Justin Winchester

Justin Winchester is a DPhil Law candidate and a Rhodes Scholar (South Africa—at-Large & New/Magdalen, 2022) at the University of Oxford. At Oxford, Justin is a Research Officer for Oxford Pro Bono Publico, a Blog Editor for the Oxford Human Rights Hub, and a Graduate Resident at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights.

Justin’s DPhil researches the conceptualisation and enforcement of positive duties to promote and achieve substantive equality in South Africa and the United Kingdom, supervised by Professor Sandra Fredman FBA. He seeks to uncover how structural and systemic inequalities, including poverty, can be addressed through a solidarity-based approach to the right to equality.

Justin has published widely on topics encompassing equality law, socio-economic rights, and administrative law. He also has a keen interest in critical theory, the intersection of law with economics, and the horizontal application of rights. He has previously worked in strategic litigation, research, and advocacy at the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI), and as a Teaching and Research Assistant for the Faculty of Law, UCT.

Prior to Oxford, Justin completed his Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) specialising in Economics (distinction) with Law (distinction) and his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) (magna cum laude) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). He finished as the top student in both degrees, received numerous scholarships, and earned awards including the Juta Law Prize & Judge Schock Prize for the Top LLB student and the DB Molteno Prize for Public Law. Justin also completed his BCL (Merit) at Oxford in 2022/23, also on a Rhodes Scholarship.