Human dignity the theme for 2023 Macfadyen Lecture

This year’s Macfadyen Lecture will explore the concept of human dignity, now a central feature of almost all modern constitutions and international documents.

Organised by the Scottish Council of Law Reporting, the annual lecture honours the late Court of Session judge Lord Macfadyen. The guest lecturer this year is Justice Sikri, a former judge of the Supreme Court of India who now serves as an International Judge at the Singapore International Commercial Court.

Taking the title “Human Dignity: A Purpose in Perpetuity”, Justice Sikri will explore the three models of dignity: theological, philosophical and constitutional. As a constitutional value, human dignity involves a person’s free will, autonomy, and their ability to write a life story within time and space. As a constitutional right, he will show how the fulcrum of all human rights lies in human dignity and the way that constitutional courts of various nation states have carved out multiple facets of rights, utilising the concept of dignity, offering examples of comparative judicial pronouncements. 

Justice Sikri will explore how human dignity can give full expression to the process of world peace. With these perspectives in mind, he calls human dignity a purpose in perpetuity.   

The lecture takes place on Thursday 23 March at The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street, from 6pm. Tickets, which are free, can be booked at this link.