Kathryn Thirlwall

Dame Kathryn Mary Thirlwall, DBE (born 21 November 1957), styled The Rt Hon Lady Justice Thirlwall, is an English judge of the Court of Appeal, and since December 2019 is the Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales.[1] She practised as a barrister from 1982, was a High Court judge from April 2010, and was promoted to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in February 2017.[2]

The Right Honourable
Lady Justice Thirlwall
DBE
Lady Justice of Appeal
Assumed office
2017
MonarchsElizabeth II
Charles III
High Court Judge
Queen's Bench Division
In office
2010–2017
Succeeded bySir Julian Knowles
Personal details
Born (1957-11-21) 21 November 1957
Alma materUniversity of Bristol
Newcastle Polytechnic
OccupationJudge

Early life and education

Thirlwall was born on 21 November 1957.[3] She was educated at St Anthony's Girls' Catholic School, a Catholic state school in Sunderland.[4] She then studied at the University of Bristol, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1980.[3] She studied for the Common Professional Examination, a qualification for those without a law degree, at Newcastle Polytechnic; she completed this in 1981.[5]

She was called to the bar at Middle Temple in 1982. She specialised in local authority education and abuse litigation. She became a QC in 1999, and served on the Professional Standards Committee of the Bar Council from 1999 to 2005. She became head of chambers at 7 Bedford Row in 2006, and a bencher of Middle Temple in 2008.[6]

Thirlwall was appointed as an assistant recorder in 1998 and then as a recorder in 2000. She was appointed as a High Court judge in April 2010, assigned to the Queen's Bench Division, and received the customary damehood. She was Presiding Judge of the Midlands Circuit from 2011 to 2015.[7][8] She was promoted to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in February 2017.[9]

In September 2023, the UK government confirmed that she will lead the statutory inquiry into the case of killer nurse Lucy Letby.[10]

Personal life

She is married to Professor Charles Kelly; they have two adult children.

References
  1. "Appointment of Deputy Senior Presiding Judge". www.judiciary.uk. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  2. "Senior judiciary". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  3. "Thirlwall, Rt Hon. Dame Kathryn (Mary), (born 21 Nov. 1957), a Lady Justice of Appeal, since 2016; Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales, 2020–21 (Deputy Senior Presiding Judge, 2017–19)". Who's Who 2023. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ‘THIRLWALL, Hon. Dame Kathryn (Mary)’, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014
  6. Masters of the Bench - The Hon Mrs Justice Thirlwall DBE Archived 2017-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, Middle Temple
  7. 2017: Alumni lecture: Rt Hon Justice Thirlwall Archived 2017-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, University of Bristol Law School
  8. Appointment of Lord and Lady Justices of Appeal: September 2016 Archived 2017-02-12 at the Wayback Machine, gov.uk
  9. Solicitors to judges Archived 2017-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, The Times, 15 September 2016
  10. "Government confirms it is launching statutory inquiry into Lucy Letby". Sky News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.


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