Her Honour Myrella Cohen, QC (16 December 1927 – 25 October 2002) was a British barrister and circuit judge. She was the third female judge and the fifth female Queen's Counsel in the United Kingdom. She was born into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in Manchester in 1927. Her parents, Sam and Sarah Cohen, wanted to name her after their mothers, who were called Myra and Ella, so they came up with the combination of Myrella. She was educated at

Manchester High School for Girls Manchester High School for Girls is an English independent day school for girls and a member of the Girls School Association. It is situated in Fallowfield, Manchester. The head mistress is Helen Jeys who took up the position in September 2020 ...

and

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

Grammar School and then read law at

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

. She married Lt. Col. Mordaunt Cohen MBE TD DL, a decorated Burma veteran, whose surname was the same as her own.

Career

Cohen went on to become one of the first female judges and QCs in the UK, who was a pioneer for women in the legal profession. In 1970 she became the 5th women in the UK to be appointed a QC. At the age of 44 she became the youngest judge in the UK at that time. She presided over numerous high-profile cases at many courts in both Newcastle and London, including the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

and as resident Judge in Harrow. In 1992 she became the first person to receive an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

in law from the

University of Sunderland , mottoeng = Sweetly absorbing knowledge , established = 1901 - Sunderland Technical College1969 - Sunderland Polytechnic1992 - University of Sunderland (gained university status) , staff = , chancellor = Emeli ...

. In 2001 she starred as the Judge in the TV programme '

Trial by Jury A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significant ...

'. She was
Soroptimist
and a member o
SI Sunderland

Communal life

Cohen was very active in the Jewish community as President of the international association of Jewish lawyers and jurors. She led the campaign in the UK for

agunot An ''agunah'' ( he, עגונה, plural: agunot (); literally "anchored" or "chained") is a Jewish woman who is stuck in her religious marriage as determined by ''halakha'' (Jewish law). The classic case of this is a man who has left on a journey ...

(Jewish women whose husbands will not allow them to remarry). This campaign took over 10 years, and in 2001 she successfully pushed a law through Parliament, the Divorce (Religious Marriages) Bill, making it a lot harder for husbands to withhold a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

(get) from their wives. The bill was given Royal Assent in August 2002. She died two months later, in October 2002, and was buried at the Har Hamenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem. A new road in Sunderland, called Myrella Crescent, was named in honourhttp://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=439397&y=554549&z=110&sv=myrella+crescent&st=6&tl=Map+of+Myrella+Crescent,+Sunderland,+SR2&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Myrella Agunot British Jews 1927 births 2002 deaths British women judges People educated at Manchester High School for Girls British King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel 21st-century King's Counsel Circuit judges (England and Wales) Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Members of Gray's Inn 20th-century English judges