Elizabeth Gloster

Former judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales (born 1949)

The Right Honourable
Dame Elizabeth Gloster
Lady Justice of Appeal
In office
9 April 2013 – 1 June 2018
MonarchElizabeth II
High Court Judge
In office
21 April 2004 – 9 April 2013
Personal details
Born (1949-06-05) 5 June 1949 (age 74)
NationalityBritish
Spouses
Stanley Brodie QC
​
(div. 2004)​
  • Sir Oliver Popplewell
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2008)​
    • Alma materGirton College, Cambridge
    OccupationJudge
    ProfessionBarrister

    Dame Elizabeth Gloster, Lady Popplewell, DBE, PC (born 5 June 1949[1]) is a British lawyer who was a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Vice-President of the Civil Division. She was the first female judge of the Commercial Court.[2]

    Education

    Gloster was educated at Roedean School and Girton College, Cambridge.[3]

    Career

    Gloster was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1971 (and made a bencher in 1992).[4] In 1989, she became a Queen's Counsel. She was appointed a judge of the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey in 1993 and a Recorder in 1995.[5]

    On 21 April 2004, Gloster was appointed a High Court judge,[6] receiving the customary appointment as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) and allocated to the Queen's Bench Division (Commercial Court).[7] From 2010 to 2012, she was the judge in charge of the Commercial Court.[5]

    Gloster heard a case in 2012 involving two Russian oligarchs in which Boris Berezovsky claimed Roman Abramovich had intimidated him into selling shares in Russian oil giant Sibneft. and was claiming £3bn in damages.[8] She found Berezovsky to be "an inherently unreliable witness" and found in favour of Abramovich. An editorial in The Times agreed with the judge's conclusion.[9] At the start of the trial she had disclosed in court that her stepson had represented Abramovich as a barrister at an early stage of the case.[10][11] Berezovsky's lawyers said their client had no objection to her continuing to hear the case. They later claimed that the barrister's involvement for which he had been paid £469,000 in fees had been understated but did not appeal against the judgment.[12] Asked outside the court if he felt Russia's President Vladimir Putin would be happy with the ruling, Berezovsky replied: "Sometimes I have the impression that Putin himself wrote this judgment."[13] A Statement from the Judicial Office which represents judges said Dame Elizabeth's stepson had not appeared at any hearings where she had been present. The statement said: "Where a judge has disclosed a family relationship to the parties, it is a judicial decision whether a judge believes he or she should recuse him or herself. The way to challenge a decision not to recuse would be by appealing through the courts."[14]

    On 9 April 2013, Dame Elizabeth was appointed a Lady Justice of Appeal[15] and consequently appointed to the Privy Council.[16]

    She became Vice-President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal on 7 December 2016, on the retirement of Lord Justice Moore-Bick.[17] She retired from the Court of Appeal on 1 June 2018.[7]

    She serves as a commercial court judge, applying English Common Law, on the ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) Courts.[18][19]

    Judgments

    Private life

    In 2005, Elizabeth Gloster was divorced from Stanley Brodie QC. On 15 March 2008, she married Sir Oliver Popplewell.[20]

    References

    1. ^ "Senior judiciary". The Judicial Office. 3 October 2011. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
    2. ^ Malkin, Brendan (13 April 2004). "Gloster QC is first female Commercial Court judge". The Lawyer. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
    3. ^ "Elizabeth Gloster QC". Commonwealth Secretariat. 2011. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
    4. ^ "Gloster, Dame Elizabeth – Hot 100". The Lawyer. 7 January 2005. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
    5. ^ a b "Appointment of new judge in charge of the Commercial Court". The Judicial Office. 6 July 2010. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
    6. ^ "No. 57274". The London Gazette. 28 April 2004. p. 5305.
    7. ^ a b "Court of Appeal: Retirement of Lady Justice Gloster DBE". www.judiciary.uk. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
    8. ^ "Roman Abramovich wins court battle against Berezovsky". BBC News. 31 August 2012.
    9. ^ "Richly Deserved – Berezovsky's ill-advised case against Abramovich has failed dramatically". The Times. 1 September 2012.
    10. ^ Leppard, David (2 November 2023). "Berezovsky cries foul over £3.5bn Abramovich trial judge".
    11. ^ IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS LIST (PDF).
    12. ^ Belton, Catherine (2021). Putin's People How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West. London: HarperCollins. pp. 5, 506. ISBN 9780007578818.
    13. ^ "Roman Abramovich wins court battle against Berezovsky". BBC News.
    14. ^ Leppard, David (22 September 2012). "Berezovsky cries foul over £3.5bn Abramovich trial judge". The Times. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
    15. ^ "No. 60472". The London Gazette. 11 April 2013. p. 7097.
    16. ^ "Privy Council members". Privy Council.
    17. ^ "Courts and Tribunals Judiciary | Appointment of the new Vice-President of the Court of Appeal (Civil)". Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
    18. ^ "ADGM Judges".
    19. ^ "ADGM Courts".
    20. ^ Rozenberg, Joshua (4 June 2008). "Brief Encounters". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 October 2011.