The Lawyer/UNICEF honour

A leading family law partner from London firm Dawson Cornwell has won the inaugural Child Rights Lawyer of the Year award, jointly sponsored by The Lawyer and UNICEF.

Anne-Marie Hutchinson, an international custody dispute specialist, was given the award for work to secure rights since the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was introduced 10 years ago.

Hutchinson is chair of the worldwide child abduction charity Reunite, which campaigns on issues such as the increased use of mediation in custody disputes.

She says: "It's great that UNICEF acknowledges that if you have a convention setting out children's rights they have to be upheld, and the legal profession has an important role."

Presenting the award, chairman of the UK committee for UNICEF Sir John Waite QC said: "Anne-Marie's work has been nothing less than groundbreaking. Under her leadership Reunite has become the leading organisation dealing with these breaches of child rights."

At the ceremony The Lawyer publisher Rachel Lesiter announced that UNICEF will be the official charity for The Lawyer's main award ceremony next year.