A Lawyer Talks

Baroness Hale spoke yesterday of her “huge admiration” for Israel, a country she has visited at least half a dozen times for judicial exchanges and academic seminars. Her unscripted remarks — which you can listen to by clicking the podcast symbol above — were made after the former president of the UK Supreme Court was made an honorary doctor of philosophy by Bar-Ilan University, near Tel Aviv, for her “outstanding efforts on behalf of women and minorities” and her “dedication to the protection of democracy and basic human rights”.

Because of Covid travel restrictions, Hale’s PhD (hon) was awarded to her at a small ceremony in a London garden. It was hosted by Romie Tager QC, on behalf of the university. Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, founding director of the Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women at Bar-Ilan university law faculty, sent a message of support.

As well as paying tribute to what she described as the deep intellectual tradition of Israeli lawyers, Hale spoke of the three Abrahamic faiths:

Those three religions have more in common than they have separating them — although there are important things that separate them. But one are the things that they have in common is a problem with women.

In a recent conference organised by Halperin-Kaddari, Hale and other speakers looked for what she called “sensible, sensitive ways” of addressing that problem.

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BBC Radio Scotland ran an interview with me this morning (recorded on Friday) about threats to the rule of law.

Isobel Fraser asked about references to lefty lawyers by the prime minister and the home secretary. We also discussed the review of judicial review and the UK Internal Market Bill.

Joanna Cherry QC was kind enough to mention it on Twitter and I thought listeners outside Scotland might like to hear the interview, which I have very slightly edited.

Stephanie Hayward, a barrister specialising in criminal law, interviewed me live yesterday for her Instagram channel @behindthegownbarristers. We spoke mainly about my new book, Enemies of the People?

You can watch the entire interview here but I thought it would be useful to post this (slightly edited) audio version so that you can also listen to it as a podcast.