Location
University of Cambridge (and via Zoom)
The world’s imagination was caught by the 1998 arrest in London of General Augusto Pinochet on charges of egregious human rights crimes and the 16-month battle to extradite him to Madrid. For the first time, a former head of state had, while travelling abroad, been arrested on such charges, with his claim to immunity being rejected by a national court. This lecture reveals hidden histories behind the Pinochet case, advancing our understanding of its progression and wider significance. It illuminates the relationship between law and politics, the role of personal views and judicial creativity in the UK’s top court, the ways in which law operates in practice, its promise and limitations. In so doing, it draws on extensive research, including a unique collection of over 250 interviews, conducted during or shortly after the case, with key judges, lawyers, victims, representatives of NGO’s, activists, politicians, government officials, and journalists in ten countries.
The event is hosted by the Centres of English Legal History and Public Law.
About the Speaker:
David Sugarman is Professor of Law Emeritus at the Law School of Lancaster University; Senior Associate at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London and the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Academy of Social Sciences, and an Honorary Fellow of the American Society for Legal History. He has written widely on the Pinochet case including in the Modern Law Review, Journal of Law and Society, Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies, Amicus Curiae, The Guardian, The Times, The Santiago Times, Open Democracy and El Mostrador.
Image: Wiki Commons – CC 2.0