Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
To mark the beginning of an exceptional year of events celebrating UCL’s Bicentenary, we are delighted to announce that UCL Alumnus and Honorary Fellow, Professor Sir John Baker KC, will deliver the 2026 Bentham Association Presidential Address on
Sovereignty of Parliament and Legal History
Introduction
Professor Eloise Scotford (Dean, UCL Laws)
Chair
Professor Philippe Sands KC
About the talk
After some initial remarks about the beginnings of legal education at UCL two hundred years ago this year, the lecture will address the question whether legal history has any direct relevance to the state of public law today, with particular reference to the sovereignty of Parliament. There may be something to learn from the way Coke interpreted the sovereignty of the king, and his notion that the law could ‘control’ absurd acts of Parliament, if a way can be found to reconcile such ideas with our present notions of democracy.
About the speaker
Sir John Baker KC, a UCL alumnus and Honorary Fellow, is a renowned legal historian and scholar who was the Downing Professor of the Laws of England at the University of Cambridge. He read Law at UCL from 1962-1965, and was a member of Faculty between 1965-1970. He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1966 and was made an Honorary Bencher at Gray’s Inn in 1988.
Sir John is a leading expert on English legal history, particularly the common law, and a prolific author of influential books such as An Introduction to English Legal History. His contributions include extensive research, teaching at Cambridge, and a long career at the Inner Temple, where he is an Honorary Bencher. He was knighted in 2003 for his services to legal history.
To mark the beginning of an exceptional year of events celebrating UCL’s Bicentenary, we are delighted to announce that UCL Alumnus and Honorary Fellow, Professor Sir John Baker KC, will deliver the 2026 Bentham Association Presidential Address on
Sovereignty of Parliament and Legal History
Introduction
Professor Eloise Scotford (Dean, UCL Laws)
Chair
Professor Philippe Sands KC
About the talk
After some initial remarks about the beginnings of legal education at UCL two hundred years ago this year, the lecture will address the question whether legal history has any direct relevance to the state of public law today, with particular reference to the sovereignty of Parliament. There may be something to learn from the way Coke interpreted the sovereignty of the king, and his notion that the law could ‘control’ absurd acts of Parliament, if a way can be found to reconcile such ideas with our present notions of democracy.
About the speaker
Sir John Baker KC, a UCL alumnus and Honorary Fellow, is a renowned legal historian and scholar who was the Downing Professor of the Laws of England at the University of Cambridge. He read Law at UCL from 1962-1965, and was a member of Faculty between 1965-1970. He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1966 and was made an Honorary Bencher at Gray’s Inn in 1988.
Sir John is a leading expert on English legal history, particularly the common law, and a prolific author of influential books such as An Introduction to English Legal History. His contributions include extensive research, teaching at Cambridge, and a long career at the Inner Temple, where he is an Honorary Bencher. He was knighted in 2003 for his services to legal history.
