The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Alison Saunders CB will speak about the challenges of decision making in the Crown Prosecution Service when she delivers the Keith Tucker Memorial Lecture 2014 at the University of Kent in October.
The lecture on Wednesday 15th October will be hosted jointly by Kent Law Society and Kent Law School as part of the University’s open lecture programme.
Alison, a barrister, worked with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for more than 25 years before being appointed to the role of DPP in November last year. She is the first DPP to be appointed from within the CPS.
During her time with the CPS, Alison developed expertise in issues involving child victims and witnesses. Following her promotion to Assistant Chief Crown Prosecutor in 1999, Alison became Chief Crown Prosecutor for Sussex in 2001 where she oversaw the successful prosecution of Roy Whiting for the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne.
In 2005, Alison set up and headed the Organised Crime Division which dealt exclusively with cases from the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre.
Alison was appointed the Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS London in 2009, overseeing more than 200,000 cases a year and was heavily involved in high profile cases such as the retrial in Stephen Lawrence’s murder case and the London disorder cases.
In the 2013 New Year Honours, she was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) “for services to Law and Order especially after the 2011 London Riots.”
Alison’s talk is open to the general public. More than 150 attendees are expected, including law students and staff, practitioners, members of the judiciary and civic guests. If you would like to attend, please book your place online (no payment required).
Welcome refreshments will be available in the Grimond Building from 6pm with Alison’s talk beginning at 6.30pm in Grimond Lecture Theatre 1 (GLT1). After a brief opportunity for questions and answers there will be a networking buffet from 7.30pm with the evening closing by 9pm.
The annual memorial lecture was established in 1983, in memory of Keith Tucker, a former Honorary Secretary of Kent Law Society. Last year’s speaker was Kent alumna Dr Lucy Scott-Moncrieff CBE, a former president of the Law Society and an Honorary Graduate of Kent.