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| Liberty names barrister Martha Spurrier as new director | Liberty names barrister Martha Spurrier as new director |
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| The barrister and human rights campaigner Martha Spurrier is to become the next director of Liberty, in succession to Shami Chakrabarti. | The barrister and human rights campaigner Martha Spurrier is to become the next director of Liberty, in succession to Shami Chakrabarti. |
| Spurrier, 30, who specialises in claims against prisons, the police and health authorities, has been a member of Doughty Street Chambers in London for the past three years. | |
| Welcoming her appointment, Frances Butler, chair of Liberty, said: “Martha Spurrier shone out in a competitive field as our unanimous choice to lead Liberty into the next phase of its proud history. | |
| “She is a compelling and fearless campaigner with energy, gravitas, a first-class mind and a quick wit. We are confident that, under Martha’s leadership, Liberty will continue to vigorously and successfully champion all our rights and freedoms.” | “She is a compelling and fearless campaigner with energy, gravitas, a first-class mind and a quick wit. We are confident that, under Martha’s leadership, Liberty will continue to vigorously and successfully champion all our rights and freedoms.” |
| Spurrier, who studied history at Cambridge University, recently helped to organise a high profile poster campaign against government proposals to scrap the Human Rights Act. She has opposed cuts to legal aid. | |
| “It’s a huge privilege to join an organisation I’ve admired and supported for so long,” Spurrier said. “Liberty is a dynamic, dauntless and unshakeably principled force in the fight to protect our rights and freedoms. It has been fearlessly confronting state power for more than eight decades – and its work is needed now more than ever. | “It’s a huge privilege to join an organisation I’ve admired and supported for so long,” Spurrier said. “Liberty is a dynamic, dauntless and unshakeably principled force in the fight to protect our rights and freedoms. It has been fearlessly confronting state power for more than eight decades – and its work is needed now more than ever. |
| “In this fast-paced, complex, digital world, the battle to defend our human rights faces new frontiers. Liberty must continue to shine a light on abuses of power and protect equality, dignity and fairness in our society. I look forward to joining Liberty’s formidable staff and members to take on these challenges in the pivotal months and years to come.” | |
| Before joining Doughty Street, she worked as in-house counsel at the mental health charity, Mind, and the Public Law Project. In 2012, she served a six-month attachment as judicial assistant to Lord Justice Maurice Kay, vice-president of the civil division of the court of appeal. | |
| Spurrier lives on a houseboat moored on a canal in London. She is due to marry a fellow barrister at Doughty Street, Jesse Nicholls, later this summer. She has worked as a night lawyer for the Guardian. | |
| Liberty was founded in 1934 in response to hunger marches. The organisation is currently campaigning against the investigatory powers bill, fighting to preserve the Human Rights Act, and is critical of the government’s policing, immigration detention and asylum policies, which it says “threaten race relations and lack compassion”. | |
| Chakrabarti said: “I am proud to be succeeded by such a brilliant young barrister – a woman so capable of taking her advocacy from our highest courts to the nation’s hearts. | Chakrabarti said: “I am proud to be succeeded by such a brilliant young barrister – a woman so capable of taking her advocacy from our highest courts to the nation’s hearts. |
| “With so many threats to refugee protection, online privacy and even our Human Rights Act, Liberty was never more needed, nor its leadership ever in better hands.” | “With so many threats to refugee protection, online privacy and even our Human Rights Act, Liberty was never more needed, nor its leadership ever in better hands.” |
| Spurrier starts at the end of May. Chakrabarti, who has not revealed her next career move, leaves Liberty this week. She had pledged to stay in post until her successor was chosen. | |
| In a related development, civil liberties groups, legal organisations and charities have signed a letter to the Guardian calling on the Ministry of Justice to fulfil its pledge to review the impact of legal aid cuts on access to justice. | |
| The letter says: “The government has repeatedly said they will carry out a review to assess the full impact of the legal aid changes after three years. Today we call on ministers to fulfil this commitment at the earliest opportunity. We believe it is vital for government to ensure nobody is denied access to justice based on their ability to pay.” | |
| Organised by Jo Edwards, the solicitor chair of Resolution, which represents family lawyers, the letter warns that the introduction of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act has deprived many vulnerable people of representation in court and the ability to obtain redress. | |
| Among those who have supported the call are Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC, chair of the Bar Council, Jonathan Smithers, president of the Law Society, Fiona Weir, chief executive of Gingerbread, Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, Julie Bishop, director of the Law Centres Federation, and Steve Hynes, director of the Legal Action Group. |