On 20 November, Lord Sumption (Justice of the Supreme Court) delivered the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Lecture in Kuala Lumpur – The Limits of Law. This was followed by Lord Justice Laws on 27th November in the Hamlyn Lectures 2013 – see Lecture 3 Common Law and Europe. A further lecture on human rights was delivered in Warwick by Lady Hale (Deputy President of the Supreme Court) on 28th November – Lady Hale at the Warwick Law Lecture 2013 – What’s the point of human rights?
These speeches / lectures are not only legally informative but they reveal something of the personalities of the speakers and their attitudes to the vastly important topic of human rights protection as it applies both in Europe and in the UK. Given the fact that these speeches are by senior judges, politicians are likely to latch on to them when they are thought to support a particular political stance. It is of course no secret that some members of the present government do not come across as particularly supportive of the present human rights arrangements – see, for example, Theresa May and Chris Grayling on Human Rights – (Public Law for Everyone 30th September 2013).. Thus, judges enter risky territory when making speeches of this nature. They must not only maintain their judicial impartiality but must be seen to do so.
