Law School

Hamlyn archives

Due to the generosity of Cambridge University Press, the Hamlyn Lectures will be available to read on this website. The Trustees are grateful to the Press for enabling the Trust to bring these prestigious lectures to the widest possible readership. Please note that this is a read only version and cannot be downloaded. To purchase a copy, see the Cambridge University Press website.

Archive from 2005

Series Year Title Lecturer
57 2005 Can Human Rights Survive?  Professor Conor Gearty
58 2006 The Sovereignty of Law: the European Way Sir Francis Jacobs KCMG QC
59 2007 The Prisoners' Dilemma: Political Economy and Penal Populism in Contemporary Dem Professor Nicola Lacey FBA
60 2008 Judging Civil Justice Professor Dame Hazel Genn DBE, CBE, QC
61 2009 Widening Horizons. (Photos from the event) Thomas Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill
62 2010 Lawyers and the Public Good Professor Alan Paterson OBE
63 2011 The Rule of Law and the Measure of Property Professor Jeremy Waldron
64 2012 Aspects of Law Reform: An Insider's Perspective‌ Jack Straw
65 2013 The Common Law Constitution Rt Hon Lord Justice Laws.
66 2014

UK, EU and Global Administrative Law: Foundations and Challenges

 Professor Paul Craig
67 2015 A “Magna Carta” for Children? – Rethinking Children’s Rights (see flyer from event) Professor Michael Freeman
68 2016 Golden Threads and Pragmatic Patches: Fairness in Criminal Justice Dame Sian Elias
69 2017 Thinking about Statutes: Interpretation, Interaction, Improvement (see flyer from event) Professor Andrew Burrows
70 2018 Why does equality seem so difficult? Three problems in comparison (see flyer from event) Robin Allen QC

Archive pre 2005

As a result of the generosity of the Hamlyn Lecture speakers in granting copyright clearance, Lectures held before 2005 are available as digital files (pdf). The free downloading of these searchable files is intended for private use only and not for commercial gain. If you wish to support the work of the Hamlyn Trust in promoting public legal education through a voluntary charitable donation, please contact the Clerk to the Hamlyn Trust.

Guidelines on using the digital files (pdf):

These notes are intended to provide the reader with generic tips on using the PDF to navigate through the published Lectures and search for any context more easily.

  • All the entries on the Table of Contents page and the Index page are hyperlinked with the corresponding page in the text. For ease of navigation, go to Tools -> Customise Toolbars -> More Tools -> Page Navigation Toolbar and enable the ‘Previous View' and ‘Next View'.
  • Table of Contents: click on any of entries or the page number indicated against the entries on this page, to link to the corresponding page in the text.
  • Index: click on the page number listed against an index entry, to link to the context in the text to which the entry is associated.
  • Use the Previous View and Next View options to toggle between the text pages and the Table of Contents/Index pages.
Series Year Title Lecturer
1 1949 Freedom Under the Law The Rt Hon Lord Denning
2 1950 The Inheritance of the Common Law Richard O'Sullivan
3 1951 The Rational Strength of English Law Professor F H Lawson
4 1952 English Law and the Moral Law Professor A L Goodhart
5 1953 The Queen's Peace Sir Carleton Kemp Allen
6 1954 Executive Discretion and Judicial Control Professor C J Hamson
7 1955 The Proof of Guilt Professor Glanville Williams
8 1956 Trial by Jury The Rt Hon Lord Devlin
9 1957 Protection of the Public – A New Challenge The Rt Hon Lord MacDermott
10 1958 The Sanctity of Contracts in English Law Professor Sir David Hughes Parry
11 1959 Judge and Jurist in the Reign of Victoria C H S Fifoot
12 1960 The Common Law in India M C Setalvad
13 1961 British Justice: The Scottish Contribution Professor Sir Thomas Smith
14 1962 Lawyer and Litigant in England The Rt Hon Sir Robert Megarry
15 1963 Crime and the Criminal Law (Part 1 & Part 2) The Baroness Wootton of Abinger
16 1964 Law and Lawyers in the United States Dean Erwin N Griswold
17 1965 New Law for a New World ? The Rt Hon Lord Tanley
18 1966 Other People's Law The Rt Hon Lord Kilbrandon
19 1967 The Contribution of English Law to South African Law: and the Rule of Law in Sou The Rt Hon O D Schreiner
20 1968 Justice in the Welfare State (Part 1 & Part 2) Professor H Street
21 1969 The British Tradition in Canadian Law The Hon Bora Laskin
22 1970 The English Judge Henry Cecil
23 1971 Punishment, Prison and the Public Professor Sir Rupert Cross
24 1972 Labour and the Law.pdf Professor Sir Otto Kahn-Freund
25 1973 Maladministration and its Remedies Sir Kenneth Wheare
26 1974 English Law – the New Dimension The Rt Hon Lord Scarman
27 1975 The Land and the Development; or, Turmoil and the Torment Sir Desmond Heap
28 1976 The National Insurance Commissioners Sir Robert Micklethwait
29 1977 The European Communities and the Rule of Law Lord Mackenzie Stuart
30 1978 Liberty , Law and Justice Professor Sir Norman Anderson
31 1979 Social History and Law Reform Professor Lord McGregor of Durris
32 1980 Constitutional Fundamentals Professor Sir William Wade
33 1981 Intolerable Inquisition? Reflections on the Law of Tax (Part 1 & Part 2) Hubert Monroe
34 1982 The Quest for Security: Employees, Tenants, Wives (Part 1 & Part 2) Professor Tony Honoré
35 1983 Hamlyn Revisited: The British Legal System Today Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone
36 1984 The Development of Consumer Law and Policy – Bold Spirits and Timorous Souls Sir Gordon Borrie
37 1985 Law and Order Professor Ralf Dahrendorf
38 1986 The Fabric of English Civil Justice Sir Jack Jacob
39 1987 Pragmatism and Theory in English Law P S Atiyah
40 1988 Justification and Excuse in the Criminal Law J C Smith
41 1989 Protection of the Public A New Challenge.pdf The Rt Hon Lord Justice Woolf
42 1990 The United Kingdom and Human Rights Dr Claire Palley
43 1991 Introducing a European Legal Order Gordon Slynn
44 1992 Speech & Respect Professor Richard Abel
45 1993 The Administration of Justice Lord Mackay of Clashfern
46 1994 Blackstone's Tower: The English Law School Professor William Twining
47 1995 From the Tube to the Coffin: Choice and Regulation in Private Life The Hon Mrs Justice Hale
48 1996 Turning Points of the Common Law The Rt Hon The Lord Cooke of Thorndon
49 1997 Commercial Law in the Next Millennium Professor Roy Goode
50 1998 Freedom Law and Justice The Rt Hon Lord Justice Sedley
51 1999 The State of Justice Michael Zander QC
52 2000 Does the United Kingdom still have a Constitution? Anthony King
53 2001 Human Rights, Serious Crime and Criminal Procedure Andrew Ashworth QC
54 2002 Legal Conundrums in our Brave New World Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws
55 2003 Judicial Activism Hon Justice Michael Kirby
56 2004 Rights at work: Global, Europe and and British perspectives  Sir Bob Hepple QC