Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Shadow Secretary of State for Brexit, Sir Keir Starmer QC MP, to deliver public lecture at Leeds Beckett
The event, which is open to the public, will take place on Thursday 27 April from 6pm-7pm at the University’s Rose Bowl building at city campus. It is free to attend, but places must be booked online..
Both a politician and barrister, Keir was elected as Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras in May 2015. He was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet, taking up the role as Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the EU in October 2016. He has lived in Kentish Town for more than 15 years
Dean of Leeds Law School, Deveral Capps, said: “We could not be more delighted to welcome a politician of Keir’s standing to Leeds Law School. Whichever way you voted last year and whatever your views on Brexit are, it cannot be denied that Keir is tasked with an incredibly important role at an historic time for the UK. It will be fascinating to hear what he has to say on this subject, as well as learn more about the path that led him to where he is today.”
Prior to becoming an MP, Keir was a human rights lawyer, co-founding Doughty Street Chambers in 1990 and conducting cases in the International Criminal Court and the European Court of Human Rights. He also worked to help eradicate the death penalty in a number of countries (mainly in the Caribbean and Africa) and continues to work closely on a voluntary basis with the Death Penalty Project, most recently (October 2016) seeking to end the death penalty in Taiwan.
From 2002-2007 Keir worked as human rights advisor to the Policing Board in Northern Ireland, monitoring compliance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) with the Human Rights Act, while in 2008 he was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales, a role he held until 2013.
After stepping down as DPP, Keir worked with Doreen Lawrence and victims’ groups to draft a victims’ law, which was included in Labour’s 2015 election manifesto. Keir continues to be a patron of the Victims’ Forum (a group dedicated to championing victims’ rights) and introduced a Private Members Bill (the Victims of Crime etc. Bill) in 2015.
He studied law at Leeds University and St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and has published several books including Three Pillars of Liberty: Political Rights and Freedoms in the UK (1996) and European Human Rights Law (1999).