Clive Stafford Smith, Gresham Professor of Law and founder of the Justice League, discusses the importance of instilling constitutional awareness in students. He emphasizes the role of schools in nurturing debate about rights and duties. Topics include the use of mock trials to engage students with historical injustices and contemporary issues like bullying and free speech. Stafford Smith shares his experiences confronting racial tensions in the Deep South, while advocating for student voices in governance against institutional authority.
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Need for UK Constitutional Protections
The UK lacks a constitution that protects vilified minorities effectively.
The next generation must develop a British constitution through debate and understanding of rights.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Trial of the Century Classroom Exercise
Clive Stafford Smith organized a "trial of the century" exercise with primary school kids involving a mock murder investigation.
Students learned about forensics, witnesses, and legal procedures through immersive role-play.
insights INSIGHT
Importance of School Constitutions
Creating a constitution for schools and universities helps share power between students and staff realistically.
This process teaches young people democratic engagement and constitutional principles early on.
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The U.S. Constitution had to be formed through debate before it could be ratified. Mirroring this, a British constitution must emerge through debates held by the next generation. This lecture indicates schools are a good environment to foster this. For students, there are many contentious issues that tap into discussions at the heart of writing a constitution. Students being punished for swearing raises questions of limits to free speech. Students wishing to intervene when an unpopular peer is bullied would be empowered by constitutional duty obliging them to do so. Schools tend to be authoritarian institutions, benevolent or otherwise, and can either provoke students to develop ideas on power structures and recognise the need for their own rights and duties, or condition them to accept of the status quo.
This lecture was recorded by Clive Stafford Smith on 22nd May 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.
Clive is the Gresham Professor of Law
He is the founder and director of the Justice League a non-profit human rights training centre focused on fostering the next generation of advocates. He also teaches part time at Bristol Law School and Goldsmiths as well as running a summer programme for 35 students in Dorset, his home. He has received all kinds of awards in recognition of his work, including an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II for “services to humanity” in 2000. He has been a member of the Louisiana State Bar since 1984.
The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/taking-constitution-classroom
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