Cherie Booth QC delivers inaugural lecture as OU visiting professor to the Law School

Acclaimed human rights lawyer Cherie Booth QC, a visiting professor at The Open University Law School, has delivered her inaugural lecture entitled ‘The Importance of Law in the Modern World.’

Professor Booth has supported the Law School since its inception and attended the launch of Law at the OU in 1997 just before moving into Downing Street.

At last Thursday’s (29 September) lecture at the Commonwealth Club, Central London, she said: “I came to share the first tentative footsteps of that extraordinary idea that law could be taught at a distance. I have since seen the Law School grow and triumph and seen it become the largest law school in the country.

“What makes the OU particularly special is that it is not just distinctive in this country but it has pioneered new ways of teaching across the world without compromising quality.

“It has a commitment to extending the gifts and opportunities of learning and refuses to say to anyone, who wants to better themselves through learning, that it is ‘not possible for you’.

“Studying at the OU has brought enjoyment and achievement and for many it has changed their lives and the lives of their families.”

Professor Booth went on to speak about her own legal background before delivering the lecture which argued that law is vital in the providing equality for women which will, in turn, realise the world’s ambitions.

She has also worked with the Development Office and the Law School, in establishing the basis of a legal education project in Rwanda and with a potentially major collaboration with the Asian University for Women.

Click here to watch the video on the Law School's news pages.