The Faculty is delighted to welcome the announcement that Cambridge alumna Dame Ingrid Simler, Lady Justice of Appeal will join the Supreme Court as a Justice on 14 November. Lady Justice Simler replaces Lord Kitchin, who retired in September.
Dame Ingrid read Law as an undergraduate at Sidney Sussex College, matriculating in 1982, followed by a post-graduate diploma in EU law at the Europa Institute, University of Amsterdam. She was called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 1987, and practised at Devereux Chambers (where she became Head of Chambers before becoming a judge). She was appointed to the Attorney General's Civil Panel A in 2001 and as Junior Counsel to the Inland Revenue (Common Law) in 2002, and she took silk in 2006. In 2002 she was appointed Recorder on the South East circuit. She was appointed as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2010.
She became a Judge of the High Court (Queen's Bench Division, now King's Bench Division) in October 2013. In January 2015 she was appointed President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal for a three year term which ended in December 2018. During this time she was also elected to an Honorary Fellowship of the Sidney Sussex in 2016.
Having served as High Court Liaison Judge for Diversity she was appointed chair of the Diversity Committee of the Judges' Council in 2019. She is also a member of the Civil Executive Team chaired by the Deputy Head of Civil Justice, reporting to the Master of the Rolls.
She was then sworn in as a Lady Justice of the Court of Appeal in June 2019.
Welcoming the announcement, the President of the Supreme Court, The Right Hon The Lord Reed of Allermuir said: "I am delighted to welcome Lady Justice Simler as a Justice to the Supreme Court. She will bring exceptional experience and ability to the Court following a distinguished career as a barrister and Judge. Her experience in employment law, tax, public law and criminal law will be highly valuable to the Supreme Court and will further strengthen us as a world-leading Court."
The Faculty warmly congratulates Dame Ingrid on her forthcoming appointment.