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Victoria Sharp

Dame Victoria Sharp DBE PC is a British judge who has served as President of the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice since 2019, the first woman appointed to the role.^[1]
Educated at the University of Bristol, where she read law, Sharp was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1979 and took silk as Queen's Counsel in 2001.^[1]^[2]
She practised as a barrister, specialising in complex litigation, and served as a recorder from 1998 before her appointment as a deputy High Court judge in 2008 and a full High Court judge in the Queen's Bench Division in 2009.^[1]
Sharp was Presiding Judge of the Western Circuit from 2012 to 2013, promoted to the Court of Appeal as a Lady Justice in 2013, and appointed Vice-President of the Queen's Bench Division in 2016, succeeding to the presidency upon the retirement of Sir Brian Leveson.^[1]^[2]
In this capacity, she oversees the administrative functions of the division, which handles civil claims, judicial reviews, and criminal appeals, and has issued guidance on emerging issues such as the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal proceedings.^[1]^[3]

Early life and education

Early years and legal training

Dame Victoria Sharp was born on 8 February 1956. She attended North London Collegiate School before pursuing higher education.^[4]^[5] Sharp read law at the University of Bristol, completing her degree there.^[1]^[6] In her own account, she developed a strong vocational interest in becoming a barrister during her early years.^[6] She was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1979, entering professional legal practice thereafter.^[1]^[4]

Legal practice

Career at the Bar

Sharp was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1979 and joined 1 Brick Court Chambers in 1982, where she developed a practice specializing in media and defamation law.^[7] Her work as a barrister encompassed civil litigation in these areas, including high-profile cases requiring advanced advocacy.^[8] In 1998, Sharp was appointed a Recorder, enabling her to perform part-time judicial functions in the Crown Court, primarily handling criminal trials, a role she continued until 2008.^[1] This appointment reflected her competence in judicial decision-making alongside her ongoing barristerial practice. In 2001, she took silk as Queen's Counsel, an honor bestowed by the Crown on recommendation from the profession, signifying peer acknowledgment of her exceptional skill in courtroom advocacy and legal expertise.^[2]

Judicial career

High Court appointment and roles

Victoria Sharp was appointed a Justice of the High Court and assigned to the Queen's Bench Division on 13 January 2009, following recommendation by the Judicial Appointments Commission, which assesses candidates on merit including judicial ability, integrity, and experience.^[1] ^[2] The appointment was formalized by warrant under the Great Seal, with formal admission occurring shortly thereafter at the Royal Courts of Justice.^[9] Upon elevation, she received the customary honor of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), reflecting the seniority of the role in the English judicial hierarchy.^[1] In her High Court capacity, Sharp handled a range of civil matters within the Queen's Bench Division's jurisdiction, which encompasses administrative law through judicial review proceedings, defamation and libel disputes, and cases involving professional regulation and disciplinary tribunals.^[1] Her prior practice at the Bar, specializing in media and defamation law, informed her assignment to these areas, where she presided over trials requiring expertise in complex evidentiary standards and public interest considerations.^[8] From 2012 to 2013, Sharp served as Presiding Judge for the Western Circuit, a leadership role involving coordination of judicial resources across approximately 20 county and Crown Courts in the South West and South East regions, including oversight of judge allocations, case management protocols, and training to ensure efficient administration of justice.^[1] ^[2] In this position, she collaborated with the Lord Chancellor’s Department and local judiciary to address operational challenges, such as workload distribution and compliance with procedural timelines, underscoring the meritocratic emphasis on practical judicial experience for such administrative duties.^[10]

Court of Appeal and senior positions

In October 2013, Victoria Sharp was sworn in as a Lady Justice of the Court of Appeal (Civil Division), following her appointment earlier that year as one of ten new judges to the court.^[8]^[10] This elevation marked her transition from High Court service to appellate oversight, where she reviewed decisions on points of law from lower courts in civil and administrative matters, contributing to the consistency and development of legal precedents.^[2] From January 2016 to June 2019, Sharp concurrently served as Vice-President of the Queen's Bench Division, assisting the President in administrative leadership, judicial deployment, and oversight of procedural practices across the division's workload.^[10]^[1] In this preparatory senior role, she participated in the Judicial Executive Board, addressing operational challenges in high-volume litigation and appeals, while maintaining her appellate duties until her subsequent promotion.^[1]

Presidency of the King's Bench Division

Dame Victoria Sharp was appointed President of the King's Bench Division on 5 April 2019, becoming the first woman to hold the position, which oversees the largest of the three divisions of the High Court of Justice, encompassing civil jurisdiction, administrative law, commercial disputes, and certain criminal appeals.^[2] She was formally sworn in on 25 June 2019, succeeding Sir Brian Leveson, and assumed responsibility for leading the judges, deploying resources, and organizing the division's workload to ensure efficient handling of complex litigation.^[1] In her administrative role, Sharp has focused on optimizing caseload distribution amid persistent pressures, including resource limitations and surges in filings that intensified following the COVID-19 disruptions, which delayed High Court proceedings and contributed to broader judicial delays.^[11] As President, she contributes to strategic oversight through updates to divisional guides, such as the 2025 King's Bench Division Guide, which provides practitioners with protocols for case management and procedural efficiency.^[12] Sharp has prioritized evidentiary standards in division proceedings, particularly addressing the complexities of digital evidence in an era of increasing technological reliance. In a 2021 speech to the National Criminal Justice Conference, she underscored the risks of voluminous digital material overwhelming disclosure processes and potentially obscuring key facts rather than clarifying them, advocating for procedural adaptations that preserve rigorous scrutiny without diluting evidential thresholds.^[13] More recently, in a June 2025 judgment consolidating two cases involving suspected AI-generated submissions (Ayinde v London Borough of Haringey and Al-Haroun v Qatar National Bank), she issued guidance warning legal professionals against unverified use of generative AI tools, emphasizing personal accountability for accuracy and the potential for contempt charges if fabricated content undermines judicial integrity.^[14] These interventions reflect her policy influence toward maintaining causal reliability in evidence handling amid evolving tools.

Notable cases and rulings

Julian Assange extradition proceedings

In February 2024, Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Mr Justice Johnson in the High Court as President of the King's Bench Division, heard Julian Assange's renewed application for permission to appeal the extradition order upheld by the Divisional Court in December 2021.^[15] The hearing, held on 20 and 21 February, addressed arguments that extradition would violate protections under the US-UK Extradition Treaty, the First Amendment to the US Constitution, Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of expression), and the political offence exception, alongside risks of discrimination as a non-US citizen and potential exposure to the death penalty.^[15]^[16] On 26 March 2024, Sharp and Johnson delivered a judgment refusing permission to appeal on three principal grounds: reliance on First Amendment rights, invocation of the political offence bar, and substantive incompatibility with Article 10 ECHR.^[15] The court determined these lacked a "real prospect of success," citing the statutory framework of the Extradition Act 2003, which requires bars to extradition only on specific evidential thresholds such as absence of dual criminality or oppression, and prior judicial findings that US assurances adequately addressed suicide risks from the 2021 proceedings.^[15] Regarding the death penalty, however, the judges adjourned proceedings and directed the United States to furnish formal assurances by 16 April 2024 that Assange would not face capital punishment or prejudice at trial due to his nationality, as UK law prohibits extradition where execution remains a possibility.^[15]^[17] The US Government complied with assurances on 4 April 2024, prompting a follow-up hearing on 20 May 2024.^[18] At this session, Sharp and Johnson granted permission to appeal on narrowed grounds, finding arguable cases that: (1) as a non-US citizen, Assange might face discrimination in accessing First Amendment defenses; (2) the US assurances on constitutional protections were insufficient for a foreign national; and (3) extradition could disproportionately interfere with Article 10 rights given the publication of unredacted national security materials.^[19]^[20] These rulings prioritized verifiable assurances and treaty commitments over broader claims of political motivation, while allowing challenge where human rights risks to non-citizens were unsubstantiated by prior evidence. US and UK authorities maintain that the charges—18 counts under the Espionage Act and computer misuse laws for conspiring to obtain and disclose classified documents—establish accountability for actions that compromised intelligence sources and endangered lives, exceeding protected journalistic activity.^[15]^[21] Critics, including Assange's supporters and organizations like Reporters Without Borders, argue the proceedings demonstrate excessive deference to US demands, potentially eroding press freedoms by criminalizing the receipt and publication of leaks akin to established media practices, though the judgments explicitly rejected unsubstantiated assertions of bad faith prosecution absent proof beyond statutory bars.^[22] The decisions underscore causal reliance on empirical assurances rather than speculative harms, aligning with the Act's emphasis on comity in extradition while permitting appeal where treaty interpretations for non-nationals raise unresolved ECHR tensions.^[15]

Procedural and administrative decisions

In June 2025, Dame Victoria Sharp addressed instances where lawyers submitted court documents containing citations to non-existent cases, suspected to have been generated by artificial intelligence tools, in two separate High Court proceedings.^[23]^[24] She ruled that such submissions constituted a breach of lawyers' professional duty not to mislead the court, emphasizing that reliance on unverified AI outputs undermined evidentiary integrity by introducing fabricated precedents that could distort judicial reasoning.^[25]^[26] Sharp declined to impose contempt findings in these specific referrals but warned of potential sanctions, including professional disciplinary action, for future violations, highlighting the broader threat to public trust in the justice system's reliance on accurate legal authority.^[3]^[27] As President of the King's Bench Division, Sharp has overseen updates to procedural guides that reinforce standards for administrative and judicial review processes, including the 2025 edition of the King's Bench Division Guide, which she introduced to clarify court practices amid evolving caseloads.^[12] These guidelines address procedural efficiency in handling regulatory challenges, requiring explicit demonstration of causal links in claims of administrative error to prevent unsubstantiated challenges from burdening the system.^[28] Her involvement in earlier consultations, such as the Independent Review of Administrative Law, contributed to recommendations for streamlined judicial review procedures that prioritize evidence-based accountability over expansive deference to executive decisions.^[29] Sharp has issued rulings upholding procedural fairness in cases involving libel claims and professional misconduct allegations, mandating that courts balance disclosure obligations with protections against fishing expeditions in pre-trial evidence production. In professional disciplinary contexts, her decisions have emphasized timely hearings and impartial panel composition to ensure accused parties receive adequate notice and opportunity to respond, as seen in appeals where procedural lapses risked invalidating sanctions.^[30] These approaches underscore a commitment to robust process safeguards, reducing the potential for miscarriages of justice through arbitrary evidentiary exclusions or delays.

Reception

Achievements and contributions

Dame Victoria Sharp marked a significant milestone in the history of the English judiciary as the first woman to serve as President of the King's Bench Division, appointed on 27 June 2019 following the retirement of Sir Brian Leveson, with her selection reflecting a career of over 40 years built on substantive legal expertise in high-stakes litigation rather than diversity initiatives.^[31]^[32] Called to the Bar in 1979 and taking silk in 2001, Sharp's pre-judicial practice emphasized defamation and media law, areas demanding precise interpretation of statutory and common law principles to balance free expression against reputational harms.^[10]^[8] In her judicial roles, Sharp contributed to appellate jurisprudence by promoting consistent application of contractual and evidentiary standards, particularly in disputes involving public interest disclosures and procedural fairness, thereby reinforcing causal linkages between legislative intent and judicial outcomes without deference to extraneous policy considerations.^[10] Her prior positions, including Presiding Judge of the Western Circuit from 2012 to 2013 and Vice-President of the Queen's Bench Division from 2016, facilitated administrative enhancements in case allocation and circuit oversight, drawing on empirical assessments of judicial workloads to mitigate bottlenecks in common law proceedings.^[1] As President, she has overseen the division's handling of diverse civil and criminal matters, including torts, contracts, and administrative reviews, upholding operational integrity amid evolving caseload pressures from post-2020 legal backlogs.^[10]

Criticisms and controversies

In the Julian Assange extradition proceedings, transparency advocates criticized Dame Victoria Sharp's involvement, alleging her prior representation of MI6 as a barrister and appointment under Conservative governance evidenced an establishment bias favoring state interests over individual rights, potentially prejudicing fair scrutiny of U.S. assurances on free speech protections and the death penalty.^[33] These claims, advanced by outlets sympathetic to Assange such as Declassified UK, portrayed her as predisposed to uphold extradition despite risks of political persecution. However, the High Court panel presided over by Sharp and Justice Johnson granted Assange leave to appeal on 20 May 2024, specifically citing inadequate U.S. guarantees against First Amendment bar and capital punishment exposure, thereby enforcing evidentiary thresholds under the Extradition Act 2003 and delaying extradition pending further assurances—outcomes consistent with procedural law rather than deference to executive power.^[20]^[34] Similar allegations surfaced in her handling of Insulate Britain contempt proceedings in November 2021, where Sharp imposed custodial sentences of two to six months on nine activists for repeated breaches of an injunction prohibiting highway blockades, prompting claims from climate advocacy groups of apparent bias due to her father's historical ties to fossil fuel-linked business interests via family investments.^[35] Critics, including activist media, argued the terms unduly prioritized infrastructure disruption penalties over environmental urgency, reflecting elite affiliations. Yet, the sentences aligned with Sentencing Council guidelines for flagrant injunction violations, applied uniformly to non-violent but persistent contempt, and lacked substantiation in recusal applications or appellate review, underscoring adherence to precedent over personal incentives.^[36]^[37] Broader critiques remain sparse and unsubstantiated, with no successful bias challenges or professional misconduct findings against Sharp in judicial records. Advocacy-driven narratives often conflate rigorous application of legal standards in politically charged matters—spanning diverse ideologies—with systemic favoritism, though empirical review of her rulings, including demands for state assurances in extraditions, reveals consistent prioritization of evidentiary rigor over policy alignment. Such allegations, typically from ideologically opposed sources, have not yielded empirical evidence of deviation from precedents or disproportionate outcomes relative to caseload demands on senior judiciary.

Personal life

Family and private interests

Dame Victoria Sharp is the daughter of Baron Sharp of Grimsdyke, a life peer knighted in 1984, and has a twin brother, Richard Sharp, a former investment banker who chaired the BBC from 2021 until his resignation in 2023.^[35]^[38]^[5] She is married and has four children, details of whom have not been publicly disclosed, with no reported influence on her judicial career or decisions.^[7] Sharp received the honor of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2009, customary upon her appointment as a High Court judge, and was sworn into the Privy Council on 8 November 2013 in recognition of her senior judicial roles.^[39]

References

[1]
Dame Victoria Sharp, President of the King's Bench Division
Dame Victoria Sharp DBE read law at Bristol University, was called to the Bar in 1979 and took Silk (QC) in 2001. She was appointed as a Recorder in 1998.Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
[2]
Appointment of the President of the Queen's Bench Division: 5 April ...
Apr 5, 2019 · Biography of candidate. Dame Victoria Sharp DBE read law at Bristol University, was called to the Bar in 1979 and took Silk (QC) in 2001. She ...
[3]
AI in Court Proceedings: President of the King's Bench Division ...
Jun 23, 2025 · The President of the King's Bench Division, Dame Victoria Sharp, has delivered a judgment about the use of AI by lawyers in court ...
[4]
Victoria Sharp | The Inner Temple
The Rt Hon Dame Victoria Sharp was educated at North London Collegiate School and the University of Bristol. She became a QC in 1986 and a Recorder in 1998.Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
[5]
Judges battle to become first woman judiciary of England and Wales
Jun 10, 2023 · Dame Victoria Sharp · Born in February 1956, she attended North London Collegiate School and Bristol University · Known for working 7am to 9pm ...Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
[6]
Rt Hon. Lady Justice Sharp, DBE | Alumni - University of Bristol
Dame Victoria Madeleine Sharp found in her studies at Bristol that she was taught to think critically, analyse and research efficiently and to think for ...Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
[7]
[PDF] Dame Victoria Sharp DBE, President of the Queen's Bench Division
Called to the Bar in 1979, she joined us as a tenant in our small, specialist media law Chambers after her pupillage with Richard Rampton and so began the ...Missing: Recorder | Show results with:Recorder
[8]
Dame Victoria Sharp sworn in as a Lady Justice of Appeal - 5RB
Oct 2, 2013 · After graduating from Bristol University, Victoria Sharp joined 1 Brick Court in 1982 and took silk in 2001. She was appointed as a Recorder in ...
[9]
New President of the Queen's Bench Division, Dame Victoria Sharp ...
Jun 26, 2019 · She became a Deputy High Court Judge before joining the Queen's Bench Division as a High Court Judge in 2009. Dame Victoria was appointed to the ...
[10]
Dame Victoria Sharp DBE, President of the King's Bench Division
Sep 13, 2022 · Dame Victoria Sharp read law at Bristol University, was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1979 and took silk in 2001. She became a Recorder in 1998-2008.
[11]
President of the King's Bench Division - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
The current President of the King's Bench Division is Dame Victoria Sharp DBE. The President of the King's Bench Division (KBD) is responsible for the ...
[12]
[PDF] King's Bench Division Guide - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
Dame Victoria Sharp, President of the. King's Bench Division. It is my pleasure to introduce the eleventh edition of the King's Bench Guide, which serves as a ...Missing: reforms policies
[13]
[PDF] PQBD Speech National Criminal Justice Conference - Judiciary.uk
Dec 1, 2021 · DAME VICTORIA SHARP DBE. PRESIDENT OF THE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION. The Challenges and Opportunities Created by Digital. Evidence in Criminal ...
[14]
[PDF] Ayinde -v- London Borough of Haringey, and Al-Haroun
Jun 6, 2025 · The referrals arise out of the actual or suspected use by lawyers of generative artificial intelligence tools to produce written legal arguments ...
[15]
[PDF] Assange-v-USA-Judgment.pdf - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
Mar 26, 2024 · Assange v USA. Dame Victoria Sharp P.: 1. This is the judgment of the court. Introduction. 2. The applicant is Julian Assange. The Government ...
[16]
Julian Assange: Lawyers describe US prosecution as state retaliation
Feb 20, 2024 · A court sketch shows lawyers for Julian Assange addressing High Court judges Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Johnson.
[17]
Assange can't be extradited until U.S. rules out death penalty, UK ...
Mar 26, 2024 · A U.K. district court judge rejected the U.S. extradition request in 2021 on the grounds that Assange was likely to kill himself if held under ...
[18]
Julian Assange wins temporary reprieve in case against extradition ...
Mar 26, 2024 · Judges grant WikiLeaks founder permission to appeal against removal from UK but only if US does not provide suitable assurances.
[19]
Julian Assange can appeal his extradition to the U.S., a British court ...
May 20, 2024 · A court in London has ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can now pursue an appeal against the British government's decision to approve his extradition ...
[20]
UK High Court grants Julian Assange right to appeal US extradition ...
May 20, 2024 · The UK High Court granted Julian Assange the right to appeal his extradition to the United States to face trial and possible imprisonment for life.
[21]
UK Julian Assange Extradition Case Concludes
Jun 25, 2024 · The Crown Prosecution Service's 14-year involvement in attempts to extradite Mr Assange has now concluded, subject to the formal withdrawal of the US ...Missing: Sharp | Show results with:Sharp<|separator|>
[22]
UK ruling on Assange extradition 'resets the game'. What happens ...
May 22, 2024 · A British judge in January 2021 ruled Assange should not be extradited because he was likely to end his own life in near-total isolation. But ...
[23]
High court tells UK lawyers to stop misuse of AI after fake case-law ...
Jun 7, 2025 · Ruling follows two cases blighted by actual or suspected use of artificial intelligence in legal work.
[24]
UK judge warns of risk to justice after lawyers cited fake AI ...
Jun 7, 2025 · A British High Court judge says lawyers have cited fake cases generated by artificial intelligence in court proceedings in England.
[25]
Lawyers face sanctions for citing fake cases with AI, warns UK judge
Jun 6, 2025 · Sharp warned in her ruling that lawyers who refer to non-existent cases will be in breach of their duty to not mislead the court, which could ...
[26]
UK judge warns lawyers of consequences for misusing AI in court ...
Jun 9, 2025 · The lawyer admitted to having used “publicly available artificial intelligence tools.” Dame Sharp did not hold the legal professional in ...
[27]
AI: the judgment - by Joshua Rozenberg - A Lawyer Writes
Jun 6, 2025 · Dealing with two separate cases in which it was suspected that AI-generated fake precedents had been cited in legal proceedings, Dame Victoria ...
[28]
[PDF] The Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide 2025
Guide to such an important part of the High Court's work. The Rt Hon Dame Victoria Sharp DBE. President of the King's Bench Division. Page 12. Preface to the ...
[29]
[PDF] The Independent Review of Administrative Law - GOV.UK
Upper Tribunal the final court of appeal for certain procedural issues was defeated when the Supreme Court ruled that it was subject to judicial review.
[30]
Court of Appeal hands down judgment on the use of representative ...
Dec 12, 2024 · On 11 December 2024, the Court of Appeal (Dame Victoria Sharp, Lady Justice Nicola Davies and Lord Justice Dingemans) handed down judgment ...Missing: decisions | Show results with:decisions
[31]
First woman appointed most senior criminal judge in England sworn in
Jun 25, 2019 · Dame Victoria Sharp read law at Bristol University, was called to the Bar in 1979 and became a QC in 2001. She was appointed a High Court judge ...<|separator|>
[32]
Science in the interests of justice | Royal Society
Oct 4, 2023 · Dame Victoria Sharp read law at Bristol University, was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1979 and took silk in 2001. She became a Recorder in ...<|separator|>
[33]
Julian Assange judge previously acted for MI6 - Declassified UK
Feb 19, 2024 · Sharp and Johnson. The lead judge in Assange's extradition case at the High Court is Dame Victoria Sharp, the president of the King's Bench ...
[34]
In a Victory for Assange and First Amendment, UK Court Grants ...
May 29, 2024 · Justice Jeremy Johnson and Dame Victoria Sharp granted him leave to appeal the U.K.'s extradition order on two grounds.
[35]
The Tory appointee holding Julian Assange's life in her hands
Feb 16, 2024 · Dame Victoria Sharp has been announced as the High Court judge who will next week rule on Julian Assange's bid to stop his extradition to the US.Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
[36]
Nine Insulate Britain activists jailed for breach of road blockades ...
Nov 17, 2021 · Judge imposes sentences ranging up to six months, saying some of them 'seem to want to be martyrs'<|separator|>
[37]
Insulate Britain protesters jailed for defying road blockade ban - BBC
Nov 17, 2021 · The submissions made by Ben Taylor, 37, to the court on Tuesday were described by Dame Victoria Sharp as "inflammatory" and a "call to arms" ...
[38]
Richard Sharp has friends everywhere – but ultimately left BBC on ...
Apr 28, 2023 · His twin sister is Dame Victoria Sharp, a court of appeal judge and the first woman to be president of the king's bench. Sharp's first wife ...Missing: personal | Show results with:personal<|separator|>
[39]
Privy Council appointments: November 2013 - GOV.UK
Nov 8, 2013 · The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of The Right Honourable Dame Julia Macur DBE, The Right Honourable Dame Victoria Sharp ...