Distinguished Speakers Program 2009: Professor Conor Gearty, London School of Economics
8 April 2009
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| Professor Conor Gearty |
An Australian Bill of Rights? Learning from the British Experience
Professor Conor Gearty
Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, London School of Economics
To register for this event, please click here
The United Kingdom has had a bill of rights - the Human Rights Act - in force since 2 October 2000. It provides for an unusual compromise between democratic and judicial power. This lecture reflects on how the Act has fared and considers what lessons there might be for Australian legislators and judges as they embark on what may prove to be a similar journey into rights' constitutionalism.
Conor Gearty is Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at the London School of Economics, where he has been since his move from Kings College London in 2002. His scholarship is mainly in the fields of human rights, terrorism and civil liberties. Can Human Rights Survive, published in 2006, was based on his 2005 Hamlyn Lectures and focused on the links between human rights, terrorism and democracy. Gearty's work on civil liberties began with his co-authored (with K D Ewing) Freedom under Thatcher. Civil Liberties in Modern Britain (1990). Together with Ewing, he later authored a study of civil liberties in the first half of 20th century Britain, The Struggle for Civil Liberties. Political Freedom and the Rule of Law in Britain, 1914-1945 (OUP 2000). His 2007 Civil Liberties examined the state of civil liberties in terms of the UK as a representative democracy. Most recently he has published Essays on Human Rights and Terrorism which is a collection of essays examining human rights, civil liberties and terrorism in a global, regional and comparative perspective. Gearty is a practising barrister and was a founding member of Matrix Chambers.
This event is part of the Sydney Law School Distinguished Speakers Program 2009. Click here for more details.
Time: 6.00-7.30pm
Location: Sydney Law School, Building F10, Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney
Contact: Events Coordinator
Phone: (02) 9351 0248
