Dr Melisa Sacchi-Oleschuk

Dr Melisa Sacchi-Oleschuk is a Lecturer in Law in the Law department, teaching across the foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. She leads the Human Rights in America (LLB) and International Human Rights Law (LLM) modules.

Melisa's research focuses on the UN's Universal Periodic Review (UPR), particularly the role of civil society organisations in shaping the recommendations states receive and what happens to those recommendations once they reach a domestic legal system. Her doctoral research developed the FRAME Method, an original methodology for tracing civil society recommendations across successive UPR cycles, applied to the American Civil Liberties Union across the first three cycles of US review. Her work has a particular emphasis on criminal justice, women's rights and reproductive justice, and on federalism as an obstacle to human rights implementation.

Melisa is co-founder and co-director of the UK Model UPR, launched in 2026 with Dr Damian Etone (University of Stirling). The simulation places students in the roles of states, national human rights institutions and civil society organisations, and is designed to build human rights literacy and advocacy skills among students and early-career practitioners.

Alongside her academic work, Melisa produces practical guidance for civil society organisations engaging with the UPR, translating her research into drafting advice for organisations preparing stakeholder submissions.

Melisa believes higher education should equip students, and the public beyond the university, to think critically about how power operates. Her modules are built around practice: students produce the documents human rights advocates produce, including stakeholder submissions, reports and negotiated resolutions.