Dominic Grieve

Throughout his career as a barrister and politician, Mr Grieve has worked at the intersection between the law and politics and taken a particular interest in human rights.

He said: “The different national approaches over the laws and regulations needed to tackle CVOID-19 highlight the practical difficulties of balancing the needs of states for information and control with the privacy and civil liberties of individuals.

“As with previous debates around anti-terror legislation, quarantining, compulsory face coverings and the sharing of personal data through contact tracing apps raise questions to which there are no easy answers.

“It was therefore a particular pleasure to be offered at this time a visiting professorship at Goldsmiths with its long history of radical thinking. I am very much looking forward to joining its innovative new law programme and discussing this and a wide range of other issues with Goldsmiths students at a time when understanding the impact of legal and political decisions on the rights of the individual has never been more important.”

Professor Frances Corner, Warden of Goldsmiths, said: “It is a tribute to our vibrant new Law programme that it has attracted a figure of the stature of former Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC and I look forward to welcoming him to the College.

“At Goldsmiths we are committed to providing our students with a creative and critical education, and challenging them with ideas and perspectives they may not have encountered before. Universities cannot be monocultures of thought and the next generation of legal minds must not be afraid to debate all sides of the pressing issues facing civil society in the UK and around the world.”