Defence Counsel ‘Maestro’

Description:

Most  literature in international criminal justice/law has considered the  victim, prosecutor, courts, or the perpetrators. Yet, the defence lawyer  as a key protagonist is largely ignored. The SLSA-funded ‘Defence  Counsel “Maestro” project aims to rectify this gap. It will focus on the  Polish defence lawyer Stanisław Hejmowski (1900-1969). Hejmowski made a  mark at the national war crimes trials of 1946-1948 and later in the  high-profile trials of 1956, which involved strikers in Poznań. His  success was based on training in a state at a time when five separate  legal systems were in force owing to partition rule that lasted over a  century in Poland. This project will access Hejmowski’s private,  personal archive and case notes to inform a better understanding about  the defence lawyer and the strategies that are used in high-profile  cases.

Bio:

Dr Agata Fijalkowski is Reader-in-Law at Leeds Beckett University. Her research looks at  national war crimes trials post-WW2 and the respective legal teams.  Agata’s monograph Law, Visual Culture, and the Show Trial with Routledge  is forthcoming in 2023.