Nigel John Richardson (born February 1958) is a British human rights lawyer who serves as a deputy district judge. He was appointed to that office in May 2009. As a lawyer, Richardson is known for representing victims of human rights abuses in high-profile criminal cases with international element.

Legal career

Richardson was educated at University of Oxford and London Guildhall University. He was admitted as a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

in 1972. He became a trainee solicitor at

Hodge Jones & Allen Hodge Jones & Allen is a London solicitors founded in September 1977 by Henry Hodge, Peter Jones, and Patrick Allen, specialising in legal aid work and favouring radical causes. History In 1976, Patrick Allen, an articled clerk at Mayfair s ...

which specialises in human rights in 1985 and a senior partner in the firm in 1994. In 2009 Richardson was appointed Deputy District Judge sitting in the

Magistrates court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cou ...

Human rights

Gay rights

In 2012 Richardson acted for Michael Peacock in a landmark

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

trial which changed the law on obscene publications in this county and was seen as a test of the Obscene Publications Act 1959. Peacock, a male escort, was charged with six counts of distributing obscene DVDs under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. He was found not guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court.

Pornography

In 2012, Richardson, together with his colleague

Myles Jackman Myles Jackman is an English lawyer who specialises in defending cases related to pornography. Jackman was born at Basildon Hospital, where his father, a consultant radiologist and his mother, Susan, a radiology technician, worked and met. He w ...

, successfully defended

Simon Walsh Simon Walsh is a British barrister specialising in police, licensing, and ecclesiastical law, a Magistrates of England and Wales, magistrate in the City of London, and an Alderman of the City of London for the Wards of the United Kingdom, ward of ...

, barrister and

Greater London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

member who was accused of possession of

extreme pornography Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 is a law in the United Kingdom criminalising possession of what it refers to as "extreme pornographic images". The law came into force on 26 January 2009. The legislation was brought in ...

under

Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 is a law in the United Kingdom criminalising possession of what it refers to as "extreme pornographic images". The law came into force on 26 January 2009. The legislation was brought in ...

. The case came as a test to the Act.

Racism

In 2016 Richardson represented

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

actor Marc Anwar who became the centre of a racism row after posting a controversial comment about Indians on Twitter, which resulted in his sacking from the ITV soap.

Joe Orton's retrial

As a judge, Richardson presided over

Joe Orton John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his death in 1967, was short but highly influential. During this brie ...

's retrial in 2012. Orton was an English writer who in 1962 was sentenced to six months imprisonment for historic sexual offences and fined for stealing and damaging Islington Public Library books. Prosecution insisted on retrial fifty years after he served his conviction. The case made national headlines with newspapers arguing as to whether it was right to put Orton on trial. Orton later suggested that the lengthy sentence was given because he was a "queer."

Academic career and publications

Richardson was a visiting criminal law lecturer of

Oxford Institute of Legal Practice The Oxford Institute of Legal Practice (OXILP) was a law school based in Oxford, England, which specialised in teaching the Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, also known as the Legal Practice Course (LPC). History The Oxford Institute of L ...

from 2001, until its closure in 2013. In 2014, together with Peter Clark, barrister at 187 Fleet Street Chambers who specialises in sex cases, he co-authored a book called ''Sexual Offences – A Practitioner’s Guide.'' Richardson also co-authored ''Blackstones Guide to the Human Rights Act 2000''.

Charity

Richardson is a trustee of English Collective of Prostitutes, a charity which aims to transform the lives of sex workers by campaigning against decriminalisation of prostitution and provides information, help, and support to individual sex workers and others who are concerned with sex workers' human,

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

, legal, and economic rights.

References

External links

Criminal Defense Lawyer Nigel Richardson talking about decriminalisation of Sex Work at the House of Commons

Niki Adams talking about Criminalisation of Sex Work at the House of Commons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Nigel 1958 births Living people Alumni of the University of Oxford Lawyers from London British civil rights activists Criminal defense lawyers British legal writers Human rights lawyers English human rights activists British solicitors