Barbara Mensah is a British judge of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian descent. She became the first circuit judge of

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

origin in England and Wales when she was appointed to the South Eastern Circuit in 2005. As of October 2016 she sits in

Luton Crown Court Luton Crown Court is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, in George Street, Luton, England. History For much of the 20th century, the main venue for serious criminal court hearings in Bedfordshire was the Shire Hall, Bedford, S ...

, England.

Early life

Mensah was born in

, the daughter of a business magnate. She lived in Ghana until she was six years when she moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. She was the first university graduate from her family.

Education

Mensah studied

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the University of Wales in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

before training to be a barrister. She is also an alumna of City University London and

Queen Mary University London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and previously Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of ...

, both in London.

Career

Mensah was called to the Bar at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1984. Early on in her career she took up private sector work and then moved on to sit on a Financial Services Tribunal. She became interested in further judicial work. She was appointed a recorder in 2003. She was appointed as a circuit judge on the South Eastern Circuit in 2005 and is currently (2016) a circuit judge at the

, the first woman of African descent to attain that position. She was awarded an honorary degree of ''juris doctor'' in 2015 by City, University of London in acknowledgement her contribution to the law profession.

Publications

References

Living people Circuit judges (England and Wales) Alumni of the University of Wales Ghanaian emigrants to the United Kingdom Members of Lincoln's Inn 1959 births British judges {{Ghana-bio-stub