A Century of Crime: Judicial Politics and the Rule of Law

The Sir John Smith Lecture

Delivered by Professor Mike McConville

Professor Mike McConville, founding Dean and Emeritus Professor from the Faculty of Law at the Chinese University Hong Kong (CUHK) gave the second Sir John Smith lecture on Thursday 27 October 2016. He drew on his extensive experience of the criminal justice system in the course of his lecture, 'A Century of Crime: Judicial Politics and the Rule of Law' which advanced the thesis that throughout the last century top judges had been two readily drawn into Home Office policy making. Professor McConville who obtained his PhD from The University of Nottingham and studied under Sir John Smith was introduced by Professor Di Birch, JC Smith Professor of Law in the School of Law. A lively discussion followed the lecture.

Prior to the lecture there was a meeting of the Advisory Board for the Criminal Justice Research Centre (CJRC), chaired by His Honour John Milmo QC. The Advisory Board includes chief officers from the police, CPS, the Bar, the Courts Service, the Probation Service, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) and the Prison Service, together with senior academic representatives from The University of Nottingham.

Co-directors of the CJRC, Professor John Jackson and Dr Vicky Kemp from the School of Law said that events like these help to establish links between The University of Nottingham and those who practise in the criminal justice system.

Members of the Advisory Board taken under a portrait of Sir John Smith (from left to right): HHJ Dickinson, Resident Judge at Nottingham Crown Court, Frazer Stuart (Legal Advisor, CCRC), Liz Lesquereux, Senior Partnerships Executive (Social Sciences), His Honour John Milmo QC, Professor Di Birch, Professor John Jackson, Dr Vicky Kemp, Professor Dirk Van Zyl Smit and Matt Best, Bhatia Best, Solicitors.