Branch Austin McCormick LLP was delighted to host in partnership with the Anglo-Australasian Lawyers Society and One Essex Court our distinguished guest speaker Lord Neuberger on 31 July 2024. Lord Neuberger was appointed to the Supreme Court as President in 2012. He now practises as an arbitrator, mediator and legal expert, and serves as a Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal and of the Singapore Court of Appeal. He provided a thought-provoking commentary following publication of his 2023 book with Amal Clooney, Freedom of Speech in International Law. He was interviewed by Susan Lamb, a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Belize.
Lord Neuberger commented, “I think you have to accept that freedom of speech … has been moving in the wrong direction since 1990… Now we are in the converse of 1990, maybe things will get better. All we can do is in places where we have influence and power is to do our best to cling to our principles and to accept that sometimes we have to cut down rights which are fundamental in order to protect society and to keep respect for those rights.”
Lord Neuberger also expressed concern at “so called Henry the Eighth clauses” and suggested there was difficulties in giving minsters the power to change Parliamentary legislation. He tempered these comments by expressing concern as too much politicisation of the Judiciary, particularly when looking at the current situation in the United States.
Lord Neuberger was outspoken in giving Amal Clooney credit for much of the editorial content in his publication and the talk touched on the book structure which is somewhat prospective in that it provides a series of recommendations for improving freedom of expression. He also mentioned that the booked posed some challenges in establishing clear international norms which tended to vary from country to country. He provided some interesting examples such as how Holocaust denial may be seen differently in some European countries when compared to Britain.
Hal Branch, a partner at the firm introduced Lord Neuberger and said, “We were pleased to host Lord Neuberger speaking on such an important topic. The firm are members of the Anglo-Australasian Lawyers Society and their chair, Anne Bodley, is to be commended on setting up this panel.” https://www.branchaustinmccormick.com/team/hal-branch/.
Further information can be found at:
1 One Essex Court: https://www.oeclaw.co.uk/
The Anglo-Australasian Lawyers Society: https://aals.co.uk/
For further information or to obtain the recording of the event, please contact Mikesh Nandha on mn@branchaustinmccormick.com.
