The 2010 Chancellor's Lecture
The Marquess of Salisbury PC DL, Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire has invited The Rt Hon Lord Bingham of Cornhill KG to deliver the annual Chancellor’s Lecture this year entitled ‘The Law Around Us’.
When
Wednesday 28 April
18.30 for 19.00
Where
The Weston Auditorium
de Havilland Campus
St Albans Road West
University of Hertfordshire
AL10 9EU
More information about where to find us
The Rt Hon Lord Bingham of Cornhill KG
Described by The Guardian as one of our greatest crusading judges, Tom Bingham was successively Master of the Rolls (from 1992), Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales (from 1996) and Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (from 2000). He retired in 2008 but continues to write books and give interviews on aspects of the law.
Educated at Sedbergh School and Balliol College, Oxford, he was called to the Bar in 1959 and became a QC in 1972. He was made a High Court judge in 1980 and promoted to the Court of Appeal in 1986. His appointment as Lord Chief Justice was unexpected, his background having been in commercial law, and his lack of experience of criminal law caused comment, but his abilities and competence quickly converted any critics.
Amongst significant cases over which he presided was the ruling in the Belmarsh case, in which the law lords held that it was unlawful, and a breach of human rights, to detain foreign terrorist suspects without charge. Another was the ruling that evidence against terror suspects obtained by torture was inadmissible. He also favoured incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into British law (the Human Rights Act 1998).
Lord Bingham was the first appointed Senior Law Lord, the position having formerly been assumed by the longest serving Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He was a strong advocate for separating the judicial branch of the House of Lords from Parliament and the setting up of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The Court came into operation in October, 2009. From 2001 to 2008, Lord Bingham held the office of High Steward of the University of Oxford, the highest office in the academic hierarchy and, in 2003, he came second to Chris Patten in the election of the Chancellor. In 2005, Lord Bingham, very exceptionally for a judge, was appointed a Knight of the Garter by The Queen.
More Information and Booking
This is a free public lecture to book a place please contact
Julie Huckle, Events Manger
j.a.huckle@herts.ac.uk
+44 (0)1707 284004
This event is being sponsored by the St Albans Chambers