Professor Fiona de Londras appointed to the Barber Chair of Jurisprudence
The prestigious post within Birmingham Law School, recognising an outstanding researcher in public law, goes to a woman for the first time in 89 years.
Birmingham Law School has appointed Professor Fiona de Londras to the Barber Chair of Jurisprudence, following the retirement of Professor Anthony Arnull KC (Hon) from the role in 2022.
Established by Lady Barber in 1935, the Chair of Jurisprudence is one of two Chairs of Law funded by the Barber Trust at Birmingham Law School. It is traditionally held by an academic leading or engaged in exceptional public law research. This is the first time a woman has been appointed to the post.
I am delighted that Fiona has been appointed to this Barber Chair. Given the prestigious nature of the appointment, the decision was made by a panel of experts and all panel members were extremely impressed with Fiona’s clear leadership in research, the interdisciplinary work and leadership. I am really looking forward to seeing what Fiona can bring to this role and I know that we will be celebrating her significant successes in the future.
Professor de Londras has spent her professional and academic career working on the role of human rights in complex policy areas, initially focussing on counterterrorism before finding most acclaim for her work in reproductive rights and abortion law reform. She was appointed as the inaugural Chair of Global Legal Studies at Birmingham Law School in 2015, and is the Director of Research and Knowledge Transfer for the College of Arts and Law.
I am honoured to be appointed the Barber Professor of Jurisprudence. I acknowledge the outstanding work of my predecessors in the role, especially Professor Anthony Arnull KC, with whom I was lucky to work for many years. I am delighted to continue the work that Lady Barber began in the early 1930s when she established the Henry Barber Trust to fund professorships in law, fine art and music. Her vision of an interdisciplinary scholarly community was ahead of its time, and is one I am proud to contribute to through my ongoing work on national and international human rights and constitutional law.
