Anne Rafferty read law at Sheffield and was Chancellor 2015-2025. She had a criminal practice in London, was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1990, a High Court judge in 2000 and in 2011 a Lady Justice of Appeal, retiring in 2020. Her many “first woman” accolades include Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association and Presiding Judge of the Southeastern circuit. In the High Court she tried the most serious criminal cases and those attracting media attention, for example Paul Burrell, butler to Diana Princess of Wales. She chaired the Judicial College, was vice chairman (most senior judicial member) of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) and sat on the Sentencing Council. Her 1989 suggestions led to recorded police interviews with suspects, then, 25 years on, to vulnerable witnesses giving evidence in a controlled setting, filming later shown to the jury. Post retirement she set up the JAC Targeted Outreach programme, seeking quality judicial candidates from diverse backgrounds, sits on the KC Appointments panel, ran the review of the Welsh Rugby Union, and was Inspector into the 2003 Iraq fatalities investigations. She chairs the State Honours Committee and is a a House of Lords Standards Commissioner. She chairs the RS judicial primers steering group and lends a hand organising its Science and the Law seminars.
Professional position
- Retired Lady Justice of Appeal, Royal Courts of Justice
- Former Chancellor, University of Sheffield
