Claire Dorothea Taylor Palley (born 17 February 1931) is a South African academic and lawyer who specialises in constitutional and human rights law. She was the first woman to hold a Chair in Law at a United Kingdom university when she was appointed at

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

in 1970.

Life

Palley was born in South Africa in 1931. She attended Durban Girls' College before she went on to study at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

and after graduating took up a post as a lecturer in the Law School. She lived with her then husband Ahrn Palley for a while in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

. The Palleys moved to Rhodesia in the belief that it would offer a more liberal political regime than the apartheid system which then existed in South Africa. From 1962-1970 Ahrn Palley was Rhodesia's only Independent MP representing the predominantly black constituency of Highfield. As an authority on constitutional and human rights law, Claire was Constitutional Adviser to the African National Council at the constitutional talks on Rhodesia held in Geneva in 1976. Her books cover international relations and contemporary history, as seen from the standpoint of a constitutional, international and human rights lawyer, minority rights Her pioneering appointment as the first British woman law professor in 1970 at

was initially overlooked. It was not until the appointment of Gillian White at Manchester in 1975 (the second woman to become a law professor in the United Kingdom) that Claire Palley's appointment was mentioned in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. She was later Professor of Law and Master of Darwin College,

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

from 1973 to 1984 and became Principal of St Anne's College, Oxford in 1984. A hall of residence at St Anne's is named for her. In 1997 she was received an OBE for services to human rights.

Selected publications

* ''Constitutional Law and Minorities'' (Minority Rights Group, 1978) * ''The United Kingdom and Human Rights'' (The Hamlyn Trust, 1991) * ''An International Relations Debacle: The UN Secretary-General's Mission of Good Offices in Cyprus 1999-2004'' (Hart Publishing, 2005)

References

External links

*
Papers of Professor Claire Palley
* St Anne's College, Oxford
Palley, Claire Dorothea Taylor (b 1931) nee Swait
The National Archives
about her contribution to human rights
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palley, Claire 1931 births Living people 20th-century South African lawyers Academics of Queen's University Belfast Academics of the University of Kent Alumni of the University of London British Jews British legal scholars Members of the Middle Temple Place of birth missing (living people) Principals of St Anne's College, Oxford South African emigrants to Rhodesia South African emigrants to the United Kingdom South African Jews South African Officers of the Order of the British Empire South African people of English-Jewish descent University of Cape Town alumni Women legal scholars 20th-century South African women lawyers South African women academics