Lady Hale—The challenges of being a feminist court president

Rosemary Hunter and Erika Rackley

Chapter 5 in Elgar Companion to Female Chief Justices in Comparative Perspective, 2026, pp 104-128 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Lady Hale served as President of the UK Supreme Court from October 2017 to January 2020. In this chapter, we offer the first scholarly examination of Lady Hale's time as President. We explore the extent to which her role as the Court's President enabled or constrained her activities as a feminist leader. We discuss four features—her accessibility, collaboration, strategy, and courage—that emerge from our analysis of the public record of Lady Hale's presidency, and where her feminist approach is—or might be expected to be—evident. We conclude that while Lady Hale has left a mammoth legacy as a Justice of the Supreme Court, the constraints and timing of her presidency meant that her legacy as a feminist President is less notable. Happily, post-retirement, she is freed from those constraints and is now back fighting for social justice in her speeches and writing, and in the House of Lords.

Keywords: Feminist judging; Feminist leadership; Lady Hale; President of the UK Supreme Court (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035308637
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