Peter Herbert OBEDiane Taylor,
"Black judge claims he was discriminated against by disciplinary panel"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 8 January 2017. is a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and political activist. He is an independent member of the

Metropolitan Police Authority The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) (2000–2012) was the local police authority responsible for scrutinising and supporting the work of the Metropolitan Police Service, the police force for Greater London (excluding the City of London Polic ...

, a "part-time recorder in the crown court as well as a part-time immigration and employment tribunal judge and chair of the

Society of Black Lawyers The Society of Black Lawyers (SBL) was founded in the United Kingdom by Rudy Narayan in 1969, as the Afro-Asian and Caribbean Lawyers Association. By 1981, it was known as its current name. It was co-chaired by Narayan and Sibghat Kadri. It aims ...

". He has campaigned against racism in football. He was appointed

Officer 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 ...

(OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.

Controversy

Herbert, described by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' as "one of Britain's only non-white judges",Benjamin Kentish
"UK justice system is racist, suggests one of Britain's only non-white judges"
''The Independent'', 10 January 2017. was at the centre of a controversy over the years 2015–2017 after suggesting that racism was present in the British judicial system. In a speech at a Defend Democracy event in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

(

east London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

), in April 2015, Herbert said: "Racism is alive and well and living in Tower Hamlets, in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

and, yes, sometimes in the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

." He also criticised the "decision to bar the former mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, from holding public office for five years". A complaint was made about his speech to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO).Diane Taylor
"Judge sues Ministry of Justice for race discrimination"
''The Guardian'', 14 March 2016. On 15 November 2015, members of the judiciary tried to pressure Herbert into refraining from sitting as a judge. In 2016, Herbert sued the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

for recommending that a formal warning be made against him. In January 2017, the disciplinary panel investigating Herbert said he should be given an apology from "a suitable senior person" for the treatment he received from other members of the judiciary, and that he should also receive a dressing down for his comments in the speech, which were deemed to be misconduct ("because of the inferred criticism that another judge had given a judgment bout Rahmanon racial grounds") and because the speech was "likely to undermine public confidence in the judiciary". Herbert appealed to the JCIO against the decision, saying that the panel had racially discriminated against him and that their treatment of him had made him feel "like a

nigger In the English language, the word ''nigger'' is an ethnic slur used against black people, especially African Americans. Starting in the late 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been progressively replaced by the euphemism , notably in cases ...

". In his defence and as an example of double standards in the judiciary's treatment of fellow judges, Herbert pointed to

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Judge

Lord Neuberger David Edmond Neuberger, Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury (; born 10 January 1948) is an English judge. He served as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2017. He was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary until the House of L ...

's apparent criticism of his colleague Lady Justice Hale's comments "relating to the court case on whether Parliament must be given a say on

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

" – a criticism for which Lord Neuberger was not disciplined. Herbert received an apology from the judicial conduct investigation office in August 2020 in relation to the case. He had made claims of racism, victimisation and harassment, which were due to be heard at an employment tribunal in July 2021, but the case was settled before the hearing date. Herbert said that he had successfully held senior judges to account. The lord chief justice and the lord chancellor said that Herbert's claims were robustly denied and that the settlement was made with no acceptance of wrongdoing or liability.

References

External links

"Peter Herbert"
at

100 Great Black Britons ''100 Great Black Britons'' is a poll that was first undertaken in 2003 to vote for and celebrate the greatest Black Britons of all time. It was created in a campaign initiated by Patrick Vernon in response to a BBC search for '' 100 Greatest Brit ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, Peter British barristers Living people British activists British anti-racism activists Year of birth missing (living people) Sierra Leone Creole people Officers of the Order of the British Empire