Emeritus Professor John Fitzpatrick OBE, former Director of Kent Law Clinic, will speak about ‘Democracy and the Law’ for this year’s annual Tucker Millward Guest Lecture at Kent.
The lecture on Thursday 14 November at 6.30pm in Grimond Lecture Theatre 1 is open to all. It is cohosted by Kent Law Society and Kent Law School and will be preceded by refreshments, served in Grimond Foyer, from 6pm. Attendance is free, but attendees are asked to reserve their place online in advance (for catering purposes).
Professor Fitzpatrick has had a long and distinguished legal career. After obtaining a degree in English Language and Literature from Oxford University, he worked for 15 years in Community Law Centres in Brixton and Hammersmith (first as a caseworker and later as a solicitor), specialising in employment and immigration and asylum law. He served as a voluntary member on the Management Committee of the Hammersmith and Fulham Community Law Centre from 1992 until 2014, and from 2007 to 2009 was the Chair of the national Law Centres Federation.
He joined Kent Law School in 1991 as a Lecturer and has lectured mainly in the areas of human rights law and public law. An active trade unionist, he served as President of the Kent Branch of the University and Colleges Union for nearly a decade up to 2013.
Professor Fitzpatrick also served as a member of Council, the governing body of the University, for two years until his retirement in 2018. He was Director of Kent Law Clinic from 1992 until 2018 during which time the Clinic won many prestigious prizes for its work, including The Times Higher Awards (2007), The Lawyer Awards (2014) and the LawWorks/Attorney General Awards (2011). The Clinic was also awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2008 and the Kent Law Society 200th Anniversary Award for ‘significant contribution to the development of law in Kent’ in 2018. Professor Fitzpatrick was awarded an OBE in 2006 for ‘services to the administration of justice’.
Professor Fitzpatrick, his wife Yasmin and their daughter Maeve (who has just started university), divide their time between Herne Bay and Brixton.
The annual memorial lecture, launched in 1983 has been held on Kent’s Canterbury campus since 1987 and co-hosted by Kent Law School since 2013. Over the years, the event has attracted highly distinguished speakers whose talks on a variety of issues have provided many thought provoking evenings. The Lecture affords an excellent opportunity to strengthen the ties between Kent Law School and Kent Law Society – Society members also support the work of Kent Law Clinic in providing pro bono advice to local residents and other Society members act as judges for student mooting competitions.
Keith Tucker
Keith Tucker was a partner in the law practice of Gill Turner Tucker in Maidstone. He was made Honorary Secretary of the Kent Law Society in 1981 but sadly died in a car accident shortly afterwards. He left his widow, Marga and two children, Edward and Sarah. Keith was a well respected and popular member of the Kent Law Society and had been active in the society and the community. His colleagues were shocked and saddened by his untimely demise and the members at the time felt that a lecture in his name would be a fitting memorial.
Kent Law Society and Kent Law School were pleased to host Keith’s widow Marga Tucker at the lecture almost every year from 1983 until her death in 2016. Marga was always very supportive of the society’s work to support young people entering the profession. She was kindly encouraging of the need to review and adapt this event over the years to provide an enjoyable and forward looking evening. The lecture remains a treasured event in Kent Law Society’s calendar, providing both an important reminder of Keith Tucker and a valued opportunity to continue to strengthen links between Kent Law Society and the University of Kent.
Edwina Millward
In 2017 the GPC of Kent Law Society and Kent Law School agreed to rename the lecture the Tucker Millward Lecture following the death of Edwina Millward. Edwina was a retired District Judge who sat in Kent and former President of Kent Law Society. Edwina was partners with Keith Tucker all those years ago and she and Marga enjoyed catching up each year. In recent years Edwina kindly acted as one of the Judges of the annual Kent Law Society awards and had done so only weeks before her untimely death. She supported the society and its members over many years. Edwina was the first female President of the Association of District Judges. Originally a domestic science teacher she was encouraged by her Head Teacher to retrain as a lawyer and provide an example of diversity and trailblazing in the Judicial world of Kent!
Her husband David reports that Edwina would have been very proud of this honour and we hope to welcome him to the event for many years to come.