Press release: How can the law help the powerless?

14 September 2024

Gresham Professor of Law, Clive Stafford Smith, to give his inaugural lecture on Thursday, 19 September, online and in central London 

In a year of change for both the UK and the United States, both countries’ systems of government have been under scrutiny.  

And with Donald Trump threatening to be a dictator for a day and suspend the constitution if he is elected in November, there has never been a better time for exploring what the US constitution means for our neighbour across the pond.  

Professor Clive Stafford Smith has joined Gresham College as its new Professor of Law, and over the course of the year will be exploring the theme of ‘The UK’s Unwritten Constitution: Is It Worth the Paper It’s (Not) Written On?’ 

The series launches on Thursday, 19 September, with a look at human rights law.  

It investigates the power given to advocates in a country with a constitutional structure, like the US.  

Professor Stafford Smith will examine how this empowerment allows them success against even heads of state, and contrasts this with the difficulties faced by lawyers working in nations without constitutions, like Britain. 

He said: “As I tell my students, it’s the best of times and worst of times.  

“The surge of ‘populist nastiness’ is going to make absolutely fundamental the purpose of this lecture, which is that the law in general and the individual rights are there to protect the people who we hate. 

“They're not there to protect the powerful – the powerful can perfectly well protect themselves.  

“The law is there to protect the people we look down on, and we're going to need that in coming years.” 

Gresham College is London’s oldest higher education institution.  

Founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, it has been delivering free public lectures for over 427 years from a lineage of leading professors and experts in their field who have included Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, Iannis Xenakis and Sir Roger Penrose.   

The lecture will be given at Gresham College’s base in Barnard’s Inn Hall, Holborn, London on Thursday, 19 September. 

Starting at 6pm, entry is free, and it is also broadcast live online. It will last an hour.  

In-person places can be booked online via Gresham College’s website.  

https://www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/human-rights-law 

ENDS 

Notes to Editors  

Images available on request 

For more information about this story or to arrange an interview with a Gresham Professor please contact: Phil Creighton press@gresham.ac.uk  

About Gresham College  
Gresham College has been providing free, educational lectures - at the university level - since 1597 when Sir Thomas Gresham founded the college to bring Renaissance Learning to Londoners. Our history includes some of the luminaries of the scientific revolution including Robert Hooke and Sir Christopher Wren and connects us to the founding of the Royal Society.  

Today we carry on Sir Thomas's vision. The College aims to stimulate intellectual curiosity and to champion academic rigour, professional expertise and freedom of expression. www.gresham.ac.uk  

Gresham College is a registered charity number 1039962 and relies on donations to help us encourage people's love of learning for many years to come. For more details or to make a gift, visit our website.    

About the series ‘The UK’s Unwritten Constitution: Is It Worth the Paper It’s (Not) Written On’? 
This lecture series explores the influence that a constitution gives to those intent on bringing power to the powerless; the seemingly unnoticed impact on the UK of its lack of structure; the benefits of a proper constitution; and the need to educate the next generation to make it so.