Emma Louise Arbuthnot, Baroness Arbuthnot of Edrom, (née Broadbent; born 9 January 1959), known professionally as Mrs Justice Arbuthnot, serves as a High Court judge for

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

since 2021.

Early life and education

Born in 1959 at

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, the only daughter of wine critic Michael Broadbent, she grew up in London and was educated at the French Lycée. She then read Law at Queen Mary College, London ( BA), before pursuing further legal studies at City University ( Dip. Law). On 6 September 1984, she married James Arbuthnot, ''later'' Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom, a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and British Conservative Party

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Career

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 ...

at 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 1986, Arbuthnot was appointed as a Deputy District Judge ( Magistrates' Courts) in 2000, a Recorder in 2001 (

Crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

and then

Family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

), a full time District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) in 2005, the Deputy Senior District Judge ( Deputy Chief Magistrate) in 2012, the Senior District Judge (

Chief Magistrate A chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admi ...

) for England and Wales in 2016, and a Justice of the High Court of England and Wales in 2020 (with effect from 2021).

Rulings as High Court Judge

Archie Battersbee

Arbuthnot oversaw Archie Battersbee's case in the Family Division of the High Court,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In a final hearing, which took place on 6 and 7 June 2022, she ruled that doctors could terminate the patient's treatment and end his life support. The family was given limited time to launch appeal proceedings. However, following another hearing, Arbuthnot granted the parents permission to take the case to the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

. The Court of Appeal later ruled that the High Court should reconsider its opinion as to whether he was brain-dead, and that a new hearing of the Court of Appeal would be set for 11 July 2022. The Court of Appeal subsequently denied the appeal on 25 June 2022. The Court of Appeal agreed to stay their ruling for 48 hours to give Archie's parents time to ask for an appeal to the

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC) is the final court of appeal for all civil cases in the United Kingdom and all criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as some limited criminal cases ...

or to the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

Rulings as Chief Magistrate

First Unexplained Wealth Order

As Chief Magistrate, Lady Arbuthnot made rulings related to the fugitive Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya, and Zamira Hajiyeva, the first person subject to an unexplained wealth order (UWO).

Julian Assange

Towards the end of 2019, Arbuthnot, who had presided at several of

Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...

's extradition hearings, stepped aside because of a "perception of bias", apparently linked to her husband.

Uber

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

's application for a five-year licence was rejected by

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

in September 2017. In June 2018, Arbuthnot granted Uber a probationary 15-month licence for London. An investigation by ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' newspaper reported that Arbuthnot's husband,

James Arbuthnot James Norwich Arbuthnot, Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom, (born 4 August 1952), is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. He was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Wanstead and Woodford ...

, was a director of SC Strategy Ltd during Uber's appeal before his wife. SC Strategy Ltd is a private intelligence company which has worked for the sovereign wealth fund

Qatar Investment Authority The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In November 2024, the QIA had an estimated $526 ...

(QIA), one of the main investors in a $1.2 billion financing arrangement for Uber. After ''The Observer'' report was published, Lady Arbuthnot withdrew from hearing any further appeals by the company.

Grenfell

In August 2019 Arbuthnot cleared a man accused of filming a

Grenfell Tower Grenfell Tower is a derelict 24-storey residential tower block in North Kensington in West London, England. The tower was completed in 1974 as part of the first phase of the Lancaster West Estate. Most of the tower was destroyed in a Grenfell T ...

effigy An effigy is a sculptural representation, often life-size, of a specific person or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certain ...

being burned at a bonfire night

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

, whilst a group of friends laughed and joked. Her decision was overturned by the High Court in August 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbuthnot, Emma Living people 1959 births 21st-century British women judges 21st-century British women lawyers 21st-century English judges Alumni of City, University of London Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Emma Arbuthnot British baronesses Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English women judges Lawyers from London Members of the Inner Temple People educated at Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle People from Macclesfield Spouses of life peers Lawyers awarded damehoods