Dame Sarah Jane Asplin, (born 16 September 1959) is a British 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 ...

. She was granted the customary appointment as

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 ...

on appointment as a High Court judge in 2012, becoming the third woman appointed 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 ...

Education

Asplin attended Southampton Sixth Form College for Girls and read law at

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college has origins from 1869, with the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

, earning a BA in Law in 1982 (promoted to

MA (Cantab) In the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts (BAs) are promoted to the rank of Master of Arts (MA), typically upon application after three or four years after graduation. No further examination or study is required for ...

by seniority in 1986). She went on to obtain the degree of BCL at

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

Legal career

Asplin 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 ...

(

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 1984 and was appointed 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 ...

in 2002. She became the Head of Chambers at 3 Stone Buildings in 2009, and was a deputy High Court Judge until her appointment to the High Court on 1 October 2012 as

the Honourable ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

Mrs Justice Asplin. She was the third woman to be assigned to the

, after Mary Arden and Sonia Proudman. On 22 February 2013, she was appointed as

. She was promoted to the Court of Appeal on 7 October 2017. In January 2019, Dame Sarah's appointment as Chair of the Church of England's Clergy Discipline Commission was announced. She simultaneously became the President of the Tribunals.

Personal life

In 1986, Asplin married Nicholas A. Sherwin, a solicitor with

Clifford Chance Clifford Chance LLP is a British multinational law firm headquartered in London, England, and a member of the " Magic Circle", a group of leading London-based multinational law firms. In 2022-2023 Clifford Chance was the third largest law fir ...

, who had been a contemporary at Cambridge.''List of Members - Cambridge University'' (University of Cambridge, 1991), p. 1229

References

1959 births Living people Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford English women judges Chancery Division judges English King's Counsel Lady justices of appeal Place of birth missing (living people) English women lawyers 21st-century King's Counsel Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of Gray's Inn 21st-century British women judges 21st-century English judges Lawyers awarded damehoods {{UK-law-bio-stub