As Lady Hale leaves the SC (boo!) and joins UCL (hooray!) I think it requires emphasis that she was for almost FOURTEEN YEARS the only female judge in our highest court. (Thread)
That is extraordinary and was unacceptable in itself.
Throughout this time she was a conspicuous force for good on the court.
She dragged the court into the twentieth century.
As a judge she was kind, courteous to advocates and extremely tough in equal (and appropriate measure).
She was so often on the right side of the case (and the winning side I venture to guess) that it was always surprising when she wasn’t.
She got unfairly criticised from time to time by people who thought that a judgment they disagreed was due to her academic background (and I strongly suspect, her gender) when an establishment judge would not have had the same reaction.
In possibly the most legally (and I mean legally not technically) difficult case in recent memory, which divided the court every which way, I think the Hale/Mance judgment is most convincing and increasingly being vindicated (Al Rawi).
In Miller 1 in 2017, when the SC hearing was watched by millions, she was STILL the only female judge on the court. Thank goodness we were not in the same boat for the case of prorogation - imagine ! (Although even then only just... )
Probably only Lord Bingham and Lord Hoffmann of Lady Hale’s contemporaries on the court could claim a legacy/impact close to hers.
I think I meant twenty first century, but now I wonder if that is what I meant ....
