Ann Elizabeth Oldfield Butler-Sloss, Baroness Butler-Sloss, GBE, PC (''née'' Havers; born 10 August 1933), is a retired English judge. She was the first female

Lord 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 was the highest-ranking female judge in the United Kingdom until 2004, when

Baroness Hale Brenda Marjorie Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, (born 31 January 1945) is a British judge who served as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2017 until her retirement in 2020, and serves as a member of the House of Lords ...

was appointed to the House of Lords. Until June 2007, she chaired the

inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coro ...

s into the deaths of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, and Dodi Fayed. She stood down from that task with effect from that date, and the inquest was conducted by

Lord Justice Scott Baker Sir Thomas Scott Gillespie Baker, PC, KC (born 10 December 1937) is a retired English Court of Appeal judge. Scott Baker is the eldest son of Sir George Baker, a former High Court judge who was President of the Family Division from 1971 t ...

Early life

The daughter of Sir Cecil Havers, a judge, and Enid Flo Havers (''née'' Snelling), she was sister to the late Lord Chancellor, The Lord Havers, and is aunt to his sons, the actor Nigel Havers and the barrister

Philip Havers Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

. She was educated at Broomfield House School in Kew, in West London, and

Wycombe Abbey School , motto_translation = Go in faith , established = 1896 , type = Independent boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Headmistress , head = J. Duncan , chair_label = Chair ...

in High Wycombe in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, followed by a year at the University of Lausanne."Why I am Still an Anglican", ''Continuum 2006'', p. 48 She passed the bar without a university degree. She stood as the Conservative candidate for

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

in the

1958 London County Council election An election to the County Council of London took place on 16 April 1958. The council was elected by First Past the Post with each elector having three votes in the three-member seats. The Labour Party, who had already run the council for 24 ye ...

, and the equivalent constituency in the 1959 general election, where she won 38% of the vote, but was defeated by the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MP George Strauss.

Legal career

She 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 ...

from the Inner Temple in 1955. In 1958, she married Joseph Butler-Sloss. She was appointed a Registrar at the Principal Registry of the Family Division in 1970. In 1979, she became the fourth woman to be appointed a High Court judge, after

Elizabeth Lane Dame Elizabeth Kathleen Lane, DBE (née Coulborn; 9 August 1905 – 17 June 1988) was an English barrister and judge. She was the first woman appointed as a judge in the County Court, the first female High Court judge in England, and the firs ...

Rose Heilbron Dame Rose Heilbron DBE, QC (19 August 1914 – 8 December 2005) was a British barrister who served as a High Court judge. Her career included many "firsts" for a woman – she was the first woman to achieve a first class honours degree in l ...

, and Margaret Booth. As were all previous female High Court judges, she was assigned to the Family Division. She was also made a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE). In 1988, she became the first woman appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal (judge of the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

), having chaired the Cleveland child abuse inquiry in the previous year. In 1999, she became President of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice, the first woman to hold this position and the highest-ranking woman judge in the United Kingdom until Brenda Hale became the first female

Lord of Appeal in Ordinary Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

, in January 2004. She was known officially as "Lord Justice Butler-Sloss" until Bingham MR issued a practice direction in 1994 to refer to her informally as "Lady Justice Butler-Sloss"; the official title in s2(3) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 was amended by the Courts Act 2003. She was advanced to the rank of

Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent 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 ...

(GBE) in the 2005 New Year Honours. On 12 January 2005, it was announced that she was retiring, being replaced as President of the Family Division by

Sir Mark Potter Sir Mark Howard Potter PC FKC KC (born 27 August 1937) is a retired English judge who was President of the Family Division and Head of Family Justice for England and Wales from 2005 to 2010. Now retired, he remains a Fellow of King's Coll ...

, then a

. On 3 May 2006, it was announced by the House of Lords Appointments Commission that she would be one of seven new

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

s – so-called 'people's peers'. She was created Baroness Butler-Sloss, of Marsh Green in the County of Devon, on 13 June 2006, sitting as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

. On 4 August 2006 she was appointed to the Court of Ecclesiastical Causes Reserved for a period of five years. On 7 September 2006, she was appointed as Deputy

Coroner of the Queen's Household The Coroner of the King's/Queen's Household was an office of the Medical Household of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It was abolished in 2013. History The title The office of Coroner of The King's or Queen's Hous ...

and Assistant Deputy Coroner for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

for the purpose of hearing the inquest into the death of

. On 2 March 2007, she was appointed as Assistant Deputy Coroner for Inner West London for the purpose of transferring the jurisdiction of the inquest to Inner West London so that the proceedings may sit in the Royal Courts of Justice. On 24 April 2007, she announced she was stepping down in June 2007, saying she lacked the experience required to deal with an inquest with a jury. The role of coroner for the inquests was transferred to

. This had been preceded by the overturning by the High Court of her earlier decision to hold the inquest without a jury. She became Chancellor of the University of the West of England in 1993 and an Honorary Fellow of

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it ...

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, the Royal College of Physicians, the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health ...

and the

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, often referred to as the RCPCH, is the professional body for paediatricians (doctors specialising in child health) in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the postgraduate training of paed ...

. She sits on the Selection Panel for Queen's Counsel. In December 2004 she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Bath, and in June 2005 she was awarded an honorary degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University. She was Chairman of the Security Commission prior to its abolition in 2010. On 8 July 2014, it was announced that Baroness Butler-Sloss would chair the forthcoming large-scale inquiry into cases of child sex abuse in previous decades. She stood down on 14 July after mounting pressure from victims' groups and MPs over her suitability regarding the fact that her brother was the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

at the time of some of the abuses in question and her perceived unwillingness to include mention of former Anglican bishop

Peter Ball Peter Ball may refer to: *Peter Ball (bishop) (1932–2019), former Bishop of Lewes and of Gloucester and convicted sex offender * Peter Ball (physician) (died 1675), English physician *Peter Eugene Ball (born 1943), English sculptor *Peter Ball ( ...

Personal life

She and her husband, Joseph William Alexander Butler-Sloss, have three children: *Hon. Frances Ann Josephine Butler-Sloss (now Richmond) (b. 13 October 1959) *Hon. Robert Joseph Neville Galmoye Butler-Sloss (b. 15 July 1962); married Hon. Sarah Jane Sainsbury, daughter of Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover, President of Sainsbury's *Hon. William Edmund Minchin Patchell Butler-Sloss (b. 21 September 1967, d. 13 March 2018); married

Victoria Harwood Victoria Claire Harwood is a British-born voice actress based in the United States. She works for anime roles at Geneon Entertainment/New Generation Pictures. Biography Harwood was born in Devon, England in 1961 to an English father and Armenia ...

, a voice actress and author. William died of stomach cancer in 2018 at the age of 50. He was survived by two children and his widow. Baroness Butler-Sloss is a church-going

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

. In 2002, she chaired the Crown Appointments Committee charged with the selection of a new

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. She was Chairman of the Advisory Council of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

from 2000–2009 and currently serves as Chair for the

Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life The Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life (CORAB) was convened in 2013 by The Woolf Institute. Its purpose was to consider the place and role of religion and belief in contemporary Britain, to consider the significance of emerging ...

. , she lives in East Devon.

Notable judgments

* Joyce v Sengupta and Another: CA 31 Jul 992– Newspaper can be sued for malicious falsehood *''Re T (Consent to Medical Treatment)(Adult Patient)''

993 Year 993 ( CMXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – The 12-year-old King Otto III gives the Sword of Saints Cosmas and Damian ...

Fam. 95
''Re'' W, ''Re'' A, ''Re'' B (Change of Name) [1999
/nowiki> EWCA Civ 2030">999">''Re'' W, ''Re'' A, ''Re'' B (Change of Name) [1999
/nowiki> EWCA Civ 2030*''Re J (Specific Issue Orders: Child’s Religious Upbringing and Circumcision) [2000] 1 FLR 571 CA'' *''An NHS Trust A v M and An NHS Trust B v H'' [2001] Fam 348 *Ms B v An NHS Hospital Trust, ''Re B (Consent to Treatment: Capacity)'' [2002] EWHC 429

Arms

Baroness Butler-Sloss' arms are a version of the arms borne by her brother, Michael Havers, Baron Havers.

References

External links

*
No-nonsense approach of the right-to-die judge
– Profile of Butler-Sloss at Guardian Unlimited, 22 March 2002
Announcement of her introduction at the House of Lords
House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 25 July 2006
Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler-Sloss, Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, Baroness 1933 births Living people English barristers English legal professionals English women judges Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire English Anglicans Family Division judges Fellows of King's College London Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People associated with the University of the West of England, Bristol People from Buckinghamshire People's peers Crossbench life peers People educated at Wycombe Abbey British women lawyers Elizabeth Lady Justices of Appeal Lawyers from Devon Presidents of the Family Division