Dame Julia Amanda Dias (born 31 January 1959) is a British High Court judge.

Personal life

Dias was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

on 31 January 1959, the daughter of Michael Dias and Norah Dias. She attended

Perse School for Girls The Stephen Perse Foundation is a family of private schools in Cambridge and Saffron Walden for students aged 1 to 18. The Foundation is made up of: - 3 nurseries (2 in Cambridge and 1 in Saffron Walden, Essex) for ages 1–5. - 2 Junior S ...

in Cambridge, later studying at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

, graduating in 1981. Dias married in 1983 and has one son and one daughter. She is fluent in French and Russian.

Career

Dias was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in 1982 by

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 ...

, spending her early years in law as an Assistante Associée at the

Paris Institute of Comparative Law The Paris Institute of Comparative Law ( French: ''Institut de droit comparé de Paris'', commonly referred to as "IDC") is a public institution of research and higher education which was founded in 1931 by Henri Capitant and Henri Lévy-Ullmann. ...

. Dias joined the London-based chambers 7KBW in 1985 as the first female tenant, working in specialist commercial practice. She was called to the

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Bar in 1994. She

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

in 2008, granting her the title QC (now KC). She was appointed a

Deputy High Court Judge 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 and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

in 2018 assigned to the

Chancery division 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 and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

and High Court judge on 20 March 2023, assigned to 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 ...

by the

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales 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 and ...

. Dias received the customary

damehood ''Dame'' is a traditionally British honorific title given to women who have been admitted to certain orders of chivalry. It is the female equivalent of ''Sir'', the title used by knights. Baronetesses in their own right also use the title ''Da ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

{{King's Bench Division of England & Wales 1959 births Living people English women judges 21st-century British women judges 21st-century British women lawyers People from Cambridge People educated at the Perse School for Girls Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English King's Counsel 21st-century King's Counsel Members of the Inner Temple Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni Chancery Division judges Queen's Bench Division judges Lawyers awarded damehoods