Events before 2020

'Human Rights and Access to Justice in a Post-Brexit World': Martha Spurrier (Liberty)

On 14 November 2017 the Cambridge Pro Bono Project Colloquium Series hosted this lecture, supported by the Centre for Public Law. The lecture was given by Martha Spurrier, Director of Liberty. She spoke about 'Human Rights and Access to Justice in a Post-Brexit World'.

'Conscience, Religious Accommodations, and Religious Exemptions': John Corvino

On 20 November 2017 the Cambridge Pro Bono Project Colloquium Series hosted this lecture, supported by the Centre for Public Law. The lecture was given by Professor John Corvino and he spoke about 'Conscience, Religious Accommodations, and Religious Exemptions'

Cambridge Pro Bono Project Lecture: '(Democratic) Politics by Other Means: Public Interest Litigation in South Africa'

On 9 March 2017 the Cambridge Pro Bono Project (CPP) hosted Jason Brickhill to speak on the topic '(Democratic) Politics by Other Means: Public Interest Litigation in South Africa'.

He spoke about his experiences using law as an instrument of justice for the vulnerable and marginalised, including poor, homeless and landless people, at the Legal Resources Centre, South Africa's largest public interest, human rights law clinic.

Cambridge Pro Bono Project Colloquium Series: 'Using law as a tool to bring about social change'

On 22 February 2017 the Cambridge Pro Bono Project Colloquium Series hosted a talk by Shauneen Lambe, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Just for Kids Law, giving a talk on her experiences, entitled "Using law as a tool to bring about social change". She discussed her work representing people on death row in the USA, and Just for Kids Law's campaigns and legal challenges which have changed laws and policy in education, youth justice and community care.

Cambridge Pro Bono Project Colloquium Series: 'Cause lawyering and immigration law: more harm than good?'

On 6 February 2017 the Cambridge Pro Bono Project Colloquium Series hosted a talk by Colin Yeo, immigration barrister at Garden Court Chambers, and founding editor of the Free Movement blog - the UK's main immigration law blog.

The talk reviewed some of the great results that have been achieved through immigration litigation, for individuals but also for classes or groups of migrants. Colin then considered some bad results of cause lawyering in immigration law and asks whether litigating immigration issues actually shows respect for and therefore legitimises those laws.

This talk came at a fascinating time given the most major cause-lawyering case of its time, the Article 50 case (Miller v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union), has just been handed down by the UK Supreme Court.

Ivan Hare lecture: 'litigating hate speech in the highest courts'

On Wednesday 23 November 2016 Ivan Hare delivered a lecture as a guest of the Cambridge Pro Bono Project at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge.

Mr Hare, barrister at Blackstone Chambers, specialises in freedom of speech, and the line between that and hate speech. He has appeared in these cases in Strasbourg and the top UK courts. In this lecture he shared his experiences at the coal face in this controversial and crucially important area.

Summer internship with OSJI

In 2014, the CPP advertised a two-week, partially sponsored internship with one of our project partners, the Open Society Justice Initiative ("OSJI"). One LLM student, Dafni Lima, undertook the internship from 14–30 June 2014 under the supervision of Simon Cox, who had visited the CPP several months earlier for an informal wine and cheese night with students. During her internship, Dafni conducted research into the administrative detention of migrants in Greece (in violation of human rights law) and the the possible use of EU law principles on effective remedies to persuade Greek judges to use mandatory remedies to end systemic violations, in particular overcrowding of detention centres. Dafni reported on her internship experience as follows:

"During my internship with the Open Society Justice Initiative I worked with Simon Cox on a project about immigrant detention in Greece. The project involved research about administrative practice regarding detention conditions and the legal framework through which this practice can be challenged. I found the subject of the research extremely interesting, both as a lawyer as well as a Greek and EU citizen.

What I valued most about this fascinating experience, was the chance to work with an organization like OSJI and especially Simon Cox. The insight I acquired into how OSJI and Simon Cox in particular works, how research is conducted and how reports are drafted, and the degree of professionalism and care that goes into the work that is done is an invaluable lesson for me. Talking and exchanging ideas with Simon was very challenging and at the same time fun for me. In a nutshell, I feel that the experience on the whole has helped me evolve as a lawyer."

Wine and Cheese Night with Simon Cox

On 3 March 2014, Simon Cox from the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) joined the Cambridge Pro Bono Project for an informal discussion focusing on strategic litigation as a tool to promote human rights.

Simon Cox is a migration lawyer for the OSJI and is involved in developing strategies to promote human rights in the European Union through litigation, advocacy, research and technical assistance.

Simon gave students a fascinating overview of the OSJI’s broad range of work including practical insights into the challenges facing organisations such as the OSJI in implementing and enforcing human rights-related policies and judgments. Simon also discussed the way forward on the OSJI’s access to medicines project - this was of particular interest as the Cambridge Pro Bono Project recently prepared a research memorandum for the OSJI, which examined strategies for promoting increased access to medicines for EU citizens.

Annual Lecture 2013: Tim Otty QC

On 18 November 2013, Tim Otty QC delivered the Cambridge Pro Bono Project Annual Lecture for 2013. Mr Otty spoke on the topic "Pro Bono Law in International Practice: Personal Reflections on Orhan v Turkey, Rasul v Bush and Orozco v Government of Belize".

Mr Otty is one of the UK’s leading human rights lawyers. A member of the distinguished Blackstone Chambers in London, he has appeared before domestic and international courts in some of the most high profile cases of recent times. Between 2004 and 2008, Mr Otty was involved in three cases before the US Supreme Court concerning the Guantanamo Bay detentions. Between 2005 and 2009, he appeared before UK’s highest courts in a series of cases relating to evidence obtained by torture and the impact of Article 6 ECHR on anti-terrorist legislation.

In addition to his legal practice, Mr Otty is actively involved in a number of domestic and international pro-bono initiatives. He currently chairs the Human Dignity Trust, an organization challenging the criminalisation of homosexuality around the world. He is also a Member of the UK Foreign Secretary's Human Rights Advisory Group and a member of the UNHCR Pro Bono Panel.