Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws

Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018. A bencher of Gray's Inn, she is an Honorary Writer to the Signet and the recipient of 42 honorary degrees from many universities including those of Glasgow and Edinburgh in recognition of work on women and the law and on widening participation in higher education. She is president of Justice, the law reform think tank, and director of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI). In 2024, Kennedy succeeded Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury as chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom.