header-logo header-logo

The lecture that never was?

28 March 2025 / Roger Smith
Issue: 8110 / Categories: Opinion , Rule of law
printer mail-detail
212908
What is the point of a state adhering to the rule of law if it doesn’t talk about it? Roger Smith ponders a mysterious cancellation

Let’s begin with what might—or might not—be a mystery. Lord Hermer, the Attorney General (AG), was advertised as giving the Miriam Rothschild Memorial Lecture on the subject ‘What has the rule of law ever done for us?’ in mid-March. Good title. Surely nothing out of order there. But this broad topic was rapidly cut back to the much more limited ‘The rule of law and the government’s missions’ (there were five: could you name them?), and then, just as abruptly, was cancelled. Regrettably, it was said that the AG was ‘likely to be abroad’.

So, what is to be seen here? The usual exigencies of government, or something more interesting?

Personal commitment

Lord Hermer’s personal commitment to the rule of law cannot be questioned. He is a veteran of Geoffrey Robertson’s Doughty Street Chambers and a former head of Matrix—from which he was plucked by

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

Investment banking veteran appointed as chairman to drive global growth

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll