Arthur Goodhart Inaugural lectures

In 2023 the Faculty reinstated a historic tradition: that of the inaugural Arthur Goodhart Visiting Professor in Legal Science Lecture.

2026: The role of international lawyers in the age of strongmen

On Friday 13 March 2026, Professor Joan Donoghue delivered the Goodhart Professor Lecture on the topic 'The Role of International Lawyers in the Age of Strongmen'.

Professor Donoghue characterises her law school years (1978-1981) and the ensuing two decades as a period of consolidation and growth in international law. By contrast, today’s law students start their careers at a time when there are daily news stories about muscular national leaders who stifle opposition, prioritise personal advantage, disparage international law and show disregard for human life and dignity. Daunting as the situation may be, Professor Donoghue believes that the youngest generation of international lawyers has comparative advantages that equip them to lead in responding to the challenges that the strongmen present to international law and institutions. She calls attention, for example, to the regional diversity within the group, the ease with which students can access competing viewpoints, their capacity to harness technologies for good and the reputation of their generation for impatience.

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2025: Third world approaches to international law

On Friday 7 March 2025, Professor Antony Anghie delivered the Goodhart Professor Lecture on the topic 'Third World Approaches to International Law'.

Tony Anghie teaches international law at the National University of Singapore, and the University of Utah. Professor Anghie was the 2024-25 Arthur Goodhart Visiting Professor of Legal Science in the University of Cambridge and a visiting fellow of Clare Hall.

His research interests include the history and theory of international law, human rights, international economic law, and the law relating to the use of force. He is a member of the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) network of scholars. He is a co-editor in chief of the Asian Journal of International Law. He served as the Secretary General of the Asian Society of International Law from 2017-2023.

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2023: The legal science of the international

On Monday 6 February 2023 the current incumbent Professor Campbell McLachlan KC delivered the Goodhart Lecture at the Faculty of Law on the topic 'The legal science of the international'.

Professor Campbell McLachlan was the 2022-23 Arthur Goodhart Visiting Professor of Legal Science in the University of Cambridge and a visiting fellow of Trinity Hall. He is Professor of Law at Victoria University of Wellington; a member of the Institut de Droit International and of the Permanent Court of Arbitration; and an associate member of Essex Court Chambers, London.

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