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Human-rights lecture from pioneering US judge

The annual Law Society Human Rights Lecture for this year will take place online on 7 June.

The Human Rights and Equality Committee, in partnership with the Law Society Professional Training, will host a Florida judge, Ginger Lerner-Wren, who will speak about her experience presiding over the first US mental-health court.

The court seeks to divert mentally-ill persons charged with misdemeanour (summary) and non-violent offences into community-based treatment as an alternative to incarceration.

The court defines itself as a human-rights strategy, prioritising dignity and restorative-justice goals.

The lecture will be chaired by Law Society Council member Gary Lee, who is also chair of the Human Rights and Equality Committee.

Gary Lee is a solicitor in the Office of the General Solicitor for Minors and Wards of Court, and was previously managing solicitor at Ballymun Community Law Centre.

Mental-health law

Gary Lee has extensive experience in disability and mental-health law, and has chaired Mental Health Tribunals for the past 16 years. He is also a former chair of the Disability Federation of Ireland.

Registration is now open, and attendance will offer one CPD point.