SLS Hale Lecture

The SLS Centenary Lectures were initiated in 2009 to mark the centenary of the founding of the Society. The SLS Centenary Lectures were held annually in different locations across the UK and Ireland and hosted by a university law school with funding provided by the Society.

The Society held ten Centenary Lectures following its centenary in 2009, as follows;

2009: Punching our Weight – Academic Law and Public Understanding by William Twining FBA, QC, DCL, JD, LLD Emeritus Quain Professor of Jurisprudence, given in London at the LSE on 28th May 2009.
2010: Northern Lights – Some Reflections on Legal Scholarship in Scotland by Professor Joe Thomson, a former president of the Society and Scottish Law Commissioner, given in Edinburgh at the Scottish Parliament on 21 May 2010.
2011: From here to late modernity – Where next for Irish and UK legal scholarship? by Professor Alan Dignam, Queen Mary, University of London, given at Trinity College Dublin on 1 April 2011.
2012: Wales, a Jurisdiction? by Theodore Huckle QC, Counsel General for Wales at Cardiff Law School on 15 November 2012.
2013: The Unity of Law, or the dangers of over-specialisation by Sir Rabinder Singh, Justice of the High Court, given on 28th November 2013 at Birmingham University.
2014: The Fluidity and Stability of the Northern Ireland Constitution by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, John Larkin QC at Queen’s University Belfast on 11 November 2014.
2015: The Rule of Law and the Economy – Bankers, Brigands and Bounders by the Hon. Mr Justice (Nicolas) Green on 18 November 2015 at Bristol University.
2016: Why Study Legislation by Dame Mary Arden Lady Justice Arden at Manchester University Law School on 1 December 2016 .
2017: Free Speech, Law and Religion by former Lord Justice of Appeal and member of the Privy Council Sir John Laws at the University of Northumbria on 29 November 2017.
2018: All Human Beings? Reflections on the 70th Anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights by Lady Hale, President of the Supreme Court, at the University of Essex on 2 November 2018.

The Inauguration of the SLS Hale Lecture

Within weeks of the tenth centenary lecture (above) being given by Lady Hale in November 2018 the Society entered its 110^th year in 2019. It was considered that the title “Centenary Lecture” was no longer quite so appropriate and that there was the opportunity to create a new series of annual lectures. The Society’s Executive decided in January 2019 that the ideal course would be, if possible, to name the new series in honour of Lady Hale and all that she has contributed as judge and jurist over her long (and very much ongoing) career which has also included being a member of the SLS for over 50 years. The Society was delighted that Lady Hale not only consented to this proposal to establish an annual SLS Hale Lecture to be given by a distinguished speaker but agreed, for the first lecture in April 2020, to be herself that same speaker, Presidential burdens at least, by then having been cast aside. The tradition of annual lectures moving around the country will be maintained, and Lady Hale’s roots in Yorkshire reflected, by this first lecture being delivered at the University of York on April 22^nd 2020.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the first SLS Hale Lecture due to take place on 22 April 2020 was postponed.

SLS Hale Lecture 2021

‘Spider Woman Baroness Hale in Conversation’. The first annual SLS Hale Lecture took place on Monday 4 October 2021 at the University of York.

Baroness Brenda Hale joined Professor Matt Matravers from the University of York in a conversation about her memoir Spider Woman: A Life. The conversation explored Baroness Hale’s journey from a small Yorkshire village to President of the Supreme Court.

SLS Hale Lecture 2022 (The 2022 Hale Lecture was postponed to early 2023)

The second Hale Lecture was delivered by Professor Ewan McKendrick at the University of Exeter on 13 February 2023, 5.30-7pm. Professor McKendrick spoke on the topic of ‘Covid, Contracts and Change of Circumstances’. A recording of the Lecture is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PSi-fKmDDM

SLS Hale Lecture 2023

The 2023 Hale Lecture will be delivered by Mr Justice Gerard Hogan at Trinity College Dublin on Tuesday 24 October 2023, 6pm. Further details to be announced.