Civil liberty and human rights under the microscope in University public lecture
Release Date 25 October 2010
The University of Reading's School of Politics and International Relations is delighted to announce the annual Peter Campbell Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Shami Chakrabarti CBE, Director of civil rights organisation Liberty.
Open to all, this fascinating talk will take place on Tuesday 26 October in the University's Agriculture Building and examine liberty and rights in Britain today. Shami Chakrabarti is Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University and Governor of the London School of Economics and the British Film Institute. Her views are regularly heard on BBC1's long-standing ‘Question Time' show where she has appeared as a panellist many times.
Shami Chakrabarti said: "It will be timely to discuss rights and liberties in Britain as the Coalition Government prepares to report on its Counter-Terrorism Review. This is a pivotal moment for Liberty's work, with control orders, pre-charge detention, stop and search powers and other draconian assaults on our freedom under scrutiny. At Liberty we are working to foster a new cross-party consensus. I look forward to hearing views on this and how we can best protect the Human Rights Act."
The lecture is the second in an annual series which is in honour of the memory of Professor Peter Campbell, the founding head of the University of Reading's Department of Politics and former Dean of its Faculty of Letters and Social Sciences, who passed away in 2005.
Dr Philip Giddings, Head of the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Reading said: "Peter Campbell was a great friend to the University of Reading and held in extremely high regard by his colleagues. He made a substantial bequest to the University, which included funding for an annual lecture to be given from a distinguished person in the field of politics and international relations."
‘Liberty and rights in Britain today - an evening with Shami Chakrabarti, CBE' is open to everyone and no ticket is required. The lecture begins at 6pm on Tuesday 26 October in the Agriculture Building on the University of Reading's Whiteknights Campus.
ENDS
For all University of Reading media enquiries please contact Becki Rassell, Communications Assistant tel. 0118 378 8408 or email b.rassell@reading.ac.uk.
Notes for editors
The University of Reading's School of International Politics and Relations was established in 1964 and enjoys a reputation as one of the top departments in the UK. Attracting world experts in its field, the central driving force of the department is to address the main political issues of our time through the study of individuals, governments, institutions and countries and their inter-relationships
Liberty is a human rights and civil liberties organisation. Liberty campaigns through the media, undertakes pioneering legal casework, lobbies Parliament and provides advice and assistance to members of the public and voluntary groups. Liberty is an independent membership organisation.