‘Judges should not be people from another planet’

YORKSHIRE LOVES to celebrate its success stories, and they do not come more trailblazing than Supreme Court president Baroness Hale, the first woman to hold the prestigious post following a lifetime of breaking down barriers.

And despite being bound by impartiality, in the spirit of a true Yorkshirewoman she is blunt about the need for change in the judiciary.

Lady Brenda Hale was born in Leeds towards the end of the Second World War and grew up in Richmond, North Yorkshire, one of three daughters of headteachers.

Even from her days at the “tiny little” Richmond High School for Girls she was making local history as the first girl to go to Cambridge University and the first to read law.

After qualifying as a barrister through a selftaught correspondence course while working at Manchester University, she chose to devote herself to academia.

But her work there was of such note, she says, it “brought me to the attention of the Lord Chancellor” and she was “tapped on the shoulder” to become a judge.

Even then she continued to smash glass ceilings until she was appointed Supreme Court president in February, which left her “delighted and proud”, but not at all fazed.

“It’s not the first time I’ve been the first woman in a role,” she says.

“I was the first woman member of the Law Commission and that was a fairly important thing at the time.

“I was the second woman in the Court of Appeal; I’ve been second quite frequently as well.

“And I was the first woman Law Lord, the predecessors of the justices of the Supreme Court.

“So it doesn’t feel so weird to be the first woman.

“Women in my generation could often be first because there hadn’t been any before.

“It’s much harder for now for women to be the first at anything because we’ve nabbed all the first spots.”

The 73 year-old works her way through that extraordinary career in an almost casual style, as if it were normal.

But there is no doubting she understands the gravity of it, and how she can be an inspiration and example to others.

“I feel a responsibility to be as good as I possible can be in the job, partly not to let down women in the future, because obviously there is always a risk if the first woman doesn’t do too well they will say ‘that’s because she’s a woman’.

“So I don’t want to let down women in general.

“And I also feel that if it is the case that my having this role encourages young women starting out in a legal career to think ‘well, if she can do it, I can do it’, that’s a great thing, it’s wonderful.”

Lady Hale is clear she does not just want to see more women becoming judges, but also northerners, the state-educated and ethnic minorities.

“It matters that the judiciary looks familiar to everybody, so people can think ‘this is our judiciary, they are part of us’, rather than some group from another planet,” she says.

“I did go to a state school which most of my colleagues did not, that seems to be quite useful.”

She refuses to back the idea of positive discrimination, or even name-blind CVs as championed by the Government.

But instead she calls for “affirmative action” to encourage people from