Key details
Dr India Hughes
Lecturer in Law
India joined the University of Greenwich as a Lecturer in Law in 2024. Previously, India completed her LLB at the University of Kent and went on to work as a Legal Assistant in Child Protection for Kent County Council, before returning to the Kent Law Clinic as Clinic Coordinator. India was awarded a SeNSS 3+1 Studentship to complete her MA in Methods of Social Research and PhD in Socio-Legal Studies, both at the University of Kent.
India’s PhD research investigated the use of Section 20 non-compulsory accommodation agreements in child protection social work across England, and included a large-scale policy analysis of internal local authority guidance and practice resources. Her research takes a socio-legal approach, and focuses on several aspects of the child protection system; including the issue of informed consent and parental autonomy, the tension between state support and state intervention into family life, and the effects of neoliberalism and austerity on children’s services.
India is Co-Module Leader for Family Law, and Module Tutor for Medical Law and Public Law. India previously taught Family Law and other core law modules at the University of Kent.
Responsibilities within the university
Co-Module Leader - Family Law
Module Tutor - Medical Law and Public Law
Academic Misconduct Officer
Postgraduate Dissertation Supervisor
Research / Scholarly interests
Child protection and public family law; autonomy and consent in family law and policy; public services and human rights; state power and neoliberalism.
Key funded projects
1+3 SeNSS Doctoral Partnership Scholarship 2020-2024
Presentations
SLSA Annual Conference 2026, Location: University of Sussex, Presentation: ‘Parental consent or a lack of objection? Issues of power and autonomy in the use of Section 20 accommodation.’
SeRG Reproductive Justice Workshop 2025, Location: University of Kent, Presentation: ‘Neoliberalism, Reproductive Justice and Section 20 Children Act 1989’
SLSA Annual Conference 2025, Location: University of Liverpool, Presentation: ‘Influences on law and practice in the use of Section 20 voluntary accommodation in England’s Local Authorities’
Critical Conversations in Child Protection: A Webinar Series 2023, Location: Online - Centre for Child Protection, University of Kent, Presentation: ‘Voluntary Accommodation Agreements in Child Protection: The Law and Practice of Section 20 Children Act 1989