Robin Cooke Lecture 2025—Dr Síofra O'Leary

The 2025 Robin Cooke lecture was delivered by Dr Síofra O'Leary, former Judge and President of the European Court of Human Rights (2015 – 2024). While at the European Court she served as President of Section V, Vice-President and as the Court’s 17th President, the first woman to be elected to this position. Dr O'Leary's lecture, "Climate change and courts: role, limits and potential", explored the response of Europe’s regional human rights court and other regional and international tribunals to climate change litigation, looking at the nature of and limits to the judicial role in the field of climate change. She also reflected on the reaction of judges and legal commentators to those courts rulings, exploring whether the potential of the law is over or under valued in this complex field. The Robin Cooke Lecture is held in honour of the late Lord Cooke of Thorndon, a distinguished alumnus of Victoria University of Wellington’s Faculty of Law. Widely regarded as New Zealand's most eminent jurist, Lord Cooke is the only New Zealand judge to have served in the United Kingdom’s House of Lords. A longstanding tradition at the Faculty of Law, the annual lecture is generously supported by the Cooke family and remains a highlight of the academic calendar.