Annual Lecture – Observatory on Human Rights of Children 2021

Observatory on Human Rights of Children

Based at the Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law, Swansea University, the Observatory on Human Rights of Children was established in 2012 as a collaborative project with local, national and international partners, providing a forum for research, debate, education and knowledge exchange on human rights of children and young people, and working for realisation of human rights through policy, practice, advocacy and law reform.

We are committed to enhancing knowledge and awareness of children’s rights throughout society. To help meet this objective we established an Annual Lecture series which has now been running since 2013. The Annual Lecture is delivered by a recognised expert on children’s rights, with a focus on law and policy and current challenges for children’s rights.

Speaker: Lady Hale

Lady Hale of Richmond took up appointment as President of The Supreme Court in 2017, following her appointment as Deputy President from June 2013. In 2009 she became the first woman Justice of The Supreme Court.

In 2004, Lady Hale became the UK’s first woman Lord of Appeal in Ordinary after a varied career as an academic lawyer, law reformer, and judge.

In 1984 she was the first woman to be appointed to the Law Commission, a statutory body which promotes the reform of the law. Important legislation resulting from the work of her team includes the Children Act 1989, the Family Law Act 1996, and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

In 1994 she became a High Court judge, the first to have made her career as an academic and public servant rather than a practicing barrister. In 1999 she was the second woman to be promoted to the Court of Appeal, before becoming the first woman Law Lord.