The Student Society of the Truman Bodden Law School is committed to engaging with the local community by giving back part of the knowledge and understanding that students earn at the Law School, in particular about legal matters that matter to all.

In January 2015 the Law School will deliver the first of a series of three public lectures. The first lecture will be delivered at the Grand Court on 15 January, 6pm by Professor Robert Wintemute of King’s College London.

It will focus on gender and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) equality under the heading of “Misogyny and homophobia: What is the Cayman Islands doing to promote gender and LGBT equality?”

The lecture will provide a general audience with:

1) An overview of the European Convention on Human Rights and gay rights: Where we are now in the UK and the Cayman Islands;

2) An overview of the laws of the Cayman Islands that promote gender and LGBT equality; and

3) Basic elements to understand how homophobia has followed in the steps of misogyny and racism in the western hemisphere.

Professor Wintemute will provide an overview of the European Convention on Human Rights and gay rights in order to understand the UK position and how this impacts on the Cayman Islands.

The second lecture, scheduled for 22 January 2015, will be delivered by Her Excellency the Governor, Helen Kilpatrick. It will provide an overview of the laws of the Cayman Islands in relation to gender and LGBT equality.

The final lecture, scheduled for 29 January 2015, will be delivered by Dr Leonardo J Raznovich, lecturer in law at the Truman Bodden Law School. Dr Raznovich will explain how homophobia, similarly to misogyny and racism, is arguably the result of defined policies enacted into laws that historically resulted (chronologically) in the criminalisation, pathologisation and segregation of the targeted members of these three sectors.

In launching the Lecture series, Dr Raznovich said:

“I am delighted that the Law School is able to deliver this lecture series as I hope it will highlight the global position on Gender and LGBT Rights. I invite all interested parties to join us for what I am sure will be interesting and informative lectures.”

 

Message from the Governor

“I congratulate the Student Society of the Truman Bodden Law School on organising this series of public lectures. The lectures are a great chance for the public to gain information about relevant and interesting legal matters. I am particularly pleased that the first lectures cover gender and LGBT equality, issues which are relevant not just to these particular groups but to all the people of the Cayman Islands.

When I arrived As Governor, I said in my first speech that I would naturally be taking a particular interest in gender equality issues. This lecture series is an opportunity for the public to join me in this interest and become better informed on this important topic.”

Her Excellency Mrs. Helen Kilpatrick CB

 

Message from the Premier – The Honourable Alden McLauglin MBE

“I am delighted to support the Student Society of the Truman Bodden Law School initiative to launch a series of public lectures. The title of the lecture series – ‘Legal Matters that Matter to All’ – is particularly apt. As a former student of the Law School and as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands, I am very aware that legal matters really do matter to all. This lecture series will enable members of our community to have the opportunity to listen to distinguished legal speakers’ views on current issues that affect all our lives.

I urge all those who are interested to attend the lectures, to gain a wider knowledge and understanding of important legal matters.”

The Honourable Alden McLauglin MBE

 

Contact:

For further details of the events please contact:

Truman Bodden Law School Student Society

Olivia Connolly (President)                                     Orsi Szotyori (Vice President)

(345) 546-4924                                           (345) 924-0426

[email protected] [email protected]

 

Lecturer Bios:

Professor Robert Wintemute

Robert Wintemute is a Professor of Human Rights Law at the School of Law, King’s College London, England. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he studied economics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and law at McGill University in Montreal. After practicing bankruptcy law with a New York City firm, he completed his doctorate in human rights law at the University of Oxford, England. Within human rights law, his specialty is anti-discrimination law, with a focus on sexual orientation discrimination. He has participated in lesbian and gay human rights cases in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (sitting exceptionally in Bogotá), the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, and the Supreme Courts of Massachusetts, Argentina and Colombia.

 

Her Excellency Governor Helen Kilpatrick CB

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed Helen Kilpatrick CB as Governor of the Cayman Islands in September 2013. She is the first female to have held the position and only the second to hold the title Governor of a Caribbean U.K Overseas Territory.

Educated at King’s College Cambridge, Governor Kilpatrick began her career in the Finance Department of the Greater London Council in 1982. In 1986 she qualified as a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. Mrs. Kilpatrick held a variety of posts in London boroughs, including, from 1989 to 1995, that of controller of financial services at Greenwich. She then worked as director for resources and was the first female county treasurer at West Sussex county council in 1995, later becoming deputy chief executive.

Mrs Kilpatrick then joined the Home Office in 2005 as Director General of Financial and Corporate Services. In addition to her duties as Director General, she was also the board champion for diversity, gender, devolution, sustainability and better regulation.

 

Dr. Leonardo Raznovich

Dr. Leonardo J Raznovich obtained his LL.B. from the University of Buenos Aires in 1995. It then pursued a LL.M. at Harvard Law School (1996/1997) and finally obtained his doctorate degree from Oxford University in 2004. He is a former Head of Law (2008-2010) and principal lecturer in law (until 2012) at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) in the UK where he was responsible for setting up three law degree programs, a law library and a center for dispute resolution. He also served as Convenor of the Legal Education Section of the Society for Legal Scholars Conference in the U.K. for the triennium 2009/2011. He is currently a law lecturer at the Cayman Islands Law School where he teaches evidence, EU law, jurisprudence and dispute resolution.

As an attorney at law in practice since 1995 in Argentina and called to the Bar in England and Wales in 2010, Leonardo gained experience in a wide range of complex legal matters advising and representing clients in a variety of domestic and international disputes as well as in non-contentious contexts, including civil and commercial litigation, international commercial arbitration and mediation. In addition, he also dealt with public law matters, in particular, in cases involving human right issues in the area of LGBT equality.

His research interests include comparative civil procedure and evidence law, dispute resolution and judicial reform being areas in which he has published a book and several articles in both Spanish and English law journals. He has also developed a research interest and published in the field of international private law in particular in the area of recognition of marriages across jurisdictions and unjust enrichment.