Annual Rule of Law Lecture
Each year, the Bar Council’s international team organises the International Rule of Law Lecture.
The event aims to encourage awareness of the importance of the rule of law to all, particularly those in legal practice, and to stimulate debate and to inspire lawyers, academics, judges and students to support the rule of law in their work.
It has become a prestigious event in the English legal calendar, attracting a distinguished audience to include: practitioners, members of the judiciary, politicians, the press and students.
The lectures have been delivered by eminent speakers, who have each given a personal perspective on the operation of the rule of law, and their experiences of the challenges and triumphs faced in this area.
- 2022 Salieu Taal, President of the Bar Association of The Gambia: 'Transitional justice in Gambia after dictatorship – from truth seeking to justice'
- 2020 Kimberly Prost, International Criminal Court Judge: 'Advancing the Rule of Law on the international stage'
- 2019 Meaza Ashenafi, President of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia: ‘Championing Judicial Independence during Democratic Transition’
- 2018 Professor Andrzej Rzeplinski, former President of the Polish Constitutional Court: 'The role of the judiciary in a rule of law crisis -an insight from Poland'
- 2017 Dr Shirin Ebadi, former Iranian judge and winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize: 'Speaking up for the Rule of Law - a Lawyer's Perspective in Modern Iran'
- 2016 Baroness Françoise Tulkens, former Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights: ‘Fundamental Human Rights and State Security: Inseparable Allies’
- 2015 The Honourable Geoffrey Ma, Chief Justice of Hong Kong: ‘Strength and fragility in tandem: The Rule of Law in Hong Kong’
- 2014 Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh, former Vice President of the International Court of Justice and Prime Minister of Jordan: ‘Rule of Law in times of turbulence- a Middle Eastern perspective’
- 2013 Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada: ‘Is the open court principle sustainable in the 21st century? An examination of the open court principle as a component of the Rule of Law’
- 2012 Mark Muholland KC, Chairman of the Bar Council of Northern Ireland: ‘Global terrorism and the rule of law: a global problem from a Northern Irish perspective’
- 2011 Patricia O'Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs at the United Nations: ‘Legal Issues Facing the United Nations’
- 2010 The Most Reverend & Rt. Hon. Dr. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York: ‘Justice in a Secularising and Pluralising Society’
- 2009 Judge Anthony Gubbay, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe: ‘The progressive erosion of the Rule of Law in Independent Zimbabwe’
- 2008 Judge Johann Kriegler, former judge of the Constitutional Court of South: ‘The rule of law in post-colonial Africa: a British legacy?’
- 2007 Judge Phillipe Kirsch, President of the International Criminal Court: ‘The International Criminal Court-establishing accountability for the most serious international Crimes’
Buy the book of our lectures
In 2016, we proudly celebrated the 10th anniversary of our International Rule of Law Lecture by publishing a book of the first ten years of lectures, called 'The Bar Council of England and Wales International Rule of Law Lectures: The First Ten Years'. This was published by Wildy's and Sons Ltd, and you can purchase a copy of our book from their website.
Read our statements and interventions
The Bar Council’s international team also issues statements and intervention letters relating to rule of law crises around the world