Professor Marshall is a Law Professor researching the role law plays in creating, allowing, representing and protecting certain aspects of our human identity and personal freedom with emphasis on the connections between law and humanity, care and belonging. Her work is situated in the law and humanities field, seeking to connect law with being human and living.  The work is jurisprudential, informed by feminist legal theory, and analyses aspects of International law, global, social, racial and gender justice, and human rights in their complexities of real life situations, particularly in women's lives.

She currently teaches International human rights law, jurisprudence/philosophy of law, and the English Legal System.

She has an unusual combination of experience as an International litigation solicitor at top global law firms before she entered academia. She retains her practising certificate and has worked as an ad hoc consultant at an award winning human rights and social justice law firm based in central London.

Professor Marshall has given expert opinion by invitation to the Equal Opportunities Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Islamophobia, with emphasis on the Islamic headscarf debate on which she has written widely. Her opinion was endorsed by the Chair of that Committee in the Chair’s Report.  She has worked with a variety of consultation processes and non-governmental organisations and bodies on equalities related issues. 

Professor Marshall is the founding author, module convenor and chief examiner for the University of London International Programmes at Masters level for the Human Rights of Women, and at undergraduate for Jurisprudence. She was guest contributor to UCL's Gender masters' programme for many years, and has held visiting positions at the Inter Disciplinary Center in Israel, Hong Kong University Space, and the PACE New York Law School programme in London.

She has been interviewed by the media on areas relating to her research and is the creative founder of the Legal Ideas Factory: www.legalideasfactory.com.

Current research projects include:

1. analysing the creation and interpretation of concepts underlying human rights law, especially personal freedom, human flourishing and dignity and their implications for our new Digital Futures.

2. human rights, pregnancy and childbirth, including: human rights and pregnant girls, secrecy and privacy in pregnancy and childbirth and how courts deal with these situations nationally and internationally, in peace and in conflict. As part of this, Jill is also investigating the use of, and human rights implications of, ‘deposit boxes’ usually in the side of hospitals where babies can be left safely but anonymously in many European, and other, countries.

3. Freedom of expression, identity and autonomy rights: including how women’s clothing, such as the Islamic headscarf and full face veil, and so called ‘provocative’ or ‘sexy’ clothing, is regulated and the impact that may have on women’s ability to live freely.

4. Everyday spaces and law with a focus on Georges Perec; law, culture and the humanities work with a current focus on Frederick Douglass, W E B DuBois and James Baldwin. 

LLB (Queen's, Belfast)

MA (University College London)

PhD (London)

Law Society Finals

Admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales 1992, practising certificate current