AUTUMN READING
MASTER USHA KARU
Current Challenges in the
Criminal Justice System Master Usha Karu was Called to the Bar in 1984 and practised in crime. In 1998, she was appointed Assistant Recorder, a Recorder in 2000 and a Circuit Judge in 2005. Between 2014 and 2018 she was the CJ Commissioner, Judicial Appointments Commission. She is Resident Judge of Inner London Crown Court.
Whilst many of the challenges of the past are no longer, there are many that remain and new ones that appear which perhaps nobody foresaw. For women and ethnic minorities the particular challenges we face have been well documented. One particularly example comes from Nemone Lethbrige, who having been Called to the Bar in 1956, recalled that when she secured tenancy she was promptly informed that a Yale lock had been installed on the lavatory in chambers and whilst all the male members of chambers had been given a key, she would have use of the lavatory at one of the coffee houses on Fleet Street. We have come a long way with 2019 being an especially significant year as it marks 100 years of women being admitted to the Bar. It is telling how far we have come since then, that the number of women being Called to the Bar has eclipsed the number of men for the last three years in a row.
...only two female African-Caribbean judges in the Crown Court
...of 670 in post, 31% are women and only 4% are BAME
So, a little bit of history about some of the women who rose to the challenges which restricted access to the legal profession and the Bar, and who paved the way for future generations:
Cornelia Sorabjee Cornelia Sorabjee, an Indian, was the first woman to undertake the postgraduate BCL degree at Somerville College, Oxford, commencing in 1890. She would not receive her degree for another 30 years.
Ivy Williams Ivy Williams was the first woman to be Called to the Bar in 1922. She completed the BCL in 1902 and went on to obtain an LLD in 1903, but was awarded her degrees only in 1920. She became a lecturer in law at Oxford.
Helena Normanton Our own Helena Normanton, who was Called to the Bar a few months after Ivy Williams, was the first woman to practise law in England. And, along with Rose Heilbron, she was the first women to take Silk in 1949.
Mithan Tata Mithan Tata, another Indian woman, was the first woman to be Called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn in 1923. She returned to India and was the first woman practising at the Mumbai High Court.
Stella Thomas In 1933 Stella Thomas became the first African woman to be Called to the Bar by Middle Temple. She was a Yoruba Nigerian, of Sierra Leonian descent, and returned to practise in Nigeria.
Dame Elizabeth Lane ...of 33 BAME applicants, 3% were recommended for appointment in 2018
Dame Elizabeth Lane was the first female judge appointed to the county court in 1962 and, three years later in 1965, the first female High Court judge. She is credited with introducing ‘Your Ladyship’ into the legal vocabulary after years of being addressed as ‘My Lord’ in court.
Barbara Calvert Barbara Calvert was the first female head of chambers, the second female Bencher and the first female Reader in 2001. Her Reading was entitled ‘Sex: Does it Matter?’ and she concluded: ‘Yes, in your private lives, but no longer in your professional lives. There is no height a woman cannot scale’. So right she was.
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2020 Middle Templar
