Public Lectures from the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge

On Friday 8th May 2009, John G Roberts Jnr (Chief Justice of the United States) delivered the 2009 Sir David Williams Lecture entitled "Abraham Lincoln and the Supreme Court". Mr Roberts was introduced by Lord Woolf.The Sir David Williams Lecture is an annual address delivered by a guest lecturer in honour of Sir David Williams, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of English Law and Emeritus Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University.More information about this lecture, including photographs from the event, is available from the Centre for Public Law website at:https://www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk/sir-david-williams-lectures/john-g-roberts-jnr-abraham-lincoln-and-supreme-court

Baron Cornelius Ver Heyden de Lancey (1889-1984) was a wealthy and public-spirited Dutchman who at different times in his life was a dentist, doctor, surgeon, barrister and art historian. In 1970 he created the De Lancey and De La Hanty Foundation, to promote studies in medico-legal topics. The Foundation generously gave Cambridge the Ver Heyden de Lancey Fund, which since 1996 has funded occasional public lectures on medico-legal issues of current interest. The 2009 Baron Ver Heyden de Lancey Lecture on Medico-Legal Studies was delivered by Dr Oliver Quick, of the University of Bristol on 27 April 2009, and was entitled "Medicine, Mistakes and Manslaughter: A Criminal Combination". For more information about the Baron Ver Heyden de Lancey Lecture series, please see http://www.lml.law.cam.ac.uk/events/vhdl-events

On Friday 16th May 2008, Dame Sian Elias delivered the 2008 Sir David Williams Lecture entitled "Taking Power Seriously".The Sir David Williams Lecture is an annual address delivered by a guest lecturer in honour of Sir David Williams, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of English Law and Emeritus Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University.More information about this lecture, including photographs from the event, is available from the Centre for Public Law website at:https://www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk/sir-david-williams-lectures/dame-sian-elias-taking-power-seriously

The Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS) hosts an annual public lecture in honour of Lord Mackenzie-Stuart, the first British Judge to be President of the Court of Justice. Among the eminent scholars of European legal studies invited to give the lecture are Professor Joseph Weiler, former Judge David Edwards of the European Court of Justice, and Advocate-General Francis Jacobs of the European Court of Justice.The texts of the Mackenzie-Stuart Lectures are published in the Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies.The 2007 Mackenzie-Stuart Lecture was delivered by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, on Thursday 25 October 2007. He spoke about his views on human rights in the 21st century.More information about this lecture, including photographs from the event, is available from the Centre for European Legal Studies website at:https://www.cels.law.cam.ac.uk/mackenzie-stuart-lectures

On Thursday 16th November 2006, The Rt. Hon Lord Bingham of Cornhill KG, House of Lords delivered the 2006 Sir David Williams Lecture entitled "The Rule of Law". The Sir David Williams Lecture is an annual address delivered by a guest lecturer in honour of Sir David Williams, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of English Law and Emeritus Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University.More information about this lecture, including photographs from the event, is available from the Centre for Public Law website at:https://www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk/sir-david-williams-lectures/rt-hon-lord-bingham-cornhill-kg-rule-law

On Monday 9th May 2005, The Hon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States) delivered the 2005 Sir David Williams Lecture entitled "Looking Beyond our Borders: The Value of a Comparative Perspective in Constitutional Adjudication". Justice Ginsbury was introduced by Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor of the University.The Sir David Williams Lecture is an annual address delivered by a guest lecturer in honour of Sir David Williams, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of English Law and Emeritus Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University.More information about this lecture (including a transcript which was subsequently published in the Cambridge Law Journal, 64(3), November 2005, pp. 575–592) is available from the Centre for Public Law website at:https://www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk/sir-david-williams-lecturesThe audio of this recording was enhanced for quality on 3 January 2024.

On 7 November 2003, Sir Kenneth Keith (Senior New Zealand Court of Appeal Judge) delivered the third Sir David Williams Lecture entitled "Sovereignty at the Beginning of the 21st Century - Fundamental or Outmoded?".The Sir David Williams Lecture is an annual address delivered by a guest lecturer in honour of Sir David Williams, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of English Law and Emeritus Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University.More information about this lecture, including a transcript, is available from the Centre for Public Law website at:https://www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk/sir-david-williams-lectures

On 15th May 2001, the Hon Justice Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the inaugural Sir David Williams Lecture entitled "Altered States: Federalism and Devolution at the 'Real' Turn of the Millennium".The Sir David Williams Lecture is an annual address delivered by a guest lecturer in honour of Sir David Williams, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of English Law and Emeritus Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University.More information about this lecture, including a transcript, is available from the Centre for Public Law website at http://www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk/sir_david_williams_lectures/