Lionel Cohen Lecture

Introduction

First let me say that I regard it as a great honour and a privilege to be asked to give this year's Lionel Cohen Lecture. I am very grateful to Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson as President and Professor Barak Medina as Dean of the Faculty for hosting this event here at the Hebrew University. It is a pleasure to be giving this lecture in a city of such central importance to three great religions; a city steeped in historical significance; but also a city which—through institutions such as the Hebrew University—is preparing today's youth for a bright future. Whilst I recognize and celebrate the University's distinguished heritage, it is particularly gratifying to find an institution not resting on the past but actively preparing for the future through its outreach projects such as those of the Clinical Legal Education Center for Human Rights and Social Responsibility. I am very interested in the work being done through the clinics on domestic violence and on youth justice through initiatives such as the “Street Law” program. This work chimes with many of my own priorities and concerns, and I was therefore very grateful to learn more about this work from Sharon Sionov Arad. I confess that I will steal every good idea I heard, but I also promise that I will give every credit where it is due for those that I do!