Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws

The Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws
Official portrait, 2025
Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University
In office
26 July 2018 – 8 May 2025
Preceded byRobert Winston, Baron Winston
Succeeded byUriah Rennie
Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford
In office
September 2011 – 2018
Preceded byDiana Walford
Succeeded byHelen Mountfield
Member of the House of Lords
Life peerage
27 October 1997
Personal details
BornHelena Ann Kennedy
(1950-05-12) 12 May 1950
Glasgow, Scotland
PartyLabour
Spouse
Iain Louis Hutchison
(m. 1986)
Domestic partnerIain Mitchell (1978–1984)
Children3
Occupation
Websitehelenakennedy.co.uk
Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox officeholder with deprecated parameter "termlabel3". Replace with "term_label3".
Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox officeholder with deprecated parameter "nationality". It should be removed.

Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018. A bencher of Gray's Inn, she is an Honorary Writer to the Signet and the recipient of 42 honorary degrees from many universities including those of Glasgow and Edinburgh in recognition of work on women and the law and on widening participation in higher education. She is president of Justice, the law reform think tank, and director of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI). In 2024, Kennedy succeeded Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury as chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom.