Annual Bonavero Human Rights Lectures
The Inaugural Annual Bonavero Human Rights Lecture
On 20 February 2020, the Inaugural Annual Bonavero Human Rights Lecture took place at the Old Hall, Lincoln's Inn in London.
Lord Jonathan Sumption served as a Justice of the United Kingdom Supreme Court from January 2012 till December 2018 when he reached the mandatory retirement age. Unusually, he was raised to the Supreme Court without having previously been a full-time judge. Lord Sumption is currently a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. In summer 2019, Lord Sumption delivered the Reith Lectures on ‘Law and the Decline of Politics’. In one of the lectures he presented a critique of the role of the European Court of Human Rights and its approach to the interpretation of human rights law.
This lecture entitled 'The Democratic Virtues of Human Rights: A Response to Lord Sumption's Reith Lectures' was delivered by Judge Róbert Spanó, the Vice President of the European Court of Human Rights. Lord Sumption, retired Justice of the UK Supreme Court, responded to the lecture. A panel discussion followed, which was moderated by Helen Mountfield QC, Principal of Mansfield College.
The transcript of the lecture delivered by Judge Róbert Spanó is available