Victoria Helen McCloud (néeWilliams;born 13 October 1969) is a British lawyer and former judge. A trans woman,McCloud was the youngest Master in the High Court of Justice when appointed in 2006 as a deputy and then as a full judge in 2010. McCloud is also a chartered psychologist and legal author. She retired from the bench in April 2024.[1]
McCloud was born in Surrey,England on 13 October 1969.[2][3] She was inspired become a lawyer,as a child,after watching the television series Crown Court.[4]
McCloud had previously been a barrister at Coram Chambers.[7] From 2006 McCloud was a Deputy Costs Judge / Taxing Master,then appointed a Queen's Bench Master in June 2010 and also re-appointed as a Costs Judge / Taxing Master in 2017.[8]
McCloud wrote the first five editions of the Civil Procedure Handbook and the Surveillance and Intelligence Law Handbook for OUP (as Victoria Williams).[7][9][10]
McCloud was a Master of the Senior Courts,Queen's Bench Division,appointed in 2010.[10] McCloud was the youngest ever Master in the High Court when appointed,the first trans person and second woman to have ever been given the position.[10] In a letter from Master McCloud,November 2019,she said "I suspect that such limited success as I had later in life fluking my way to winning the odd case as a barrister may well have been more about grinding down my opponents,not giving up but doggedly carrying on annoyingly to the end,than due to any great forensic brilliance. I gather the Komodo Dragon does much the same:bite the prey and then follow it for miles,sometimes nipping at its heels,until it expires and becomes the next meal."[11]
In 2016 McCloud began consulting with professionals working in the historic abuse field,hoping to improve the experience of justice for victims as well as for defendants and insurers,founding the Historic Abuse Lawyers' forum (HALF) to look at the possibility of alternative approaches to trial and resolution.[5]
McCloud resigned as a judge in February 2024,stating that "I have reached the conclusion that in 2024 the national situation and present judicial framework is no longer such that it is possible in a dignified way to be both 'trans' and a salaried,fairly prominent judge in the UK".[24][25] She subsequently moved to the Republic of Ireland.[26]
In March 2024,it was revealed that McCloud was seeking leave to join the litigation in the Supreme Court case For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.[27] This application to intervene by McCloud and Stephen Whittle for the Good Law Project was rejected by the Supreme Court in October 2024.[28] Following the ruling,which defined "woman" and "sex" for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 as referring to "biological woman and biological sex" (i.e. not assigned sex),McCloud said she would go to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to seek judgment against the British government and Supreme Court for failing to consider the "fundamental human rights" of trans people.[29]
McCloud lived in London with National Health Service psychiatrist Annie McCloud before moving to Ireland. They have been civil partners since 2006.[31]
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