Nicolette Busuttil is a doctoral candidate at the School of Law, Queen Mary University of London, working on a dissertation provisionally entitled “To protect, tolerate or expel? International protection obligations towards migrants with psychosocial disabilities”. Her research explores a disability-sensitive interpretation of non-refoulement by reference to the impact of the UN Convention of the Rights of Disabilities on EU Member States’ obligations towards migrants with mental healthcare needs who face expulsion to States where mental healthcare is unavailable or falls short of established human rights standards. Prior to her doctoral research, Nicolette completed a Master of Laws in Immigration Law at Queen Mary University of London, as well as a Doctor of Laws (LLD) and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree at the University of Malta.
Nicolette is a warranted advocate in Malta, where she worked as a lawyer at the Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta) providing legal assistance to refugees and other forcibly displaced migrants. She was involved in advising and representing individuals at all stages of the asylum determination procedure and formed part of the team engaging in strategic litigation before the European Court of Human Rights to challenge Malta’s detention policy and matters of collective expulsion from the territory.
Nicolette retains a keen research interest in the intersection of migration and mental health issues, as well as on asylum and migration issues in the Southern Mediterranean.