Baroness Helena Kennedy leads panel

Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC has been appointed as the new Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom. She succeeds Lord Neuberger, who has led the Panel since its establishment in 2019. The High Level Panel, serving as the independent advisory body to the Media Freedom Coalition, provides strategic guidance and expert legal advice aimed at promoting media freedom worldwide. The Coalition, currently co-chaired by the governments of Estonia and Germany, expressed gratitude to Lord Neuberger for his leadership over the past five years.

Baroness Kennedy’s appointment marks a significant development for the Panel. As one of its founding members, she brings a wealth of experience and influence in human rights law. A barrister with over five decades at the Bar of England and Wales, she is recognised as one of the UK’s foremost human rights lawyers, having represented defendants in landmark cases. Additionally, she is a King's Counsel, a distinguished member of the House of Lords, and was recently appointed to the Order of the Thistle, Scotland's highest order of chivalry. Her previous leadership roles include serving as the Director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), which acts as the Secretariat to the Panel, and as Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, where she founded the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights.

Baroness Kennedy has a notable history of championing democratic principles and media freedom. Her tenure includes chairing major inquiries such as the Power Inquiry, which examined the state of democracy in the UK. Internationally, she has served as a lead investigator on the United Nations team investigating the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Reflecting on her appointment, Professor Can Yeginsu and Catherine Amirfar, Deputy Chairs of the High Level Panel, praised Baroness Kennedy’s commitment. They noted that her foundational role and ongoing contributions make her ideally suited to advance the Panel’s mission, particularly as the Coalition reaches its five-year mark.

Baroness Kennedy’s extensive legal and advisory background signals a renewed focus on media freedom issues as she leads the High Level Panel into its next chapter, supporting press protection and media independence on a global scale.