Dame Elizabeth Gloster, DBE, PC (born 5 June 1949) is a British lawyer who was a judge of the

Court of Appeal of England and Wales The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Courts of England and Wales#Senior Courts of England and Wales, Senior Courts of England and Wal ...

and Vice-President of the Civil Division. She was the first female judge of the Commercial Court.

Education

Gloster was educated at

Roedean School Roedean School is an independent day and boarding school founded in 1885 in Roedean Village on the outskirts of Brighton, East Sussex, England, and governed by Royal Charter. It is for girls aged 11 to 18. The campus is situated near the Sus ...

and

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status ...

Career

Gloster was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1971 (and made a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

in 1992). In 1989, she became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

. She was appointed a judge of the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey in 1993 and a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

in 1995. On 21 April 2004, Gloster was appointed a High Court judge, receiving the customary appointment as a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(DBE) and allocated to the

Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

(Commercial Court). From 2010 to 2012, she was the judge in charge of the Commercial Court. Gloster heard a case in 2012 involving two Russian oligarchs in which Boris Berezovsky claimed

Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian Russian oligarchs, oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, a Premier League football club ...

had intimidated him into selling shares in Russian oil giant Sibneft. and was claiming £3bn in damages. She found Berezovsky to be "an inherently unreliable witness" and found in favour of Abramovich. An editorial in ''The Times'' agreed with the judge's conclusion. At the start of the trial she had disclosed in court that her stepson had represented Abramovich as a barrister at an early stage of the case. Berezovsky's lawyers said their client had no objection to her continuing to hear the case. They later claimed that the barrister's involvement for which he had been paid £469,000 in fees had been understated but did not appeal against the judgment. Asked outside the court if he felt Russia's President Vladimir Putin would be happy with the ruling, Berezovsky replied: "Sometimes I have the impression that Putin himself wrote this judgment." A Statement from the Judicial Office which represents judges said Dame Elizabeth's stepson had not appeared at any hearings where she had been present. The statement said: "Where a judge has disclosed a family relationship to the parties, it is a judicial decision whether a judge believes he or she should recuse him or herself. The way to challenge a decision not to recuse would be by appealing through the courts." On 9 April 2013, Dame Elizabeth was appointed a

Lady Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Justice ...

and consequently appointed to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. She became

Vice-President of the Civil Division The Vice-President of the Civil Division is a Court of Appeal Judge who assists the Master of the Rolls in leading the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The power to appoint a vice-president was created by the Senior Cou ...

of the Court of Appeal on 7 December 2016, on the retirement of Lord Justice

Moore-Bick Moore-Bick is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *John Moore-Bick (born 1949), British Army officer *Martin Moore-Bick (born 1946), British judge See also * Moore (surname) *Bick (disambiguation) Bick may refer to: People *Charity ...

. She retired from the Court of Appeal on 1 June 2018.

Judgments

*''

Relfo Ltd v Varsani ''Relfo Ltd (in liq) v Varsani'' 014EWCA Civ 360is an English unjust enrichment law case, concerning to what extent enrichment of the defendant must be at the expense of the claimant. Facts The liquidator of Relfo Ltd sued Varsani, a friend of ...

'' 014EWCA Civ 360 -

English unjust enrichment The English law of unjust enrichment is part of the English law of obligations, along with the law of contract, tort, and trusts. The law of unjust enrichment deals with circumstances in which one person is required to make restitution of a benefit ...

law concerning to what extent enrichment of the defendant must be at the expense of the claimant; Gloster LJ concurring with

Arden LJ Mary Howarth Arden, Baroness Mance, , KC, PC (born 23 January 1947), known professionally as Lady Arden of Heswall, is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Before that, she was a judge of the Court of Appeal of Engl ...

Private life

In 2005, Elizabeth Gloster was divorced from Stanley Brodie QC. On 15 March 2008, she married Sir Oliver Popplewell.

References

1949 births Living people Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge English barristers English women judges Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge Judiciary of Jersey Lady Justices of Appeal Members of the Inner Temple People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex Queen's Bench Division judges Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom {{UK-law-bio-stub