We are delighted to welcome leading barrister, Can Yeğinsu, as a new trustee, to help continue our mission to protect freedom of expression.

Can Yeğinsu said: ‘It is an honour to have been invited to join the Board of English PEN, an organisation I admired long before I came to the law, and one I have since represented in cases that have become landmark decisions upholding the right to freedom of expression. As global democracy continues to backslide, as writers are targeted and silenced on an unprecedented scale, the work of English PEN and other PEN centres around the world has perhaps never been more important.’

Maureen Freely, Chair of Trustees, English PEN said: ‘We’re thrilled that Can joins the English PEN family at such an important moment in our history; the start of our 2021 centenary year. It’s a huge privilege to gain Can’s expertise as we reflect on the past 100 years with a celebration of the diversity of literature and, together, strive toward a world with free expression and equity of opportunity for all readers and writers.’

Can Yeğinsu is a barrister practising from 4 New Square Chambers in London, where he is recognised as one of the country’s leading lawyers practising in civil liberties and human rights, commercial dispute resolution, and international law. He has acted in numerous cases for journalists and writers, as well as free speech organisations, before a range of courts, including the English Court of Appeal, the UK Supreme Court, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Can Yeğinsu teaches two seminars at Columbia Law School on the right to freedom of expression and is Senior Fellow at the Human Rights Institute. He also teaches international law at Georgetown University Law Center and is a member of the High-Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, convened at the request of the UK and Canadian Governments by Lord Neuberger, former President of the UK Supreme Court. Can is an occasional contributor to Areté, The TLS, The New York Review of Books, and Just Security.