Chief Magistrate Appointed High Court Justice

The Chief Magistrate of England and Wales, Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot, has been appointed as a Justice of the High Court.

The Honourable Mrs Justice Arbuthnot, as she will be known, will be assigned to the Family Division when she assumes her new role on 1st February 2021.

A pen portrait, published on the Judicial Appointments website, reads as follows:

"Emma Arbuthnot was born in Macclesfield and brought up in London, where she went to a fee-paying French state school. After school she started work before going to London University as a mature student where she supported herself by doing office cleaning. She was the first in her family to get a degree and the first to become a lawyer.

"Called to the Bar in 1986, Emma worked on a wide range of cases, in defence and prosecution, specialising in crime, fraud and health and safety offences.

"She was appointed as a Deputy District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) in 2000, a Recorder in 2001 (crime and then family), a full time District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) in 2005, the Deputy to the Chief Magistrate in 2012 and became the Chief Magistrate for England and Wales in 2016.

"Emma has heard a number of very high-profile cases in the Magistrates' Courts. She is a bencher of the Inner Temple.

Duncan Webster OBE JP, the National Leadership Magistrate, said:

"The Magistrates' Leadership Executive extends its sincere congratulations to the Chief Magistrate, Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot, upon her appointment as a Justice of the High Court with effect from 1st February 2021.

"During her tenure as Chief Magistrate, she has shown considerable commitment to the magistracy and worked tirelessly to enhance and promote the working relationship between the District Bench (Magistrates' Courts) and the magistracy.

"On behalf of the magistracy of England and Wales, we record her exemplary dedication and legacy in sustaining the Office of Justice of the Peace and wish her well in her new appointment."

Judge Arbuthnot's successor as Chief Magistrate of England and Wales will be announced shortly.