The Centre for Justice is to host a private panel discussion for members of the Bermuda Bar Association on Monday.

Supported by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH) Race and Resistance network, the event marks a growing interest in the history of race and resistance in Bermuda.

A seminar that focused on the Bermuda Civil Rights Movement was held at the university’s Pembroke College in May and has since spurred an ongoing series of events exploring race, law and history on the Island.

The session will explore the intersection of these three lines of inquiry hoping to provide a unique historical perspective on the Bermudian legal system.

This will be the third event of its kind and will give an historical overview of race-related legislation in Bermuda.

Chief Justice Ian Kawaley will lead the event with his talk “400 Years of Courts in Bermuda (1616-2016): Towards a Non-Racial Vision of Justice”.

Dr Justice Kawaley said: “Consideration will be given to the evolving role of the courts from initially being required to uphold discriminatory laws to their current obligation to apply the law in a non-discriminatory manner.”

Ben Adamson, a director in Conyers, Dill & Pearman’s litigation department, will attempt to bring out the lesser-known legal issues that lie behind a story which has become part of Bermuda’s heritage.

“The story of The Enterprise is one of the most inspiring moments in Bermuda history, certainly when it comes to the interplay of race and the law,” Mr Adamson said.

“The events are well known: the anchoring of The Enterprise in Hamilton harbour; the writs of habeas corpus; the court sitting until midnight; the liberation of the slaves; and the jubilation in the streets.”

Venous Memari, managing director of the Centre for Justice, will examine whether “colour blind” legislation is equal to racial justice and Walton Brown will survey the laws passed in Bermuda since Emancipation.

Mr Brown, a Progressive Labour Party MP, said: “The quest to sustain white hegemony led to race-based electoral laws buttressed by similarly rooted immigration legislation.

“These laws have had a determinant effect on the 21st century political landscape.”

Kimberley Caines will be looking at the suffrage movement in Bermuda. The litigation lawyer cofounded the Women’s Legal Network and will be analysing what impact race had on the suffragette movement.

Bermudian organiser Alexa Virdi is a PhD student at Oxford University and was at the forefront when they celebrated the acquisition of a collection of books on the Island’s history in August. She is keen for Bermuda’s history and “ongoing struggle for racial justice” to be given a platform.

Chairman of the event is Chen Foley, a lawyer at Sedgwick Chudleigh and director at Centre for Justice a non-governmental, non-profit, non-partisan organization whose aim is to promote the rule of law, human rights and civil liberties in Bermuda in accordance with the Bermuda Constitution and the rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments such as the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.