Legal trailblazer to launch adult learning programme

A North East adult learning charity is launching its new season with a free public lecture from the first female president of the UK Supreme Court.

Brenda Hale, the Right Honourable Baroness Hale of Richmond, will open Explore Lifelong Learning’s 2026/27 programme at Brunswick Methodist Church in Newcastle on September 22.

Lady Hale will reflect on her decades-long legal career and discuss her latest book, With the Law on Our Side: How the Law Works and How We Can Make it Work Better for Everyone.

The Legacy Lecture, funded through a bequest from a former member, will act as an introduction to the charity’s new programme of courses, talks and events.

Lady Hale began teaching law at the University of Manchester in 1966, while also qualifying as a barrister and practising at the Manchester Bar.

In 1984, she became the first woman appointed to the Law Commission, later contributing to legislation including the Children Act 1989, Family Law Act 1996 and Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Her career also has North East links, with Lady Hale regularly hearing cases in Newcastle following her appointment as a High Court judge in the Family Division.

She subsequently became the first woman to serve as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and a Justice of the Supreme Court, before becoming its first female president.

Lady Hale also delivered the Supreme Court’s high-profile 2019 judgment that the Government’s decision to prorogue Parliament for five weeks was unlawful.

Lady Hale said: “As a child of the North East (the real Richmond in North Yorkshire) I am delighted to be returning to Newcastle to celebrate Lifelong Learning – a cause which gets ever closer to my heart the older I get.”

Explore Lifelong Learning is run by the Joseph Cowen Lifelong Learning Centre, which was established in 2013 and offers adult education across the arts, humanities and sciences.

Its autumn programme includes sessions spanning Charles Dickens, Bob Dylan and Black activism to cosmology, cyber psychology, strategic minerals and British politics.

The programme runs across three ten-week seasons, with courses complemented by lectures, study groups, walks and practical art classes led by experienced tutors and experts, including academics from regional universities.

Trevor Buck, Explore member, trustee, and Emeritus Professor of socio-legal studies at De Montfort University, added: “Lady Hale has had a distinguished academic and judicial career, culminating in her appointment as the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. 

“The subject of her lecture for Explore Lifelong Learning is her latest book, With the Law on our Side, in which she explores how the court system in the UK has suffered relative neglect at all levels in past decades.

“We are delighted and honoured to be hosting Baroness Hale of Richmond as our Annual Legacy Lecturer in 2026.”

Trevor added: “The Explore programme offers adult education classes across a wide range of subject matter in the arts, humanities and sciences. 

“We hope Lady Hale's lecture will inspire people to join the programme and contribute to the development of topical legal studies within Explore.”

The September 22 lecture begins at 6pm and can be attended in person or remotely via Zoom. To find out more and to book your place, click here.

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