Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

It's with great pleasure that I welcome you to tonight's McKenzie Stewart Lecture, the

annual lecture of the Centre for European Legal Studies here in the Faculty of Law at the

University of Cambridge. I'm Kenneth Armstrong. I'm Director of Cells and Professor of European Law in the University.

And it is particularly good to see you all here tonight on what has been a rather cold start to spring.

I think some accuse you of being snowflakes,

but I think we can safely say that we've left the snowflakes outside this evening.

Tonight's lecture is the 21st lecture to be given in a series

that is organised in honour of Lord Mackenzie Stewart,

the UK's first judge to be appointed to the European Court of Justice.

Now, Lord Mackenzie Stewart went on to be the president of the court,

and this lecture, I think, this lecture series is a fitting tribute to all the UK judges,

the lawyers and civil servants who since 1973 have played leading roles in shaping the political

and judicial institutions of the European Union.

Now the lecture series is generally supported by Sherman Sterling and Sells is grateful to be able to partner with them in organising tonight's event.

Now our speaker this evening is the right honourable Dominic Grave, QCMP,

and he'll be known to everyone in this room, although perhaps for somewhat different reasons.

He was called to the bar in 1980 and was appointed to QC in 2008. And in between, he was elected

to Parliament in 1997 for the constituency of Beaconsfield.

And in opposition, he served as shadow attorney general, shadow home secretary and shadow justice

secretary. Of course, under the coalition government, he was appointed Attorney General and served in that role until July

2014. But I think it is perhaps his life outside of shadow cabinet and cabinet, which has given

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