective agreement” supervised by Dr. Patrick Elias (later Lord Justice in the Court of Appeal) at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge; Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) by “Explication” of my numerous publications and their effects upon States, organisations and society, University of Birmingham; and Doctor of Laws honoris causa (LLD (hc)) for my international legal work, University of Hull. I am professionally qualified as an Advocate.

For my military service I was awarded numerous campaign medals and the Royal Navy Reserve Decoration (RD) by HM Queen Elizabeth II. For my international legal services to education HM Queen Elizabeth II bestowed upon me the title of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). For my services as legal adviser to the Polish Government, various Presidents (namely, Messrs. Lech Wałęsa, Aleksander Kwaśniewski and the late Lech Kaczyński, who I also knew as an employment lawyer at the University of Gdansk) bestowed the State Orders of the Knight of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, the Officer of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland and the Commander of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, respectively.

I am currently the Director of International Legal Research in the Centre for Legislative Studies in the School of Criminology, Politics and Law at the University of Hull. Within that Centre I coordinate international legal research and publication programmes world-wide, enter into collaboration agreements with numerous European and international universities worldwide and supervise doctoral and post-doctoral research. I sponsor at the University of Hull the Jo Carby-Hall Poland and Cyprus Scholarship which co-funds Master’s and Doctoral research, and the Jo Carby-Hall Poland and Cyprus Fellowship . I am an acknowledged authority in national, European and International labour and employment law as well as in maritime law and arbitration. My fluency in Arabic, English, French, Greek and Italian, in each of which language I publish, is an asset to my work.

I have, furthermore, been the legal adviser to significant European Organisations, for example, the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and to Governments (e.g. Polish Government on the Approximation of Polish Laws to European Union Standards during the years prior to Poland joining the European Union) and more recently to the late Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection and Ombudsman of the Republic of Poland, Dr Janusz Kochanowski, on the Treatment of A8 Economic Migrants in each of the then 27 Member States of the European Union. The pan-European recommendations which I made in my written Report had, and still have, a considerable impact on the policies of the European Commission and European Parliament, as well as on the laws of individual Member States.

During my thirty years (since June 1996) as Honorary Consul at the Consulate of the Republic of Poland I have carried out invaluable work for both British and Polish citizens. My Annual Reports to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw chronicle the multi-faceted work representing the Polish Community undertaken each year, not least of which includes honouring the Polish Air Force, supporting the schooling of Polish children, for example as Honorary Patron of the Irena Sendler's Polish School in Hull and orchestrating a very successful police exchange between Malopolska and Humberside police forces. The Consulate deals with settled and pre-settled status, immigration, employment, exploitation, discrimination, homelessness, criminal cases, tourism and very much more.

The Branch of the Consulate of the Republic of Poland for Scientific and Educational Cooperation (inaugurated in 2008) is the only Branch of a Polish Consulate worldwide to be housed in a university. It is situated on the campus of the University of Hull in Wharfe with its own flag post and Polish Coat of Arms. The Branch specialises in research and publications nationally and internationally, with numerous books on Maritime and Employment Studies having been published. Notably, the Branch actively contributes towards the academic outputs of the collective Campus do Mar in Galicia, Spain in collaboration with the maritime elements of the Universities of Santiago de Compostela, La Coruña, Vigo and the Maritime University of Gdynia. Currently subsumed within the Consular Branch for Scientific and Educational Cooperation is the foundation of the interdisciplinary Institute of Maritime Studies of the University of Hull. This initiative is long overdue and I have been campaigning over very many years for the establishment of such an Institute bearing in mind that Hull is a maritime city. To progress the strategic goal of a world-renowned Maritime Institute I have made an important donation to the University under the auspices of my Consular Branch with the intention to join this initiative to the Campus do Mar and the University of Tromsø.