Dame Alison Hunter Russell, DBE (born 17 June 1958), is a retired judge of the High Court of England and Wales.[1]
Dame Alison Russell | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Justice of the High Court | |
| In office 13 January 2014 – 2 October 2024 | |
| Monarch | Charles III |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alison Hunter Russell 17 June 1958 Harrogate, England |
| Alma mater | Polytechnic of the South Bank |
| Occupation | Judge |
| Profession | Barrister |
Early life and education
editRussell was born in 1958 in Harrogate to a Scottish family. She was educated at Wellington School, Ayr and the Polytechnic of the South Bank.[2][3]
Career
editRussell was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1983. She was appointed a recorder in 2004.[4]
Russell became a King's Counsel in 2008. She practised at 1GC Family Law in London, specialising in family law and human rights.[5][6]
Russell was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Justice on 13 January 2014, assigned to the Family Division. She became the first judge to be formally addressed as "Ms Justice".[5][7][8]
Russell was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in February 2014. She is a member of the Family Justice Council.[5]
In April 2017, the Court of Appeal held that Russell had committed a series of "gross and obvious" irregularities in the way in which she had dealt with alleged contempt of court in a case about the alleged abduction of a child. Russell had imprisoned the father of the child for 18 months, holding that he had been in breach of an order which she had not in fact made, and did not have power to make. In doing so, she had made various serious procedural errors. The Court of Appeal awarded damages for wrongful imprisonment against the Lord Chancellor under the Human Rights Act 1998.[9]
In May 2017, Russell allowed an appeal from a relocation decision of Her Honour Judge Owens in the Family Court at Oxford. However, in December 2017, the Court of Appeal held that Russell's decision was 'both wrong and unjust because of serious procedural irregularity', because the 'main basis on which the appeal was allowed by Russell J arose from a legal argument that had not been raised in the grounds of appeal, had not been addressed by either party, and was in any event incorrect'.[10]
Russell retired on 2 October 2024.[11]
Personal life
editRussell lives with her partner Julian Francis in South London.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Senior judiciary". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
- ^ ‘RUSSELL, Alison Hunter’, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014
- ^ Whitaker's Shorts 2016: Law and Order. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2015. ISBN 9781472921994.
- ^ "Alison Russell QC appointed to the High Court Bench". Family Law Week. 19 December 2013.
- ^ a b c Bowcott, Own (22 May 2014). "High court judge is first to be formally addressed as Ms Justice". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- ^ Mueller, Matthias (23 May 2014). "First High Court judge to be formally addressed as Ms Justice". Family Law.
- ^ a b Clark, Natasha (23 May 2014). "Page 3 Profile: Alison Russell QC, judge". Independent. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- ^ Holland, James; Webb, Julian (2016). Learning Legal Rules: A Students' Guide to Legal Method and Reasoning. Oxford University Press. p. 21. ISBN 9780198728436.
- ^ LL v. The Lord Chancellor [2017] EWCA Civ 237, [2017] 4 WLR 162 (10 April 2017), Court of Appeal (England and Wales)
- ^ L v. F [2017] EWCA Civ 2121 (20 December 2017), Court of Appeal (England and Wales)
- ^ High Court: Retirement of The Honourable Dame Alison Russell DBE