Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws

Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws QC, FRSA, (born 12 May 1950) is a British barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She used to chair the Human Genetics Commission, which advises the UK government on ethical, social, and legal issues arising from developments in genetic science.

Biography

Kennedy was born in Glasgow. She has three sisters. Her family members were staunch Labour activists, and committed Catholics. Her father, Joshua, a printer with the Daily Record, was a trade-union official.Fact|date=July 2008

Kennedy attended Holyrood R.C. 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.Fact|date=July 2008

Kennedy studied law at the Council of Legal Education, London.Fact|date=July 2008

Kennedy's first partner was the actor Iain Mitchell. They lived together from 1978 until 1984 and had a son, Keir.Fact|date=July 2008

In 1986, Kennedy married Iain Louis Hutchison, a surgeon, and they have two children (Clio and Roland).Fact|date=July 2008

Professional legal distinctions

* Council of Legal Education, London.
* Called to the Bar, Gray's Inn, 1972.
* Kennedy's first pupil-master was the Former Labour and Liberal Democrat MP Brian Sedgemore.
* Founded Garden Court practice, 1974.
* Founder member of Doughty Street Chambers, London, in 1990.
* Appointed Queen's Council (QC), 1991.
* Bencher of Gray's Inn.
* Kennedy specialises in criminal and human rights law, and has acted in such well-known cases as the Brighton Bomb and Guildford Four appeals.
* The Times' 'Lifetime Achievement in the Law' Award, Women Lawyers' Conference, 1996.
* Rose Sheinberg scholar-in-residence at New York University's School of Law, 2003.
* Hamlyn Trust lecturer, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 2002.

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 TV, 1990.
* Presenter, Time Gentlemen, Please, BBC Scotland, 1994 (Winner, Television Programme Award category, 1994 Industrial Journalism Awards).
* Commissioner, BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Inquiry into the future of the BBC, 1990.

Political involvement

* Member of the Labour Party.
* Chair of Charter 88 (1992-1997).

Public leadership

* President, Helena Kennedy Foundation.
* She is currently President of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.
* 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 ).
* 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.
* 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 Paediatrics' 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, 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.

Trivia

* During the 1970s, she was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.Fact|date=July 2008
* She was voted 7th Greatest Living Scot in "The Sunday Herald".Fact|date=July 2008
* She presented the infamous "drunk Oliver Reed" episode of the Channel 4 late-night discussion programme After Dark in January 1991, where Reed verbally insulted and attempted to kiss feminist critic Kate Millett.Fact|date=July 2008

Honours and awards

* Created Life Peer in 1997, gazetted as "Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, of Cathcart in the City of Glasgow".
* Created a member of the French Académie Universelle des Cultures by the French government.
* Created 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 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

Bibliography

*"", 1993
*"", 2004

External links

* [http://www.helenakennedy.co.uk Helena Kennedy's home page]
* [http://www.powerinquiry.org/commission/ Power Commission]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/bookshelf/story/0,9061,1178648,00.html The Guardian: 'A radical in the House']