Dame Sue Carr, sworn in as a Lady Justice of the Court of Appeal in April 2020, is set to make history on 01 October 2023, as she assumes the prestigious position of Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. Her appointment as the first-ever women to hold this esteemed position marks a significant milestone.

She will be succeeding Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, The Right Honourable Lord Burnett of Maldon, who assumed the role on 01 October 2017 and is set to retire on 30 September 2023. 

Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Lord Chief Justice bears approximately 400 statutory duties. As the Lord Chief Justice, Dame Sue Carr’s key duties will include:

• Representing the views of the judiciary of England and Wales to the Parliament and the Government.
• Overseeing the welfare, training, and guidance of the judiciary of England and Wales.
• Managing the deployment of judges and the allocation of work in courts in England and Wales.
• Sitting for important criminal, civil, and family cases, rendering judgments and issuing practice directions in many of the most important appeal cases.

Lady Justice Dame Sue Carr was called to the bar by The Inner Temple in 1987. As a barrister, she specialized in general commercial law, with a focus on professional liability and insurance. Her judicial career commenced in 2009, when she became a Recorder. In 2013, she was appointed to the High Court, Queen’s Bench Division, and was nominated as a judge of the Commercial Court and the Technology and Construction Court in 2014. In the same year, she also served as a member of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal until 2016. From 2016 to 2020, she was the Presider of the Midland Circuit, and in 2020, she was appointed as the Lady Justice of Appeal. Additionally, she held the role of senior Judicial Commissioner and Vice Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission until January 2023.

Lady Justice Dame Sue Carr’s appointment as the Chief Justice of England and Wales reflects the progress made towards a more diverse and representative legal system in England and Wales.