Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivering the Scarman Lecture in 2010

Every few years, the Commission hosts the Scarman lecture, in honour of Lord Scarman, the first Chair of the Law Commission. The lecture is attended by members of the senior judiciary, lawyers, parliamentarians and government officials.

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30 Years of the Children Act 1989

On 13 November 2019 at Gray’s Inn Hall, Baroness Hale, the President of the Supreme Court and former Law Commissioner delivered the seventh Scarman lecture. Lady Hale spoke about 30 years of the Children Act 1989. As a Commissioner, she led the creation of the Act which created a comprehensive and integrated statutory scheme of … Read more >

‘Law reform now’ in 21st Century Britain: Brexit and Beyond

On 26 June 2017 at Gray’s Inn Hall the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd delivered the 6th Scarman Lecture. With a title that contained a nod to the past – and the creation of the Law Commission – the Lord Chief focussed on two main themes for the future: … Read more >

The Law Reform Enterprise: Evaluating the Past and Charting the Future

The fifth in our series of Scarman Lectures was given by Sir Geoffrey Palmer KCMG AC QC at Middle Temple Hall, London, on 24 March 2015. Sir Geoffrey was President of the Law Commission of New Zealand from 2005 to 2010. He has served as Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of New … Read more >

What you can do with rights

South Africa’s experience – over the years since the end of apartheid and the creation of democracy – of constitutionalism and the rule of law, and of rights-talk. Delivered on 25 January 2012 by Justice Edwin Cameron, Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

Judicial Stimulation of Legislative Change: A View from the United States

Third Scarman Lecture, delivered on 11 February 2010 by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Human Rights and the Battle on Terror

Second Scarman lecture, delivered on 13 February 2008 by Professor Aharon Barak, former President of the Supreme Court of Israel.

Law Reform and Human Rights: Scarman’s Great Legacy

Inaugural Leslie Scarman lecture, delivered on 20 February 2006 by the Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG.