Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin Appointed Honorary King's Counsel to His Majesty King Charles III

On Silk Day, one of the most important days for the legal profession in the United Kingdom, successful applicants were formally sworn in as King's Counsel, the hallmark of advocacy excellence in the UK. Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin was appointed Honorary King's Counsel to His Majesty King Charles III on Monday 18th of March by the Lord Chancellor in Westminster Hall, London, the site of the most famous British trials including that of Charles 1 at the end of the English Civil War, William Wallace, Thomas More, Guy Fawkes, and the rebel Scottish lords of the 1715 rebellion. Her appointment was for her decades-long work supporting the peace process in Northern Ireland, advancing human rights protection in England and Wales, and for her work as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, including for the victims of terrorism. It is a life-long appointment.

"I am proud and delighted to be appointed Honorary K.C.," said Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin. "This is the highest honor as a lawyer in the United Kingdom. To stand in Westminster Hall was to appreciate the weight of history and the importance of law to democracy and to be grateful for all the opportunities I have had to serve the rule of law in my profession."

Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin is Regents Professor; Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy, and Society, and faculty director of Minnesota Law's Human Rights Center. She is also a professor at Queen's University of Belfast School of Law in Northern Ireland.