Legal Director to Share Findings of Deaths in Custody Report
13th March 2015
Two of the highest-profile figures in policing and human rights will be put under the spotlight during Sheffield Hallam University's week-long celebration of social justice.
The Reverend Dr Alan Billings will be reflecting on his first six months as South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner - when he has handled the publication of Louise Casey's report into children's services in Rotherham and secured additional home office funding for the family of Ben Needham. He will share a platform with Rebecca Hilsenrath, legal director of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, who will be discussing the results of the commission's inquiry into adult deaths in custody. They will both be speaking and answering questions at Sheffield Hallam's public law lecture, part of the University's first-ever social justice week, on Wednesday 25 March, starting at 12 noon. Places must be booked in advance through Eventbrite. David Best Professor of criminology at Sheffield Hallam, said: "We are delighted to welcome speakers of the calibre of Alan and Rebecca to the University. "In Social Justice Week we turn the spotlight on issues such as police accountability, deaths in custody, forced marriages and recovery from addiction. "These events celebrate the University's commitment to promoting human rights and social justice after the setting-up of our Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice." Rebecca said: "I'm looking forward to sharing the findings of the Commission's recent report into deaths in custody. It demonstrates the need for urgent action and a fundamental culture shift to tackle the unacceptable and inadequate support for vulnerable detainees with mental health conditions. "Human rights are for all of us and nothing is more fundamental than our right to life." The Commission is an independent, non-departmental public body and United Nations accredited National Human Rights Institution. It works to protect and promote an effective legal and regulatory framework for equality and human rights in Great Britain by influencing legislative and policy developments, by using its statutory legal powers and by reviewing the government's commitment to fulfilling its legal obligations. The Commission's recent legal work includes successful interventions in cases at the Supreme Court and High Court involving issues such as the Independent Living Fund; discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation by hotel owners; the rights of minors who have been the victims of trafficking and how the police respect the right to privacy.
