The Career of Baroness Helena Kennedy KC

Written by Robyn Macarthur

Baroness Helena Kennedy KC has been hailed as one of Britain’s most distinguished lawyers. She has committed her professional career to the promotion of civil liberties and human rights and has also gave a voice to those who have the least ‘power’ (or who are ‘voiceless’) within the system. As you will see later in this article, Baroness Helena Kennedy KC has also had a significant career within other areas of social life, particularly in the world of politics.

A snapshot of her legal career:

Baroness Helena Kennedy KC was called to the Bar (at Gray’s Inn - one of the four Inn’s of Court which barristers in this country must join when passing the Bar) in 1972. Later, in 1991 she was made Queen’s Council - which is now King’s Council. Queen’s/King’s Council (depending on the monarch at the time) is one of the highest accolades a barrister can receive. Essentially, the title recognises a lawyers excellence in advocacy and so only the best advocates in the country attain QC/KC status.

Throughout her career, she has worked on countless cases involving domestic violence, including defending ‘battered woman’ who, as a result of the abuse they have suffered, killed their partners. Helena has arguably made a name for herself in cases like these, so much so that during an episode of ‘Inspector Morse’ she was accused as being someone who could ‘get woman away with murder’. In a 2022 interview with Mandy Rhodes, she revealed that this is an accusation which does not bother her. Her continued work in women’s rights demonstrates that such accusations have not impacted her work.

In 2021, Helena Kennedy was asked by the Scottish Government to help explore whether misogyny should be a stand-alone crime in Scotland. This work followed outcry surrounding a proposed hate-crime bill which did not include misogyny into the list of aggravators named in this legislation, despite the daily harassment and abuse many women experience. The work was also conducted when concerns around women’s safety following the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa were being vocalised. Helena and the group she selected to work with her on this issue found that due to the neutrality principle the law desperately seeks to uphold, the law does not ‘deal’ with misogyny. Arguably, this may lead to the criminal justice system generally not delivering for women - as can be seen in cases involving domestic violence and some of the ‘battered women’ Helena has defended. Ultimately, Helena concluded that “unless we deal with that [speaking of misogyny and entitlement], and deal with it within our criminal justice system, we, as women, will never get justice”.

Potentially due to the work Kennedy conducted in Scotland, the Misogyny and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act was proposed. If passed, this Act would make misogyny a statutory aggravator, in the same sense as characteristics such as race have been in the original hate-crime bill. Moreover, it would create three new offences aimed at protecting women and girls both online and offline.

It must be noted that, the above is only a fraction of what Baroness Helena Kennedy KC has achieved in terms of women’s rights throughout the country. One can say that she has devoted much of her career to advocating for women’s rights and trying to improve the situation for women within the legal system - for example advocating for the police to take cases of domestic abuse seriously and be more ‘tuned into’ what women in these situations are saying.

Finally, this article will conclude this section by providing examples of notable cases Helena Kennedy has worked on. Examples of these can include:

• the Brighton Bombing Trial;
• the Guildford Four Appeal;
• the Bombing of the Israeli Embassy; and
• the abduction of Baby Abbie Humphries.

Helena Kennedy and the world of politics:

As mentioned at the start of this article, Helena has also had a fairly significant political career. This section will provide us with some key dates from her political career.

• 1992 - 1997: Chair of Charter 88: a constitutional reform group who were set up in response to concerns around the failings of British institutions to serve our democracy. During her chairmanship, the group called for a multitude of things ranging from a written constitution to a proposed bill of rights.
• 1997: Appointed to the House of Lords
• 1998 - 2007: Chair of the Human Genetics Commission: an advisory body which provides the UK Government with advice on human genetics, how it impacts individuals lives and focuses on social, ethical and legal issues
• 1998 - 2004: Chair of the British Council
• 2006: Chair of the Power Inquiry: this inquiry produced the Power Report which fundamentally commented on the state of British Democracy.

The Helena Kennedy Foundation:

The Helena Kennedy Foundation was essentially created by members of the education sector. The creation of the Foundation was as a result of Helena’s work within the world of education. From 1991 to 1993, she was a commissioner for the National Commission for Education. Moreover, she was also the chair of the Further Education Commission into Widening Participation, and as a part of her chairmanship, she helped produce the ‘Learning Works 1997’ report. This report drew attention to the needs of adults in education nationally.

Fundamentally, this Foundation promotes equality of opportunity. It does so by supporting disadvantaged further education students through higher education and into fulfilling careers, which may not have been accessible to them without the support provided by the Helena Kennedy Foundation. The Foundation supports disadvantaged students through three primary means: 1. financial bursaries, 2. mentoring programmes and 3. other general forms of support. Additionally, the Foundation state that they achieve their goals by taking social action, encouraging social mobility and promoting social justice.

Helena Kennedy is the President of the Foundation. Dame Ann Limb (who helped set up the foundation) felt that it was crucial to incorporate the findings of Helena Kennedy (from the Learning Works report) into the foundations work. Those who helped in the creation of this foundation hoped that their work would contribute towards government policies on social justice, equity and diversity and widening participation in education.

As the years pass, the Foundation only continues to grow and gain more and continued support from those within the further education and higher education sectors respectively.

The Order of the Thistle:

Finally, as of early 2024, Baroness Helena Kennedy KC was appointed to the Order of the Thistle. This Order is very prestigious, especially in Scotland. In Scotland, the Order is regarded as the greatest award of chivalry and is only granted to those who have held public office or contributed to national life in a certain way.

The exact date that this Order was created remains unknown. However, many have speculated that it was created around the reign of James III due to his many changes of Royal Symbolism in Scotland.

The Order of the Thistle is very similar to the English Order of the Garter. The Order of the Garter was typically only awarded to those from an aristocratic background however, today it is now awarded in a similar way to its Scottish counterpart in that it is awarded to people from a variety of backgrounds as a recognition of their contribution to public service.

To conclude, this article has aimed to capture a snapshot of the (very inspiring) career of Baroness Helena Kennedy KC. Examples of the her key areas of work and prominent cases she has worked on have been highlighted. The article has also mentioned an example of what has been created in light of her work and has ended with briefly discussing a well-deserved award Helena has recently acquired.