Feb. 28 and March 1—Christopher Sallon Discusses Sion Jenkins Case and Human Rights In the Wake of 9/11

Noted British barrister Christopher Sallon QC will deliver a two-part lecture at Yale Law School on Wednesday, February 28, and Thursday, March 1. The Wednesday lecture is titled “Taking Liberties with Justice” and will be held from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. in Yale Law School Room 129. The Thursday lecture is titled “Sion Jenkins: A Question of Justice” and will be held from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. in the Yale Law School auditorium.

In the Wednesday lecture, Sallon discusses the swing of the pendulum triggered by the tragic events of 9/11 in which legislation introduced by President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair has redefined human rights law and shifted the balance from the liberties of the individual to the safety of the state. Sallon also examines the legal implications of these profound changes for the U.S. and its closest ally.

In his Thursday lecture, Sallon talks about the Sion Jenkins case and how this real-life murder mystery divided the nation and how the juries coped with complex scientific evidence. In 1998, Sion Jenkins, a well-respected headmaster of a British secondary school, was convicted in the brutal murder of his foster daughter and sentenced to life in prison. He always maintained the killing had been carried out by an intruder. After two appeals and the discovery of vital new evidence, a sensational retrial took place in 2005. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and a retrial was ordered. The second jury was also divided and Sion Jenkins went free. Sallon charts the effects of profound changes in the English criminal law of evidence and discusses how the case would have been tried in the United States.

Christopher Sallon is a member of the Queen’s Counsel and a member of the Gray’s Inn of Court in London. He specializes in high-profile, general crime, with emphasis on fraud and cases which involve medicine and forensic science. He also acts as a specialist adviser to parliamentary committees and other organizations. He has lectured at universities throughout the United States on trial advocacy and comparative civil liberty issues.