Barbara Hewson

Barbara Hewson
Nationality Irish
Alma mater Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge
Occupation Barrister

Barbara Hewson is an Anglo-Irish civil law barrister with a practice in public law. Hewson specialises in reproductive health and the rights of pregnant women and the mentally ill. She has chambers at 1 Gray's Inn Square.

Views

The Law

Despite being a civil lawyer, she is known for her public commentary on the criminal justice system. Hewson is a vigorous defender of the rights of the accused in criminal trials, particularly those charged with sexual offences. In order to discourage false claims, she has argued for the abolition of anonymity for complainants in criminal trials. [1] She is also in favour of abolishing the dock on the grounds that it violates the presumption of innocence.[2]

Hewson has spoken against the cult of victimhood and against the proposition that rape is different.[3] She is a prominent critic of operation Yewtree and has written in favour of reducing the age of consent in England and Wales.[4][5] She opposes moral panics and is an expert adviser to Falsely Accused Carers & Teachers. Hewson has criticised the tactics of the NSPCC as "an attempt to smear the legal profession which undertakes defence work."[6]

Culture

Hewson is a critic of the modern social purity movement and of modern feminism, whose supporters she believes infantilise women as inherently vulnerable.

Writing

She writes on the law with a libertarian inclination for the online magazine Spiked Online, published by former supporters of the defunct Revolutionary Communist Party. She has also written for Public Law, The Barrister, CBQ, The Justice Gap, New Law Journal, Solicitors Journal, Counsel, The Lawyer, Legal Week, Times Law Page, Medical Law Review, Feminist Legal Studies, BMJ, Journal of Medical Ethics, Abortion Review, AIMS Journal, Huffington Post, Indy Voices and The Salisbury Review.

Affiliations

Hewson is a member of the Bar of Ireland, the Bar of Northern Ireland, and the Bar of England and Wales. She is an Honorary fellow of the University of Westminster and a trustee of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.

Chambers

Hewson previously had chambers at Hardwicke. She moved to 1 Gray's Inn Square after Hardwicke issued a statement proclaiming the set "shocked" by her political views.[7][8] This followed the launch of a petition urging the Law Society to "fire" Hewson, despite the fact that the Law Society is a regulatory body for solicitors and has no power over barristers, who are self-employed.[9] The sociologist Frank Furedi claimed that Hewson has been "morally lynched" for expressing political opinions.[10]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/13604
  2. ↑ http://thejusticegap.com/2014/10/victims-rights-pendulum-swinging-far/
  3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ5jS5L0pyc
  4. ↑ http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/operation-yewtree-defaming-the-dead/14994
  5. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22459815
  6. ↑ http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/the-nspcc-enemy-of-justice/15627
  7. ↑ http://www.rollonfriday.com/TheNews/EuropeNews/tabid/58/Id/3229/fromTab/36/currentIndex/4/Default.aspx
  8. ↑ http://www.hardwicke.co.uk/unrelated/statement-from-hardwicke
  9. ↑ https://www.change.org/p/law-society-to-fire-barbara-hewson-senior-barrister-public-at-hardwicke
  10. ↑ http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/13612

External links