The Centre organises the Annual Sir William Dale Memorial Lecture. Prestigious speakers from the UK and abroad explore the latest developments on issues related to legislative drafting.

  1. The first Sir William Dale Memorial lecture took place on Monday, 2 July 2001. Dame Judge Rosalyn Higgins of the International Court of Justice addressed a large audience of foreign signatories, Law Lords, civil servants and academics and discussed the "Colonial Law and Clarity of Drafting: The International Court and William Dale's Two Abiding Interests". The lecture was chaired by the Rt. Hon. Lord Clyde.
  2. The second Memorial lecture took place on Monday, 28 October 2002 in the Chancellor's Hall, Senate House, University of London. The Rt. Hon. the Lord Goldsmith, QC, Her Majesty's Attorney General discussed "Parliament for Lawyers: An Overview of the Legislative Process".
  3. The third Memorial lecture took place on Monday 27 October 2003 in the Chancellor's Hall, Senate House, University of London. The Rt Hon. Lord Hope of Craighead discussed "What a Second Chamber Can Do for Legislative Scrutiny". Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, chaired the lecture.
  4. The fourth Memorial lecture took place on Monday, 8 November 2004 in the Beveridge Hall of Senate House, University of London. Jean Claude Piris, Director-General of the Legal Services of the Council of the European Union, analysed the topic "The Legal Orders of the European Community and of the Member States: Peculiarities and Influences in Drafting". Sir Geoffrey Bowman KCB, First Parliamentary Counsel, chaired the lecture.
  5. The fifth Memorial lecture took place on Monday, 7 November 2005 in the Chancellor's Hall of Senate House, University of London. Sir Geoffrey Bowman KCB, First Parliamentary Counsel, discussed "The Art of Legislative Drafting". Lady Justice Mary Arden DBE chaired the lecture.
  6. The sixth Memorial Lecture took place on Friday, 10 November 2006 at Chatham House. Professor Kader Asmal MP, National Assembly, South Africa discussed "The South African Constitution and the transition from apartheid: Legislating the reconciliation of rights in a multi-cultural society". Professor Jeffrey Jowell QC chaired the lecture.
  7. The seventh Memorial Lecture took place on Thursday, 1 November 2007 at the IALS. The Hon. Mr Justice Etherton Chairman of The Law Commission for England and Wales discussed "The Law Commission in the 21st century: fitness for purpose in a changed environment". Lord Rodger of Earlsferry chaired the lecture.
  8. The eighth Memorial Lecture took place on Monday, 3 November 2008 at the IALS. Stephen Laws CB, First Parliamentary Counsel, discussed "Plus ça change? Continuity and Change in UK Legislative Drafting Practice". Sir George Engle KCB, QC chaired the lecture.
  9. The ninth Memorial Lecture took place on Tuesday 3 November 2009 at the IALS. Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, discussed "Repentance at leisure: the politics of legislation and law of unintended consequence". Richard Nzerem chaired the Lecture. See the video of Shami Chakrabarti's lecture.
  10. The tenth Memorial Lecture took place on Tuesday 11 January 2011 at the IALS. Professor Margaret Wilson, Professor of Law and Public Policy, University of Waikato, New Zealand;  former Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament; former Attorney-General, New Zealand discussed "Gender Neutral Law Drafting: the Challenge of Translating Policy into Legislation".   Professor Margaret Wilson is the first holder of the New Zealand-United Kingdom Link Foundation Visiting Professorship. See the video of Professor Wilson's lecture.
  11. The eleventh Memorial Lecture took place on Monday 31 October 2011 at the Beveridge Hall, Senate House. Eleanor Sharpston QC, Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union discussed "Drafting comprehensible legislation in a multi-lingual, multi-legal-system environment: some reflections on the EU drafting process and its consequences". See the video of AG Eleanor Sharpston QC's lecture.
  12. The twelfth Memorial Lecture took place on Thursday 22 November 2012 at the IALS. The Rt Hon Lord Justice Lloyd Jones, Chairman of the Law Commission and Lord Justice of Appeal discussed "The Law Commission and the implementation of law reform".
  13. The thirteenth Memorial Lecture took place on Wednesday 14 May 2014 at the IALS. Richard Heaton, First Parliamentary Counsel and Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office discussed "Innovation and Continuity in Law making".
  14. The fourteenth Memorial Lecture took place on Monday 3 November 2014 at the IALS. Sir Geoffrey Bowman, KCB, QC, First Parliamentary Counsel 2002-2006; LLD (Hon), University of London; Senior Associate Research Fellow, IALS discussed "Is Legislation Literature?"
  15. The fifteenth Memorial Lecture took place on Monday 30 November 2015 at the IALS. Theodore Huckle QC, Y Cwnsler Cyffredinol/ Counsel General Llywodraeth Cymru/ Welsh Government discussed: "Fixes, fudges and falling short"? The need to develop a coherent devolution settlement for Wales" .  Chair:  Dylan M Hughes, First Legislative Counsel, Office of the Legislative Counsel, Welsh Government / Y Prif Gwnsler Deddfwriaethol, Swyddfa y Cwnsleriaid Deddfwriaethol, Llywodraeth Cymru. See video recording...
  16. The sixteenth Memorial Lecture took place on Friday 1 December 2017 at the IALS. Elizabeth Gardiner, First Parliamentary Counsel discussed "The legislative side of Brexit." The 2017 Sir William Dale memorial lecture was an event that attracted experts from government, the Commonwealth and the EU. It was a policy neutral examination of the Bill on Brexit and, as expected, it attracted national and international publicity. Elizabeth Gardiner explained in great detail the content and expectations of the Bill on Brexit to an audience of national and international experts, practitioners, academics, representatives of organizations and journalists. The Lecture was followed by the Round Table of experts in which Sir Stephen Laws, Hayley Rogers and Dr Constantin Stefanou discussed specific aspects of the Bill and were quizzed by participants. On the whole an excellent and very informative set of events on a topic which usually invites controversy.