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Dame Janet Hilary Smith, DBE , PC (born 29 November 1940), [1] styled The Rt Hon. Lady Justice Smith, is an English barrister and former High Court Judge and President of the Council of The Inns of Court. She was the judge who prepared The Shipman Inquiry (a report on the activities of the British serial killer Harold Shipman) and the Dame Janet Smith Review , (a report on the activities of the British paedophile Jimmy Savile).
On 21 November 2002, Smith became the fourth woman to be promoted to the Court of Appeal, but she has since retired from that role. She is a Convenor of the cross-party political movement More United. [2]
Smith was born in Stockport, Cheshire, [3] and attended Bolton School. [4] She married, [4] before being called to the Bar in 1972. In February 2013 she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4. [5]
She practised as a barrister for twenty years in Manchester, specialising in personal injury and clinical negligence cases. [3] [6] After being appointed QC in 1986, she was appointed by Lancashire County Council in 1991 to hold a public inquiry into reported abuse of autistic children at Scotforth House in Lancaster. [3] She was appointed a High Court judge in 1992 (and received the customary appointment as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire). [7] As a High Court judge, she was involved in the trials of many notable homicide cases. [3]
Smith prepared The Shipman Inquiry , the report on the activities of the British serial killer Harold Shipman. The results of her year-long inquiry were published on 19 July 2002, and concluded that Shipman, jailed for life in January 2000 for 15 murders committed between 1995 and 1998, had murdered at least 215 patients since March 1975, also stating that there was a real suspicion that he had murdered as many as 260 people. [8] Smith never found any real motive for Shipman's killings but said, "It is possible that he was addicted to killing. He betrayed his patients' trust in a way and to the extent that I believe is unparalleled in history." [9]
On 21 November 2002, Smith became the fourth woman to be promoted to the Court of Appeal, following Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss (now Baroness Butler-Sloss, 1988), Dame Brenda Hale (now Baroness Hale of Richmond, 1999) and Dame Mary Arden (2000). [3] In January 2003, she was appointed Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University, a position she held until 2009. [7] After retiring from the Court of Appeal, in June 2011 Smith was appointed to succeed Lord Brennan of Bibury QC as the independent assessor for miscarriages of justice compensation for England and Wales. [10] In January 2012 she became Treasurer of Lincoln's Inn.
On 11 October 2012, she was appointed by the BBC to lead an inquiry into the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal. [11] She called for evidence from people who were the subject of inappropriate sexual conduct by Savile on BBC premises, or on location for the BBC; people who knew of or suspected such conduct; anyone who raised concerns about Savile's conduct within the BBC; people who worked for or with Savile on programmes at the BBC between about 1964 and 2007, or who were familiar with "the culture or practices of the BBC during that time insofar as they may have been relevant to preventing or enabling the sexual abuse of children, young people or teenagers"; and people who held senior positions at the BBC who may have relevant information. [12] [13] The report, the Dame Janet Smith Review, was published on 25 February 2016. [14]
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Ann Elizabeth Oldfield Butler-Sloss, Baroness Butler-Sloss, GBE, PC, is a retired English judge. She was the first female Lord Justice of Appeal and was the highest-ranking female judge in the United Kingdom until 2004, when Baroness Hale was appointed to the House of Lords. Until June 2007, she chaired the inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi Fayed. She stood down from that task with effect from that date, and the inquest was conducted by Lord Justice Scott Baker.
Lady Elish Frances Angiolini is a Scottish solicitor. She was the lord advocate of Scotland from 2006 until 2011, having previously been solicitor general since 2001. She was the first woman, the first procurator fiscal, and the first solicitor to hold either post. Since September 2012, Angiolini has been the principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford. She has been a pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford since 2017 and is an Honorary Professor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Heather Carol Hallett, Baroness Hallett,, is a retired English judge of the Court of Appeal and a crossbench life peer. The first woman to chair the Bar Council and the fifth woman to sit in the Court of Appeal, Hallett led the independent inquest into the 7/7 bombings. In April 2019, she was appointed Chair of the Security Vettings Appeal Panel. In December 2021, she was announced as the chair of the public inquiry into the UK Government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. On 29 June 2022, the Government accepted Baroness Hallett's proposed terms of reference for the inquiry, with minor changes suggested by the devolved administrations.
A justice of the High Court, commonly known as a High Court judge, is a judge of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, and represents the third-highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne justices and wear red and black robes.
Dame Joyanne Winifred Bracewell, DBE, FRSA was the most senior judge of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice at the time of her death, after the President of the Family Division.
Dame Caroline Jane Swift, Lady Openshaw,, formerly styled The Hon. Mrs Justice Swift, is a British barrister and former High Court judge. She was leading counsel to the Inquiry in the Shipman Inquiry, which began in 2001.
The Shipman Inquiry was the report produced by a British governmental investigation into the activities of general practitioner and serial killer Harold Shipman. Shipman was arrested in September 1998 and the inquiry commenced shortly after he was found guilty of 15 murders in January 2000. It released its findings in various stages, with its sixth and final report being released on 27 January 2005 – by which time Shipman had died by suicide in prison. It was chaired by Dame Janet Smith DBE.
It emerged in late 2012 that Jimmy Savile, a British media personality who had died the previous year, had sexually abused many people throughout his life, mostly children but some as old as 75, and mostly female. He had been well known in the United Kingdom for his eccentric image and was generally respected for his charitable work, which associated him with the British monarchy and other individuals of personal power.
Dame Sarah Jane Asplin, is a British judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. She was granted the customary appointment as Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire on appointment as a High Court judge in 2012, becoming the third woman appointed to the Chancery Division.
Dame Julia Wendy Macur, DBE, known as The Rt Hon Lady Justice Macur, is a British judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. Between April 2017 and December 2019, she was the Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales.
In 2012 and 2013, the British Broadcasting Corporation was involved in a series of investigations, accusations and scandals related to sexual abuse committed by employees, and the reporting of allegations of abuse by others. The issue of child sexual abuse by BBC employees was publicised nationally in October 2012 as part of the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal. Savile was a radio DJ and TV personality who presented the programmes Top of the Pops, Jim'll Fix It and Clunk Click, and was a well known charity fundraiser. Allegations of sexual abuse by Savile and other BBC employees were reported to have taken place in a number of locations across the country, including BBC Television Centre.
Dame Nicola Velfor Davies, DBE is British barrister and judge who is currently a Lady Justice of Appeal, to which she was appointed in 2018. At the Bar she practised in medical law. She is referred to as Rt Hon Lady Justice Nicola Davies.
Dame Geraldine Mary Andrews, DBE, styled The Rt. Hon. Lady Justice Andrews, is a Lady Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in England and Wales was an inquiry examining how the country's institutions handled their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse. It was announced by the British Home Secretary, Theresa May, on 7 July 2014. It published its 19th and final report on 20 October 2022.
Dame Parmjit Kaur "Bobbie" Cheema-Grubb,, styled Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, is a judge of the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. She is the first Asian woman to serve as a High Court judge in the United Kingdom.
In October 2012, Dame Janet Smith was appointed by the BBC to lead an inquiry into the corporation's connection to the sexual abuse committed by Jimmy Savile, a popular television and radio host. The final report, titled The Dame Janet Smith Review Report, was published on 25 February 2016.
Kate Blackwell KC is a British barrister. Head of Chambers at Lincoln House Chambers in Manchester, she became a Crown Court Recorder in 2009 and Queen's Counsel in 2012. Blackwell has been described by The Guardian as a ‘no-nonsense prosecutor’.
Dame Nerys Angharad Jefford, styled The Honourable Mrs Justice Jefford, DBE is a High Court Judge of England and Wales.
Dame Anne Heather Steel, DBE is a British former High Court judge and judge on the Court of Appeal of Guernsey.
Dame Christina Caroline Lambert DBE, styled Mrs Justice Lambert is a British High Court judge.
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