Professor Sir David Williams
The Sir David Williams Lecture is an annual address delivered by a guest lecturer in honour of Sir David Williams, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of English Law and Emeritus Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University.
The Sir David Williams Lectures are available to watch on the YouTube playlist, or for as a podcast on most popular podcast platforms. Subject to speaker consent, each lecture will be made available, while any Q&A sections will not be included to encourage frank and open discussion. You can subscribe to the 'Sir David Williams Lectures' on iTunes or other podcast platforms for automatic download to your device, or an RSS feed is available for use on other platforms.
18 October 2024: The Hon Susan Kiefel AC KC
"Judicial review of discretionary decision-making: differences of approach"
4 May 2023: Professor Kate O'Regan
"The Craft of Constitutional Adjudication"
6 May 2022: Professor David Feldman
"White water rafting: The UK's constitutions at a time of stress"
18 October 2019: Lady Brenda Hale
"Principle and Pragmatism in Public Law"
19 October 2018: The Rt Hon. Beverley McLachlin
"Where Are We Going? Reflections on the Rule of Law in a Dangerous World"
24 February 2017: Sir Rabinder Singh
"Divided by a common language: British and American perspectives on constitutional law"
2016: Sir Stephen Sedley
"The lion beneath the throne: law as history"
2015: Cheryl Saunders
(Personal Chair in Law, University of Melbourne)
"Devolution. Federation. Constitution. From here to where?"
2014: Professor Conor Gearty
(LSE / Matrix Chambers)
"Not in the Public Interest?"
2013: Jean-Paul Costa
(former President of the European Court of Human Rights)
"The Relationship Between the European Court of Human Rights and National Constitutional Courts?"
2012: The Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Laws
"The Good Constitution"
2011: Professor Jeremy Waldron
"The Rule of Law and Human Dignity"
2010: The Hon Michael Beloff QC
"A View from the Bar"
2009: John G Roberts Jnr
(Chief Justice of the United States)
"Abraham Lincoln and the Supreme Court"
2008: Dame Sian Elias
(Chief Justice of New Zealand)
"Taking Power Seriously"
2007: The Hon Mr Justice Arthur Chaskalson
(Retired Chief Justice of South Africa)
"The Widening Gyre: Counter Terrorism, Human Rights and the Rule of Law"
2006: The Rt. Hon Lord Bingham of Cornhill KG
(House of Lords)
"The Rule of Law"
2005: The Hon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
(Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States)
"Looking Beyond our Borders: The Value of a Comparative Perspective in Constitutional Adjudication"
2004: Professor Ronald Dworkin
(New York University, School of Law)
"Interpretation, Politics and Law"
2003: Sir Kenneth Keith
(Senior New Zealand Court of Appeal Judge)
"Sovereignty at the Beginning of the 21st Century - Fundamental or Outmoded?"
2002: Sir Sydney Kentridge QC
(Brick Court Chambers)
"The Highest Court: Selecting the Judges"
2001: The Hon Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
(Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States)
"Altered States: Federalism and Devolution at the 'Real' Turn of the Millennium"
