Mayflower 400 Lecture 2025

Dame Victoria Sharp DBE, President of the Kings Bench Division
Dame Victoria Sharp DBE, President of the Kings Bench Division
Royal Courts of Justice

  • Levinsky Hall, Roland Levinsky Building, ¾«Æ·ÎÞÂë¹ú²ú×Ô²ú

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Please join us for the annual Mayflower 400 Lecture — the 30th in a series of evening talks which began with the Pilgrim Fathers Lecture delivered by Lord Bingham in 1994. The lecture by tradition embodies themes of freedom and human rights, and commemorates the voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 which is described by some as one of the most influential journeys in global history, and a defining moment in the relationship between Britain, the USA and the Netherlands.
Dame Victoria Sharp DBE, President of the Kings Bench Division, is the latest in a long list of distinguished members of the legal profession to present the lecture.
Arrival and registration is at 18:00 with the lecture starting at 18:30, followed by networking, including a drinks reception and a fantastic opportunity for Law students to engage with Dame Victoria. We aim to finish at around 20:30.
The lecture, organised by the ¾«Æ·ÎÞÂë¹ú²ú×Ô²ú Law Society and hosted by the ¾«Æ·ÎÞÂë¹ú²ú×Ô²ú and ¾«Æ·ÎÞÂë¹ú²ú×Ô²ú City Council, has become a celebrated annual event in the legal profession calendar, attracting current and past Lord Chancellors, Lord Justices of Appeal and Lords of Appeal.
For further information please contact events@plymouth.ac.uk
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Keynote Speaker Biography

Dame Victoria Sharp DBE, President of the Kings Bench Division
Dame Victoria Sharp read law at Bristol University, was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1979 and took silk in 2001. She became a Recorder in 1998-2008.
She was appointed as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2008, and a High Court Judge of the Queen’s Bench Division (now King’s Bench Division) in 2009.
She was a Presiding Judge on the Western Circuit from 2012 to 2013. She was appointed as a Lady Justice of Appeal in 2013.
She was appointed as the Vice-President of the Queen’s Bench Division (now King’s Bench Division) in January 2016, and President of the Queen’s Bench Division in June 2019.
In February 2020, she was appointed as Deputy Head of Criminal Justice.
Dame Victoria succeeded Sir Brian Leveson and is the first woman to hold the position of President of the King’s Bench Division.

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