Lord Wilson

His speech, titled Our Human Rights: A Joint Effort?, looked at the “historical development” of human rights in Europe, culminating in the European Convention on Human Rights, and drew a contrast with rights under the US Constitution.

He also took aim at the current Trump administration, referring to the separation of over 2,000 children from their asylum-seeking parents as “abuse” and criticising the US withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council as setting “a useful precedent for repressive leaders around the world”.

The justice also reflected briefly on his time at Northwestern University in 1966, when he held a six-month associateship and taught legal writing and research to first-year law students.

Lord Wilson concluded: “To address my title, human rights have been, and in my view should continue to be, a joint effort across the western world and indeed beyond. In that effort lawyers play a major role.

“Sadly I have come almost to the end of my career. You, by contrast, will shortly embark on yours, with all the likely success which attends graduation from a top law school. Yes, most of you will have an engrossing legal career and no doubt makes lots of money. But also, and with respect more importantly, please also strive tirelessly, in whatever way you can, to secure the protection and development of human rights.”