Annual Grotius Lecture 2016
The Grotius Lecture is one of the Institute's key annual events. Distinguished speaker, The Rt Hon Lady Justice Arden of the Court of Appeal, delivered this year's lecture on 21 March at the Law Society. The title of the lecture was 'Water for All? Developing a Human Right to Water in National and International Law'. The lecture was interesting, thought provoking, and very well received by the audience.
Lady Justice Arden read law at Girton College, Cambridge and at Harvard. After a career at the Bar, she was appointed a Justice of the High Court in 1993, being the first woman judge to be assigned the Chancery Division. From 1996 to January 1999 she was Chairman of the Law Commission of England and Wales. In 2000 she was appointed to the Court of Appeal, the third female judge to do so. She is Head of International Judicial Relations for England and Wales, an ad hoc Judge of the European Court of Human Rights and a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. She has several honoary degrees. In 2015, she brought out two books, Human Rights and European Law - Building New Legal Orders and Common Law and Modern Society - Keeping Pace with Change (Oxford University Press). Lady Justice Arden is an Advisory to the Board of Trustees of BIICL.
The lecture was chaired by the Right Honourable The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers KG PC, President of BIICL. Lord Phillips is the immediate past President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He is a long-term BIICL member, and has been involved in BIICL activities, including its Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law.