Mary Arden (judge)
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Mary Howarth Arden, Baroness Mance, , PC (born 23 January 1947), known professionally as Lady Arden of Heswall, is a former
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom are the judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom other than President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the president and Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United ...
. Before that, she was a judge of the
Court of Appeal of England and Wales The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Senior Courts of England and Wales, and second in the legal system of England and Wales only to ...
.


Early life and education

Mary Howarth Arden was born in
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, the daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Cuthbert Arden, of
Heswall Heswall () is a coastal town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was historically part of Cheshire and became part of Merseyside in 1974. It is located on the Wirral Peninsula. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 202 ...
, Cheshire, a solicitor who had served with the
Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Artillery, Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse ...
, and Mary Margaret (née Smith). Her grandfather was a partner in Gamon Arden and Co., a Liverpool firm of
solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
s. Her father and brother, Roger, joined the family firm which merged with Hill Dickinson in 2007. She was brought up in south Liverpool and educated at Huyton College. She read law at
Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...
, where she gained a starred first and an
LLM A large language model (LLM) is a language model trained with Self-supervised learning, self-supervised machine learning on a vast amount of text, designed for natural language processing tasks, especially Natural language generation, language g ...
, and an
LLM A large language model (LLM) is a language model trained with Self-supervised learning, self-supervised machine learning on a vast amount of text, designed for natural language processing tasks, especially Natural language generation, language g ...
degree at
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
in 1970 as a
Kennedy Scholar Kennedy Scholarships provide full funding for up to ten British post-graduate students to study at either Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Susan Hockfield, the sixteenth president of MIT, described the scho ...
.


Career

She 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 ...
at
Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
in 1971, and joined
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...
in 1973. She practised at Erskine Chambers from 1971 to 1993, mainly in
company law Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corp ...
. She became a QC in 1986, and served as
Attorney-General of the Duchy of Lancaster The Attorney-General of the Duchy of Lancaster is the law officer of the Crown for matters arising in the Duchy of Lancaster. Attorneys-General *1478–1483: Richard Empson *1519–1522: John Hales *1522–1526: Edmund Knightley *1526–1531: ...
. She is an Honorary Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge,
Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...
, and of
Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...
. She was appointed to the High Court on 30 April 1993, becoming the first female High Court judge to be 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 ...
. As is customary, she was appointed a
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(DBE) at the same time. Arden was chairman of the
Law Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...
from 1996 to 1999. On 2 October 2000, she was also appointed 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 ...
. Other posts held by Arden include her membership of the Steering Group of the Company Law Review, and a current post as Head of International Judicial Relations for England and Wales. She is a member of the advisory board, Centre of Commercial Law; of the Council of the Statute Law Society; of the Board of the
Institute of Advanced Legal Studies The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) is a member institute of the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Founded in 1947, it is a national academic centre of excellence, serving the legal community and universities across the ...
, as well as being President of the Trinity Hall Law Society, and of the Association of Women Barristers. She is a member of the
Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides administrative support in international ...
in the Hague. Arden's appointment 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 ...
, replacing her husband Lord Mance on the court, was announced in June 2018, to take effect on 1 October 2018. On entering her office, she took the
judicial courtesy title A courtesy title is a form of address and/or reference in the British system of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer, as well as certain officials such as some judges and members of the Scottish gentry. Thes ...
of Lady Arden of Heswall. She was the only woman out of the eleven judges of the court between the retirement of Lady Black of Derwent in January 2021 and the appointment of Lady Black's successor, Lady Rose of Colmworth, in April 2021. By the time she retired in 2022, she was the eldest of the justices ( Lord Lloyd-Jones was the second-eldest at 69). Following the retirement (and death) of
Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore Brian Francis Kerr, Baron Kerr of Tonaghmore, (; 22 February 19481 December 2020), was a Northern Irish barrister and a senior judge. He held office as Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and then as a justice of the Supreme Court of the U ...
in 2020 she was the only remaining member to have held judicial office before 31 March 1995 and was thus allowed to retire at 75 instead of 70.


Personal life

She married Jonathan Mance (now Lord Mance, former
Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the second most senior judge of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, after the President of the Supreme Court. The office is equivalent to the now-defunct position of Secon ...
) in the
Lady Chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...
at
Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Liverpool, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Liverpool and is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, diocese of Liverpool. The church may be formally re ...
in 1973; they have three children. Arden's husband, Lord Mance, joined the
Queen'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 ...
in October 1993, making them the first married couple to sit on the High Court bench. The couple also became the first married couple both to sit on the Court of Appeal. By virtue of her marriage, Lady Arden of Heswall is entitled to be styled The Lady Mance, but is instead known by her own judicial title.


Honours

* She was appointed as a
Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...
(QC) in 1986. * She was appointed
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
in the Civil Division on 30 April 1993 upon being made a High Court Judge. This gave her the right to be referred to as Dame Mary Arden. * She was elected an
Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...
of
Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the un ...
in 1995. * She was appointed 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 ...
on 2 October 2000. At this time She was appointed to the
Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...
. This gave her the honorific style "
The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealt ...
" for life. * She is an
Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...
of
Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...
and
Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...
. * In 2002 she was awarded the
honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
of
Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...
(LLD) from the
University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...
.


Judgments

Arden's judgments include: *'' Hutchinson Personal Communications Ltd v. Hook Advertising Ltd'' -
English contract law English contract law is the body of law that regulates legally binding agreements in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the Industrial Revolution, it shares a heritage with countries ...
case, ruling that clients cannot take creative work pitched to them speculatively without a prior agreement.The history of advertising 17 - Chris Joseph's silver hook
''campaignlive.co.uk'', 3 June 2011
*'' Price Meats v Barclays Bank'' *'' Bankway Properties Ltd v Pensfold-Dunsford'' *'' Pennington v Waine'' -
English trusts law English trust law concerns the protection of assets, usually when they are held by one party for another's benefit. Trust law, Trusts were a creation of the English law of English property law, property and English contract law, obligations, a ...
concerning the requirements for a trust to be properly constituted, and the operation of
constructive trusts In trust law, a constructive trust is an equitable remedy imposed by a court to benefit a party that has been wrongfully deprived of its rights due to either a person obtaining or holding a legal property right which they should not possess du ...
. *'' Item Software (UK) Ltd v Fassihi and others'' *'' Citibank v MBIA'' *'' Collier v P & MJ Wright (Holdings) Ltd'' -
English contract law English contract law is the body of law that regulates legally binding agreements in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the Industrial Revolution, it shares a heritage with countries ...
concerning the doctrine of
consideration Consideration is a concept of English law, English common law and is a necessity for simple contracts but not for special contracts (contracts by deed). The concept has been adopted by other common law jurisdictions. It is commonly referred to a ...
and
promissory estoppel A promise is a commitment by someone to do or not do something. As a noun ''promise'' means a declaration assuring that one will or will not do something. As a verb it means to commit oneself by a promise to do or give. It can also mean a capacity ...
in relation to "alteration promises". *'' McCarthy v Secretary of State for the Home Department'' *'' C (A Child) v XYZ CC'' *'' R. (on the application of S) v Secretary of State for the Home Office'' *'' Cooper v Attorney General'' *''
Relfo Ltd v Varsani ''Relfo Ltd (in liq) v Varsani'' 014EWCA Civ 360is an English unjust enrichment law case, concerning to what extent enrichment of the defendant must be at the expense of the claimant. Facts The liquidator of Relfo Ltd sued Varsani, a friend of ...
'' EWCA Civ 360
/ref> -
014
EWCA Civ 360
/ref> - English unjust enrichment law concerning to what extent enrichment of the defendant must be at the expense of the claimant.


Bibliography

*with George Eccles, ''Companies Act, 1980'' (1982) *with Geoffrey Newton Lane, ''Rotaprint PLC: Investigation under Section 432 (2) and Section 442 of the Companies Act 1985'' (1991) *''The Common Law in the Age of Human Rights'' (2000) *''Human Rights and European Law: Building New Legal Order'' (2015)


Arms


References


External links


Oration
on being awarded an Honorary Fellowship of
Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...

Portrait
at the National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom)">National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

Judiciary biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arden of Heswall, Mary Arden, Lady 1947 births Living people Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Harvard Law School alumni Attorneys-general of the Duchy of Lancaster English women judges British women lawyers Chancery Division judges Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English barristers Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge Judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Lady justices of appeal Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom English King's Counsel Spouses of life peers Mance Lawyers from Liverpool Wives of knights 21st-century British women judges 21st-century British judges Lawyers awarded damehoods