Martha Spurrier Explained

Martha Spurrier
Occupation:Barrister, human rights campaigner, former director of Liberty
Nationality:British
Education:Godolphin and Latymer School
Alma Mater:Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge
Spouse:Jesse Nicholls

Martha Spurrier (born 1986) is a British barrister and human rights campaigner. She was the director of the advocacy group Liberty from 2016 to 2024.[1] [2]

Early life

Spurrier was educated at Godolphin and Latymer School in London, and then at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where she graduated with a BA (Hons) in history. She took a law conversion course at City University London, and then the bar professional training course at BPP University.

Career

Before joining Liberty from June 2016, Spurrier worked as a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, of which she remains an associate tenant.[3] [4] She is the author of Freedom to Write: A User's Guide (English PEN, 2012).

In 2015, she was one of the three joint founders of the "Act for the Act" campaign (with Caoilfhionn Gallagher and Fiona Bawdon), a crowdfunded advertising campaign to tell positive stories about the Human Rights Act 1998.[5] [6]

She took up her post at Liberty at the end of May 2016, taking over from Shami Chakrabarti.[7] She was replaced as director by Akiko Hart in January 2024.

In July 2018, Spurrier was awarded the "Hero Award" at the 20th Annual ISPA Awards by the ISPA Council for challenging the Investigatory Powers Act in the High Court.[8]

Personal life

She is married to fellow barrister Jesse Nicholls.[9]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Bowcott. Owen. Liberty names barrister Martha Spurrier as new director. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. 31 March 2016. 31 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160331120702/http://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/mar/31/liberty-names-barrister-martha-spurrier-new-director-shami-chakrabarti. 31 March 2016. live.
  2. Akiko Hart takes over from Martha Spurrier as permanent Director of Liberty . Liberty . 24 January 2024.
  3. News: Isaac. Anna. Martha Spurrier, head of Liberty: 'Human rights will be the fight of our generation'. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. 8 June 2016. 8 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160917033652/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jun/08/martha-spurrier-head-liberty-human-rights-act-fight?CMP=share_btn_tw. 17 September 2016. live.
  4. Web site: Martha Spurrier (Associate). Doughty Street Chambers. 30 April 2018 . 28 August 2023.
  5. News: Bowcott . Owen . 2015-10-19 . Ad campaign aims to rally support to save Human Rights Act . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-02-16 . 0261-3077.
  6. Web site: 'Dangerous territory' for human rights: Martha Spurrier in conversation with Helena Kennedy. Oliver. Carter. The Justice Gap. 15 September 2016. 28 August 2023.
  7. News: Liberty names barrister Martha Spurrier as new director. BBC News. 31 March 2016. 31 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160331190029/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35936208. 31 March 2016. live.
  8. Web site: Martha Spurrier, Director of Liberty, crowned Internet Hero as Gigaclear picks up two awards at the 20th Annual ISPA Awards . 13 July 2018 . ISPA UK . 1 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190531232449/https://www.ispa.org.uk/martha-spurrier-director-of-liberty-crowned-internet-hero-as-gigaclear-picks-up-two-awards-at-the-20th-annual-ispa-awards/ . 31 May 2019 . live .
  9. News: Liberty chief condemns 'irresponsible rhetoric' on Brexit. Anne. Croft. Financial Times. 14 November 2016.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Martha Spurrier".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.