Dame Victoria Madeleine Sharp, , PC (born 8 February 1956) is a British judge. She has been the President of the

King's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

since 2019.

Early life

She is the daughter of The Lord Sharp of Grimsdyke. Her twin brother is Richard Sharp, a former

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

banker, and former Chairman of the BBC. She is Jewish. She was educated at North London Collegiate School and the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

Career

Sharp 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 ...

by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1979 and joined 1 Brick Court in 1982, mainly practising in defamation and media law. She became a Recorder in 1998, and a QC in 2001. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), as is customary, on her appointment as a Justice of the High Court on 13 January 2009. She was Presiding Judge of the Western Circuit from 2012 to 2013, and was appointed a Lady Justice of Appeal in 2013. She became Vice-President of the Queen's Bench Division on 1 January 2016, succeeding Sir Nigel Davis. She became President of the Queen's Bench Division from 23 June 2019 succeeding Sir Brian Leveson. In 2023, it was reported that she was on the final shortlist to become

Lord Chief Justice The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...

, alongside Dame Sue Carr, who was selected for the post.

Personal life

Sharp married a doctor; she had four children within five years. Nevertheless, she remained in full-time law practice during those years, not taking leave. "She was convinced that if she had not dedicated herself to her job as she did by rejecting any leave on the birth of any of her children, she would have been significantly disadvantaged; as she puts it, "if you were not there in Chambers, you did not receive briefs and you had no job."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Victoria 1956 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bristol English King's Counsel English women judges Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Daughters of life peers Queen's Bench Division judges 21st-century King's Counsel Place of birth missing (living people) People educated at North London Collegiate School Lady justices of appeal Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 21st-century British women judges 21st-century English judges Lawyers awarded damehoods