Michael John Dudley (born 24 January 1947) is a retired British

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

Early life

Michael Dudley was born in Bristol and educated at Magdalen College School, Brackley. He studied law at Birmingham University and graduated with an LLB degree in 1968. After graduating, he lectured in law at Wednesbury College of Commerce and Technology (now Wolverhampton University) for four years. He was called to the

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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 1972.

Judicial career

Dudley's first judicial position was as a Deputy Stipendiary Magistrate in 1985. He was appointed an Assistant Recorder in 1993 and a Recorder in 1999, before being appointed a Circuit Judge in 2003. He sat at

Wolverhampton Crown Court The Wolverhampton Combined Court Centre is a Crown Court venue, which deals with criminal cases, as well as a County Court, which deals with civil cases, in Pipers Row, Wolverhampton, England. History Until the early 1990s, all criminal court h ...

for the last seven years of his judicial career. In his retirement speech at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Dudley voiced his concerns for the future of the legal system due to government's

austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

cuts. Dudley told his audience that: Dudley retired as a Circuit Judge in January 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Michael John Living people 1947 births Alumni of the University of Birmingham Circuit judges (England and Wales) People educated at Magdalen College School, Brackley Stipendiary magistrates (England and Wales)