Barbara Hewson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Barbara Hewson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Barbara Mary Hewson 2 June 1961 |
| Died | (aged 59)[1] |
| Alma mater | Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge |
| Occupations | Barrister; writer |
Barbara Mary Hewson (1961[3] – 9 January 2021) was an Anglo-Irish barrister with a practice in public law in both the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.[1] Hewson specialised in Court of Protection work, human rights, judicial review, and regulatory defence cases. She was interested in reproductive health and the rights of pregnant women, the mentally incapacitated and the mentally ill.
A controversial advocate for lowering the age of consent, in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal to end the "persecution of old men", the removal of anonymity in sexual abuse cases and the ending of Operation Yewtree, she was suspended from practice for two years for offensive social media comments in December 2019, a suspension later reduced in light of her terminal illness.[4][5][1]
Although born in Ireland, Barbara Hewson studied at St. Leonards-Mayfield School, Mayfield, East Sussex (1972–79). She studied English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge (1979–83).
She earned her B.A. (Hons) later upgraded to an M.A as is customary for Oxford and Cambridge degrees. She obtained a Diploma in Law at the Polytechnic of Central London, now the University of Westminster. In 1985, she was called to the Bar of England and Wales. In 1987, Hewson began her career in the Chancery bar, doing cases about wills, land and trusts, and she then joined a chambers specialising in EC and public law.[6][1]
Practice profile
Hewson appeared in a number of high-profile cases. In the 1990s, she campaigned against court-ordered treatment of pregnant women, claiming that family courts were depriving women of fundamental rights to personal autonomy and to a fair trial. She was critical of the Court of Appeal's ruling in the case of Jodie and Mary, the Maltese conjoined twins, in 2002, and acted for anti-abortion campaigner Bruno Quintavalle in an unsuccessful bid to stop the twins' separation.[7]
In Ireland, she appeared in a number of cases in the Four Courts in Dublin, notably concerning the home birth midwife Ann Kelly during 1997–2000, but also vulnerable adults.[8][9][10][11]
In 2010, she acted for the family of David Gray at the inquest into Mr Gray's death following an overdose of Diamorphine, administered by locum German doctor Daniel Ubani, who had been recruited by Take Care Now. Coroner William Morris gave a verdict of gross negligence manslaughter, and made 11 Recommendations to the Department of Health to improve out-of-hours GP services.[12] The Times profiled Hewson as its Lawyer of the Week on 11 February 2010.[13]
Affiliations
She had been a trustee of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service since 2007. She was made an Honorary Fellow of the University of Westminster in 2012. She was a founder-member of the Association of Women Barristers (AWB) in 1991.[14] The same year, Hewson was elected to the Bar Council of England & Wales. As Press Officer for the AWB, she became known for commenting on a range of issues concerning women and the law in national media.[citation needed]
Views
Hewson was long opposed to state paternalism in the field of medical decision-making, and strongly supported patient autonomy.[15] She supported abortion rights for women,[16][17] and women's rights in childbirth, arguing that abortion should be removed from criminal law.[18] She was a critic of Operation Yewtree.[19]
