Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws
Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws QC, FRSA, (born 12 May 1950)[1] is a British barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She is a former chair of the Human Genetics Commission, which advises the UK government on ethical, social, and legal issues arising from developments in genetic science.
Background
Kennedy was born in Glasgow. She has three sisters. Her family members were staunch Labour activists, and committed Roman Catholics. Her father, Joshua, a printer with the Daily Record, was a trades union official.[1] She attended Holyrood Secondary School in Glasgow, where she was appointed Head Girl. Kennedy still attends Mass and says her Catholicism "remains very much part of who I am", even though she eschews its more traditional values.[1] She studied law at London's Council of Legal Education, London.[1]
Family
Kennedy's first partner was actor Iain Mitchell; they lived together from 1978 until 1984 and have a son. In 1986, Kennedy married Iain Louis Hutchison, a surgeon, with whom she has a daughter and a son.[1]
Academia
Kennedy was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Education) by the University of Bath in 2006. Kennedy was elected Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford in July 2010. She took up the position in September 2011.[2]
Broadcasting
- Creator, Blind Justice, BBC TV, 1987
- Presenter, Heart of the Matter, BBC TV, 1987
- After Dark, Channel 4 and BBC4, 1987–2003
- Presenter, Raw Deal on Medical Negligence, BBC TV, 1989
- Presenter, The Trial of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', BBC Radio 4, 1990
- Presenter, Time Gentlemen, Please, BBC Scotland, 1994 (Winner, Television Programme Award category, 1994 Industrial Journalism Awards)
- Commissioner, BAFTA Inquiry into the future of the BBC, 1990
Politics
Kennedy rebels against her party in House of Lords votes more frequently than any other Labour Peer, with a dissent rate of 33.3%[3] She was Chair of Charter 88 (1992–97) and is closely affiliated to the educational charity Common Purpose.
Public leadership
- President, Helena Kennedy Foundation
- President of the Board the Governors of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)[4]
- Chair, JUSTICE
- Chair of the Board of Governors for the United World College of the Atlantic
- President, Medical Aid for Palestinians
- Patron, Burma Campaign UK, the London based group campaigning for human rights and democracy in Burma
- Member of the Board of Independent News and Media
- Trustee, KPMG Foundation
- Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University (1994–2001)
- Chair, British Council (1998–2004)
- Chair, Human Genetics Commission (1998-2007)
- President of the National Children's Bureau (1998–2005)
- Kennedy chaired the Power Commission (November 2005 – March 2006), which examined the problem of democratic disengagement in the United Kingdom. A report was produced which highlighted the "Myth of Apathy" and the lack of political engagement
- Chair of Power 2010, which aimed to carry forward the concepts behind the Power Commission into the UK 2010 General Election
- Member of the World Bank Institute's External Advisory Council
- Member of the board of the British Museum
- Vice-President of the Haldane Society
- Vice-President of the Association of Women Barristers
- Patron, Liberty
- Patron, UNLOCK, The National Association of Ex-Offenders
- Patron, Debt Doctors Foundation UK (DD-UK)
- Patron, Tower Hamlets Summer University
- Chair, Howard League's Commission of Inquiry into Violence in Penal Institutions for Young People (the final report, Banged Up, Beaten Up, Cutting Up, published in 1995)
- Chair, Reading Borough Council's Commission of Inquiry into the health, environmental and safety aspects of the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston (final report Secrecy versus Safety, published in 1994)
- Chair, Royal Colleges of Pathologists' and of Pædiatrics' Inquiry into Sudden Infant Death (producing a protocol for the investigation of such deaths in 2004)
- Member of the Foreign Policy Centre's Advisory Council
- Formerly UK member of the International Bar Association's Task Force on Terrorism
- As Commissioner of the National Commission for Education, she chaired a committee on widening participation in further education and the Commission's seminal report, Learning Works, published in 1997
Honours and awards
- Created Life Peer in 1997, gazetted as "Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, of Cathcart in the City of Glasgow"
- Elected a member of the Académie Universelle des Cultures by the French government
- Granted Cavalier di Gran Croce (Italy's highest honour) by the President of Italy, 2004
- Appointed Commandeur de l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques, 2006, by the French government
- Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2005
- Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, 2005
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
- Honorary Fellow, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
- Fellow of the City and Guilds of London Institute
- Honorary Fellow, University of Cambridge, 2010
- Honorary Fellow, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), 2011
- Honorary Doctorates of Law: University of Strathclyde 1992, University of Teeside 1993, Keele University 1994, Lancaster University 1994, Leeds Metropolitan University 1995, University of Bristol 1997, University of Wolverhampton 1997, The Open University 1997, University of Abertay Dundee 1997, Tavistock Centre under the auspices of the University of East London 1997, University of Derby 1998, University of Leicester 1998, University of York 1999, National University of Ireland 2000, University of Aberdeen 2000, Oxford Brookes University 2001, Caledonian University 2001, Robert Gordon University 2002, Judicial Academy of Russia 2002, Polytechnic University of Tomsk 2002, Middlesex University 2003, De Montfort University 2004, University of Sheffield 2005, University of Staffordshire 2005, University of Paisley 2005, University of Edinburgh 2005
References
- ^ a b c d e Wroe, Nicholas (27 March 2004). "A radical in the House". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2004/mar/27/featuresreviews.guardianreview16. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
- ^ Baroness Helena Kennedy QC elected next Principal of Mansfield College University of Oxford Mansfield College, 13 April 2011
- ^ Rebel Lords — Current members The Public Whip
- ^ "2016: A Vision and Strategy for the Centennial" (p.18) School of Oriental and African Studies, April 2010
Bibliography
- Eve was Framed: Women and British Justice, 1993
- Just Law: The changing face of justice and why it matters to us, 2004
External links