Tributes pour in for lawyer Allan Levy

Children’s charities have paid tribute to Allan Levy QC, the
leading child law and human rights specialist, who died last week
from cancer aged 62.

Mary Marsh, chief executive of the NSPCC, described Levy as
“dedicated, determined and courageous” and “willing to stand up for
children against a tide of opinion”.

Interim chief executive at NCH, Maurice Rumbold said Levy would be
“sorely missed… for both his expertise and enormous commitment to
providing children with a voice”.

A tireless campaigner to outlaw smacking, in 1998 Levy won a ruling
from the European Court of Human Rights that English law breached
the human rights convention for allowing “reasonable chastisement”.

In 1991, Levy chaired the Pindown Inquiry into solitary confinement
in Staffordshire children’s homes, labelling the regime “a
fundamental abuse of human rights”, and leading to more than 140
children being compensated. He was also involved in ground-breaking
cases involving the right to die, surrogate births and
inter-country adoption.