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Elizabeth Gloster

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The Right Honourable Dame
Elizabeth Gloster
DBE
Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
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 77)
Spouses
  • Stanley Brodie QC
    ​
    (div. 2004)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 2008; died 2024)​
Girton College, Cambridge
OccupationJudge
ProfessionBarrister

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

Education

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

Career

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Gloster was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1971, and became a bencher there in 1992.[4] She was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1989, and went on to serve as a judge of the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey from 1993. In 1995 she was made a Recorder.[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 being assigned to the Queen's Bench Division (Commercial Court).[7] From 2010 to 2012, she served as the judge in charge of the Commercial Court.[5]

In 2012, Gloster presided over a high-profile case in which Boris Berezovsky claimed £3 billion in damages from Roman Abramovich, alleging that Abramovich had intimidated him into selling his shares in the Russian oil company Sibneft.[8] Gloster found Berezovsky to be "an inherently unreliable witness" and ruled in favour of Abramovich. A Times editorial endorsed the judge's conclusion.[9]

At the opening of the trial, Gloster had disclosed in court that her stepson had earlier acted as a barrister for Abramovich during a preliminary stage of the proceedings.[10][11] Berezovsky's legal team stated that their client raised no objection to her continuing to hear the matter. They later contended that the extent of the barrister's involvement—for which he had been paid £469,000 in fees—had been understated, though they did not appeal the judgment.[12] When asked outside the court whether he believed Russia's President Vladimir Putin would be pleased with the ruling, Berezovsky replied, "Sometimes I have the impression that Putin himself wrote this judgment."[13]

A statement issued by the Judicial Office, which represents judges, confirmed that Dame Elizabeth's stepson had not appeared at any hearing at which she had presided. It added, "Where a judge has disclosed a family relationship to the parties, it is a matter for the judge's own discretion whether he or she should recuse themselves. The proper way to challenge a decision not to recuse is by way of an appeal to the courts."[14]

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

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

She continues to sit as a commercial court judge, applying English common law, in the ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) Courts.[18][19]

Judgments

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Private life

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

References

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  1. ^ "Senior judiciary". The Judicial Office. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  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. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. 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". 21 May 2024.
  19. ^ "ADGM Courts". 20 May 2024.
  20. ^ Rozenberg, Joshua (4 June 2008). "Brief Encounters". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
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