Shami Chakrabarti - 'On Liberty'

In this lecture you will find out why our fundamental rights and freedoms are indispensable, and the unprecedented pressures those rights are under today.

Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, will be guest speaker at the School’s Liberty Lecture on Wednesday 25 February. The event is open to all staff and students. Doors open at 17:15 with the lecture starting promptly at 17.45.

Abstract

In 'On Liberty' Shami Chakrabarti explores why our fundamental rights and freedoms are indispensable, and the unprecedented pressures those rights are under today. Drawing on her own work in high-profile campaigns, from privacy laws to anti-terror legislation, Chakrabarti shows the threats to our democratic institutions and why our rights are paramount in upholding democracy.

Registration

The event is free to attend, but registration is required as places are limited. If you would like to attend, please register on Eventbrite here.

Speaker Profile:

Shami Chakrabarti has been Director of Liberty (The National Council for Civil Liberties) since September 2003.

Shami first joined Liberty as In-House Counsel on 10 September 2001. She became heavily involved in its engagement with the 'War on Terror' and with the defence and promotion of human rights values in Parliament, the Courts and wider society.

A Barrister by background, she was called to the Bar in 1994 and worked as a lawyer in the Home Office from 1996 until 2001 for Governments of both persuasions.

Since becoming Liberty’s Director she has written, spoken and broadcast widely on the importance of the post-WW2 human rights framework as an essential component of democratic society.

She was born in London and studied Law at the London School of Economics. Shami, who separated in 2012, lives in London with her son. She is Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University and a Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford in addition to being a Master of the Bench of Middle Temple.

In 2011, Shami was invited to be one of six independent assessors advising Lord Justice Leveson in his Public Inquiry into the Culture, Practice and Ethics of the UK Press. She was also chosen as one of eight Olympic Flag carriers at the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. In February 2014, she was appointed as Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Manchester.

Shami's first book, On Liberty, was published in October 2014.