WORK on human rights law by two teenage students is to feature in a report to the United Nations.

Chelsea Reidy, head girl of Kings Academy in Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, and fellow student Hafsah Adzal, will have their work on legal rights for women acknowledged in the hard-hitting report.

The girls, studying A level politics, got the chance to work with North-East lawyer Cris McCurley during their sixth form's community action week.

The head of the International Family department at Ben Hoare Bell, in Newcastle, who specialises in human rights, invited the girls to spend a day at her office to experience a working legal practice.

Ms McCurley is a member of the United Nations CEDAW (The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women) shadow report writing group and is taking the legal lead on a report due to be submitted next year.

It responds to the British government’s failure to take corrective action over Legal Aid cuts, which three high level committees claim are discriminating against minority ethnic women and domestic violence victims.

Chelsea, 17, of Marton Manor, explained: "We analysed a report by the Public Accounts Committee which looked at the plight of women refugees who come here and need to make a legal case to stay but then can't get legal representation through Legal Aid. We made notes and passed them on to Cris for her report to the UN."

The students’ names will appear as contributors in the CEDAW shadow report writing group submission to the United Nations.

Ms McCurley said the work from the students was "high quality" and extremely useful.

Chelsea added: "I'd already decided I wanted to do law at university and now I definitely know I want to specialise in human rights."