Dame Sara Elizabeth Cockerill, DBE (born 7 November 1968) is a British High Court judge.

Early life and education

Cockerill was born in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

, England and was educated at

Lady Eleanor Holles School Lady Eleanor Holles School (often abbreviated to LEH or LEHS) is a private day school for girls in Hampton, London. It consists of a small junior school and a larger senior school, which operate from different buildings on the same site. It is a ...

, funded by the

Assisted Places Scheme The Assisted Places Scheme was established in the UK by the Conservative government in 1980. Children who were eligible were provided with free or subsidised places to fee-charging independent schools - based on the child's results in the schoo ...

. She studied at

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. ...

and completed a first-class BA in

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

in 1989. She was an Eldon Scholar in 1990.

Career

In 1990, Cockerill 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 ...

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 ...

, and practised at the bar from

Essex Court Chambers Essex Court Chambers is a set of commercial barristers in Lincoln's Inn Fields, central London. It has 110 tenants, of whom 55 are King's Counsel, also known as Silks. It is considered by legal commentators to be one of the ' Magic Circle' of Londo ...

and Four Essex Court, specialising in commercial law and compelled evidence. 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 2011 and served as a deputy High Court judge from 2016 to 2017. Having been from 2011 a contributor to the ''White Book'', she has been a member of its senior editorial board since 2020. She wrote ''Compelled Evidence in Civil Proceedings'' in 2011. In addition to legal publications, Cockerill has written books on medieval history, including ''Eleanor of Castile: the Shadow Queen'' in 2014 and ''Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen of France and England, Mother of Empires'' in 2019.

High Court appointment

On 1 November 2017, she was appointed a judge of the High Court and assigned to 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 ...

. She received the customary

dame ''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. Baronet, Baronetesses Suo jure, in their own right also u ...

hood in 2017. She is authorised to hear cases on the Financial List, at the

Competition Appeal Tribunal The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) of the United Kingdom was created by Section 12 and Schedule 2 to the Enterprise Act 2002, Enterprise Act 2002 which came into force on 1 April 2003. The Competition Service is an executive non-department ...

and the

Administrative Court An administrative court is a type of specialized court on administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are usually co ...

, and does general Queen's Bench work. Since 2020, she has been Judge in Charge of the

Commercial Court Business courts, sometimes referred to as commercial courts, are specialized courts for legal cases involving commercial law, internal business disputes, and other matters affecting businesses. In the US, they are trial courts that primarily or ...

. During the

Venezuelan presidential crisis The Venezuelan presidential crisis was a political crisis concerning the leadership and the legitimate president of Venezuela between 2019 and 2023, with the nation and the world divided in support for Nicolás Maduro or Juan Guaidó. Venezu ...

, Cockerill ruled that Venezuela's gold reserves deposited in the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

should remain frozen.

Personal life

In 1997, she married Nigel Eaton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cockerill, Sara Living people 1968 births Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn People educated at Lady Eleanor Holles School Queen's Bench Division judges 21st-century English judges 21st-century British women lawyers 21st-century British women judges Lawyers awarded damehoods