Lorna McGregor

A leading human rights lawyer from the University of Essex has been announced this week as one of two new Commissioners to join the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Lorna McGregor, Director of the Human Rights Centre at Essex, will sit on the EHRC Board for the next four years. Her appointment was announced this week by Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities.

Lorna McGregor said: “I am delighted to have been appointed to the Commission. National human rights commissions play a key role in the protection and promotion of human rights in society and I am very much looking forward to contributing to the important work of the EHRC.”

Ms McGregor is one of two new Commissioners appointed this week. Susan Johnson, Chief Executive at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service has also joined the Board. They bring the number of Board members to 12.

Baroness Onora O’Neill, Chair of the EHRC and an Honorary Graduate of the University of Essex, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Lorna McGregor and Susan Johnson as new members of the EHRC’s Board of Commissioners. Their wealth of knowledge and experience will strengthen the Board and they will play an important part in steering the Commission’s ongoing work to make Great Britain a fairer place for all. I look forward to working with them.”

Lorna McGregor is a Reader in Law at Essex. She was previously the International Legal Advisor at REDRESS and a legal advisor to the International Bar Association. She holds an LLB (Hons) from Edinburgh Law School and an LLM from Harvard Law School where she was a Kennedy Memorial Trust Scholar and Henigson Fellow.

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More information
1. For further information, or a picture of Lorna McGregor, please contact the University of Essex Communications Office, telephone: 01206 873529 or email: comms@essex.ac.uk.

2. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is a statutory body established under the Equality Act 2006. It is an independent body responsible for protecting and promoting equality and human rights in Great Britain. It aims to encourage equality and diversity, eliminate unlawful discrimination, and promote and protect human rights. The Commission enforces equality legislation on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation. It encourages compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998 and is accredited by the UN as an ‘A status’ National Human Rights Institution.