Schona Jolly KC will bring together the history of the race equality legislation in the UK, important cases in which advances have been made, and some personal reflections from over 20 years of practising in the field on the changes that need to come next. This talk is held in conjunction with the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights.

Schona Jolly KC is a leading barrister, practising from Cloisters Chambers in London at the confluence of equality, human rights, employment, sports, artificial intelligence and international law. She leads teams of lawyers in complex domestic and international claims, including in group litigation, and is widely sought after for strategic advice on litigation and policy.

Schona is Head of Cloisters Human Rights and International Practice Groups. She was Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales from 2019- 2021, after being Vice Chair and an Executive Committee member. She is also a Visiting Professor at Goldsmiths University, London. Schona was appointed King’s Counsel (then Queen’s Counsel) in 2017.

She has co-authored and contributed to various textbooks on human rights, equality and employment law (including, recently: Judicial Independence Under Threat (OUP/British Academy); Equal Pay (OUP); and Sweet & Maxwell’s Human Rights Practice) as well as a contributor in the national press and academic journals.

Schona’s legal expertise is bolstered by her longstanding experience across international relations, rule of law and human rights legal and policy issues. She is particularly interested in legal and political systems which are faced with acute challenge. In recent years, this has included work relating to Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Myanmar, South Asia and Turkey, amongst others. She works with civil society groups, parliamentarians, government agencies, judges and legal professionals around the world in a strategic and advisory capacity. She is an experienced investigator in reputationally important and sensitive matters, as well as a mediator. She is multilingual, has lived and worked in a number of countries, and has a long-standing interest in Latin America.

In 2024, as Visiting Fellow to Hertford College and a Research Visitor to the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, Schona will be deepening her work on international law, human rights and foreign policy, and is currently writing a book.