Press release: Appointment of the President of the Queen’s Bench Division: 5 April 2019

Her Majesty The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of The Rt Hon Dame Victoria Sharp DBE as the President of the Queen’s Bench Division from 23 June 2019. This appointment will follow the retirement of Sir Brian Leveson on 22 June 2019.

Dame Victoria Sharp DBE will be the first woman President of the Queen’s Bench Division.

Biography of candidate

Dame Victoria Sharp DBE read law at Bristol University, was called to the Bar in 1979 and took Silk (QC) in 2001. She was appointed as a Recorder in 1998, a Deputy High Court Judge in 2008 and a High Court Judge of the Queen’s Bench Division in 2009. Dame Victoria was Presiding Judge of the Western Circuit from 2012 to 2013 and was appointed a Lady Justice of Appeal in 2013. In 2016 she was appointed Vice President of the Queen’s Bench Division and a member of the Judicial Executive Board and Judges’ Council.

The Appointment

The appointment of the President of the Queen’s Bench Division was made by Her Majesty The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor following the recommendation of an independent selection panel chaired by Lord Burnett of Maldon, the Lord Chief Justice. The other panel members were: The President of the Supreme Court, Baroness Hale, Professor Lord Kakkar (Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission), Ms Jane Furniss CBE (Lay JAC Commissioner) and Professor Emily Jackson (Professor of Law and former JAC Commissioner).

The President of the Queen’s Bench Division is responsible for the work of the Queen’s Bench Division and is in charge of the Administrative Court. The work of the Division consists of crime and a wide range of civil claims including personal injuries claims, negligence, breach of contract, libel and slander (defamation), non-payment of debt and possession of land. The Commercial Court, Admiralty Court and Technology and Construction Court are also part of the Queen’s Bench Division.

The Exercise

This selection exercise was run under the relevant sections of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, as amended by the Crime and Courts Act 2013, and the Judicial Appointments Regulations 2013.

In accordance with section 70 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the panel determined the selection process to be followed. As required by regulation 12 of the Judicial Appointments Regulations 2013, the Lord Chancellor was consulted as part of the selection process.

In accordance with sections 2(1) and 10(3) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, the selection exercise was open to all applicants who satisfy the judicial-appointment eligibility condition on a 7 year basis, or are judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Court of Appeal, or High Court.