Dame Sue Carr has made history by becoming the first woman to be appointed the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
She will take office from 1 October, replacing Lord Burnett. A commercial silk who practised from Four New Square, Lady Justice Carr was made a judge of the Court of Appeal in 2020 and has held an impressive roster of professional and judicial leadership roles.
Her appointment fulfils the prophecy of NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan, who foretold in The Insider column last year that the next Lord Chief Justice would be a woman.
Professor Regan, of City Law School, said this week: ‘I am delighted for Lady Justice Carr.
‘As a High Court judge she worked ludicrous hours, racing off to try murders far from home. She has a great brain coupled with genuine charm. Such a smart appointment.’
Carr LJ attended Wycombe Abbey School and read law at Trinity College, Cambridge. She took silk in 2003 at the age of 38 and is also a trained arbitrator and mediator. She was called to the Bar by the inner Temple in 1987 and was called to the New South Wales Bar in 1989, following a Pegasus scholarship in Sydney.
At the Bar, her practice focused on commercial professional liability, insurance and fraud litigation and arbitration, and she acted frequently in group litigation including in the context of film/tax scheme disputes.
Her judicial career began in 2009 in crime, when she became a Recorder. She was appointed to the High Court, Queen’s Bench Division in 2013, and became a member of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in 2014 until 2016. She was Presider of the Midland Circuit from 2016 until 2020. In the same year she was also appointed as the senior Judicial Commissioner and Vice Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission, a position she held until January 2023.
Outside of the law, she plays sports, speaks French and German and is a keen actor, including with the Bar Theatrical Society. She is an active musician, singing with the Bar Choral Society and playing the piano, and is married with three children.
