Professor Johanne Erica "Jo" Delahunty, (born 15 September 1963) is a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, judge, and legal academic.

Called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1986, she specialises in

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriag ...

and

child protection Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions ...

. She has also been a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

since 2009, and was the

Gresham Professor of Law The Professor of Law at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1597, when it created seven professorships; this was later increased to ten. Law is one of the orig ...

from 2016 to 2020.

Early life

Johanne Erica Delahunty was born on 15 September 1963. Although her mother was still legally married to her father, Johanne was born in the unmarried mothers ward, Whittington Hospital, Archway, London, as her father had abandoned her mother while pregnant. She grew up living with her mother, grandmother and grandfather in East Finchley, London, and attended comprehensive schools. She was the first in her family to stay in education beyond the age of 15. She then became the first in her family to attend university, earning herself a place at St Anne's College, Oxford, to study law in 1982, and subsequently became the first 'professional' in the family.

Career in court

Delahunty is one of the UK's leading family barristers, specialising in child protection law. She rose to prominence, and has won industry awards, for her work in contentious cases involving complex medical evidence and catastrophic injuries contributing to the death of a child, child sex abuse, witchcraft/ritualized abuse and ISIS radicalisation cases. Her clients often have mental health difficulties or serious learning difficulties. Jo acts for children who have been sexually abused and face allegations of sexually abusing others. Delahunty was called to the Bar in 1986 and, in 2006, was appointed a

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

. She was appointed a

in 2009 and was made a Bencher of

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 2011. Delahunty was a member of the legal team that investigated the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal crowd crush at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the tw ...

and her work led to the conclusions of an inquest that the fans were not to blame and that the inaction of the

South Yorkshire Ambulance Service South Yorkshire Ambulance Service was the NHS ambulance service covering South Yorkshire, England. On 1 July 2006, it was merged into the new Yorkshire Ambulance Service. History South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service (SYMAS) was form ...

contributed to the number of fatalities.

Career in academia

Delahunty was

from 2016 to 2020, a role that she performed alongside her full-time silk practice at 4 Paper Buildings, Temple, London. The professors of

Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England that does not accept students or award degrees. It was founded in 1597 under the Will (law), will of Sir Thomas Gresham, ...

give free public lectures, rather than teaching enrolled students. As Gresham Professor of Law, she gave a series of lectures on wide-ranging aspects of law of public interest. She was made an Emeritus Gresham Professor of Law in 2020 and awarded a Fellowship in recognition of her contribution to the reputation and reach of the college, expanding its audience to include young men and women and those from disadvantaged and underrepresented groups .

Honours

On 13 March 2019, she was granted the

Freedom of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

as one of 100 women chosen to celebrate the centenary of the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) was an act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The act extended the franchise in pa ...

Recognition & Awards

Group Recipient for the Hillsborough Inquest Family Lawyers*

References

External links

Have Women Achieved Professional Equality in the Legal Profession?
Gresham College lecture 2019] {{DEFAULTSORT:Delahunty, Jo 1963 births Living people English King's Counsel 21st-century English judges Academics of Gresham College 21st-century King's Counsel 21st-century British women lawyers 21st-century British women judges