Martha is a human rights barrister, campaigner, writer and consultant. She is a Commissioner for the Criminal Cases Review Commission, a Visiting Professor of Law at Goldsmiths University and a trustee of the Museum of Homelessness. She is currently on sabbatical from legal practice while she writes a book about the future of the law, which will be published by Penguin. 

From 2016 – 2024 Martha was the Director of the UK’s leading human rights NGO, Liberty. In 2024 Martha was appointed as an independent expert advisor to the McCullough Review into allegations that the Police Service of Northern Ireland unlawfully spied on journalists. 

Martha is an expert in social justice, human rights and civil liberties. Her work has covered a diverse array of issues, from migration, protest and policing, to mental health, journalistic freedom, trans rights and homelessness. She has worked on cases at all levels, including before the Supreme Court, the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee. 

As a consultant, Martha works with NGOs, trades unions and corporates to build impactful strategies for change, ranging across international campaigns, European and UK political advocacy, and narrative-shaping comms work. 

Martha has written and lectured widely on human rights. Her publications include Freedom to Write: A User's Guide (English PEN: 2012), Rights and Freedoms (Halsbury’s Laws: 2013 and 2018), Disabled Children (Legal Action Group: 2016) and numerous broadcast, radio and print media interviews and opinion pieces. From 2009 - 2014 Martha was the assistant editor of the European Human Rights Law Review and she now serves as a member of its Editorial Board.