2023 Bentham Association Presidential Address & Dinner

Professor Eloise Scotford, Dean of UCL Laws, is delighted to invite
UCL Laws Alumni and UCL Alumni working in the Law to

The 2023 Bentham Association Presidential Address and Dinner

The Bentham Association President for 2023 is Alumnus and Barrister Patrick O’Connor KC and his Address will be on Lawyers in the Dock: from Nuremberg to the Hague?

The address will be chaired by Professor Eloise Scotford.

on Thursday 9th March 2023 from 18:15pm onward

About the Address

When do lawyers incur criminal liability for their work? By what principles can they be complicit in the crimes of their clients or employers? These questions have rarely been explored, but are increasing relevant today.

In the 1947 ‘Nuremberg Justice’ trial (USA v Alstötter et al), ten German lawyers were convicted of complicity in ‘war crimes’ and/or ‘crimes against humanity’ committed by others under the Nazi regime. They were variously Judges, prosecutors and senior civil servants in the German Ministry of Justice. This lecture will investigate their conduct and what principles of complicity were then applied.

The lecture will examine whether these principles have since been clarified and applied to lawyers working within oppressive regimes, such as apartheid South Africa. Could and should they have been applied to President G.W. Bush’s advisers on the law of ‘torture’? May they be applied to any of ex-President Trump’s lawyers for the events of January, 2021?

Today, at times of crisis, legal advice is increasingly taken from lawyers at the heart of government, or ‘embedded’ in the military. The 1977 Additional Protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions requires the availability of such advice to military commanders.  Could such lawyers end up in the dock of the International Criminal Court at the Hague?

About the 2023 President - Patrick O’Connor KC

Patrick O’Connor KC graduated from UCL Laws in 1970. He has since practised for over 50 years in human rights law, with the broadest range of criminal and civil work.

He has specialised in criminal appeals, conducting many ‘miscarriage of justice’ cases including the ‘Guildford Four’, and ‘Birmingham Six’ cases: and engaging legal principle: R v Tymen (EC law); B v DPP (strict liability in crime); R v Looseley (entrapment); R v Kennedy (No 2), (causation in manslaughter); and R v Maxwell (abuse of process).

Patrick pioneered actions against the police, achieving record damages and a first judicial finding of police ‘torture’. He won the first two civil claims for victims’ families against unconvicted murderers: Halford v Brookes and Francisco v Diedrick, both being later tried and convicted. He represented the child claimants in early environmental litigation against lead in petrol: Budden v BP, 1978- 80.

He won the landmark order for a public inquiry under Article 2, ECHR: R [Amin] v SSHD in 2003. He represented the bereaved Conlon family in the public inquiry into their miscarriages of justice (the ‘May Public Inquiry’); and the Iraqi parties to the ‘Al Sweady’ public inquiry into British Army conduct.
Patrick has represented many bereaved families after deaths in police custody, and in the ‘London 7/7 bombings’ Inquest. In 2018, he was awarded the Bar Council ‘lifetime achievement’ award for his Pro Bono work at Inquests and in Privy Council death penalty appeals.

He has conducted many seminars and been published on legal and human rights issues: including ‘The Constitutional Role of the Privy Council and the Prerogative’, published by Justice; and ‘Neo- liberalism and Human Rights’ (EHRLR 2018). Patrick delivered a lecture in 2020 for Inner Temple on the life of Count Helmuth von Moltke, the dissident German lawyer who was executed by the Nazi regime in 1945. Patrick is of German heritage, hence his research interest in the role of the law and lawyers during the Third Reich.

Schedule for the evening

18:15 Reception
19:00 Bentham Association Presidential Address
20:00 Dinner
22:30 Carriages

Tickets and how to book

UCL Alumni and their Guests = £90
UCL Alumni (recent graduates - 2020, 2021, 2022) = £65
Sponsor a current students to attend = £65
UCL Alumni Reception and Lecture only = £20
UCL Alumni Attendance Lecture Live Stream Only = £5

Book your place here:
https://2023-bentham-dinner.eventbrite.co.uk/?aff=lawsweb

Who can attend - The Bentham Assocation

This event is open to UCL Laws Alumni and UCL Alumni now working within the Law.

Established in 1949, the Bentham Association was formed to help maintain and strengthen relationships with our former students, colleagues and friends of UCL Laws. The Association is open to UCL Laws Alumni and UCL Alumni now working within the Law.

Over the years, the Association has been led by many distinguished figures, including Lord du Parcq, the first President, as well as Sir David Hughes Parry, Lord Hallisham, Lady Hale and Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury.

Today the Bentham Association retains its distinctive community of UCL Laws supporters but is also open to all UCL alumni working in legal areas. It offers opportunities for professional networking and development, with alumni being eligible for a 15% discount on our CPD courses. Members are invited to attend special alumni events and reunions including the Presidential Address and Dinner which takes place each year.

Our alumni play a vital part in the life of UCL Laws by judging student moots and client interviewing competitions, sharing their experiences at careers and recruitment events, and through their professional connections, help us to obtain sponsorship to support and promote our events and activities and offer internships and placement opportunities to our students.

With the generous support of our alumni, we are able to support students with limited means to study with us and also award prizes in recognition of their achievements at the annual Prizewinners Ceremony.

Queries

If you have any queries about this event, please email lisa.penfold@ucl.ac.uk