Victoria Sharp
{{Short description|British jurist (born 1956)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
| name = Dame Victoria Sharp
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|DBE|sep=,|size=100%}}
| image = Dame Victoria Sharp (cropped).jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Sharp in 2019
| office = President of the King's Bench Division
| term_start = 23 June 2019
| term_end =
| monarch = Elizabeth II
Charles III
| predecessor = Sir Brian Leveson
| successor =
| office2 = Lady Justice of Appeal
| term_start2 = 2013
| term_end2 = 2019
| office3 = Justice of the High Court
| term_start3 = 2009
| term_end3 = 2013
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1956|2|8|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| birthname = Victoria Madeleine Sharp
| nationality = British
| spouse =
| residence =
| alma_mater = University of Bristol{{Cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.uk/you-and-the-judiciary/going-to-court/court-of-appeal-home/coa-biogs/|title=Biographies of the Court of Appeal judges|website=www.judiciary.uk}}
}}
Dame Victoria Madeleine Sharp, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|DBE|sep=,|size=100%}}, PC (born 8 February 1956) is a British judge. She has been the President of the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice since 2019.
Early life
She is the daughter of The Lord Sharp of Grimsdyke.{{cite book |title=Who's Who 2019}} Her twin brother is Richard Sharp, a former Goldman Sachs banker, and former Chairman of the BBC.{{cite news |last1=Bland |first1=Archie |title=Former Goldman Sachs banker Richard Sharp to be next BBC chairman |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jan/06/former-goldman-sachs-banker-richard-sharp-to-be-next-bbc-chairman |access-date=6 January 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=6 January 2021}} She is Jewish.{{Cite web|last=Reporter|first=Jewish News|title=Former banker Richard Sharp to take over as BBC chairman|url=https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/former-banker-richard-sharp-to-take-over-as-bbc-chairman/|access-date=6 January 2021|website=jewishnews.timesofisrael.com|date=6 January 2021 |language=en-US}} She was educated at North London Collegiate School and the University of Bristol.{{Cite web|url=https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/appointment-of-deputy-head-of-criminal-justice/|title=Appointment of Deputy Head of Criminal Justice|website=www.judiciary.uk|date=7 February 2020 }}[https://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/mar/28/three-women-seven-men-court-of-appeal Profile], theguardian.com; accessed 26 March 2014.
Career
Sharp was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1979 and joined 1 Brick Court in 1982, mainly practising in defamation and media law. She became a Recorder in 1998, and a QC in 2001.
She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), as is customary, on her appointment as a Justice of the High Court on 13 January 2009.[http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/about-the-judiciary/judges-magistrates-and-tribunal-judges/list-of-members-of-the-judiciary/senior-judiciary-list England & Wales Senior Judiciary]; accessed 26 March 2014.
She was Presiding Judge of the Western Circuit from 2012 to 2013, and was appointed a Lady Justice of Appeal in 2013.{{cite web |title=Appointment of the President of the Queen's Bench Division |url=https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/appointment-of-the-president-of-the-queens-bench-division-2/ |website=Courts and Tribunals Judiciary |access-date=5 April 2019}} She became Vice-President of the Queen's Bench Division on 1 January 2016, succeeding Sir Nigel Davis. She became President of the Queen's Bench Division from 23 June 2019{{cite web |title=Press release Appointment of the President of the Queen's Bench Division: 5 April 2019 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/appointment-of-the-president-of-the-queens-bench-division-5-april-2019 |website=Prime Minister's Press Office |access-date=5 April 2019}} succeeding Sir Brian Leveson.
In 2023, it was reported that she was on the final shortlist to become Lord Chief Justice, alongside Dame Sue Carr, who was selected for the post.{{Cite news |last=Hymas |first=Charles |date=8 June 2023 |title=First ever female Lord Chief Justice to be named |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/08/lord-chief-justice-dame-victoria-sharp-sue-carr-shortlist/ |work=The Daily Telegraph}}
Personal life
Sharp married a doctor; she had four children within five years. Nevertheless, she remained in full-time law practice during those years, not taking leave. "She was convinced that if she had not dedicated herself to her job as she did by rejecting any leave on the birth of any of her children, she would have been significantly disadvantaged; as she puts it, "if you were not there in Chambers, you did not receive briefs and you had no job."{{cite news |last1=Clarke |first1=David |title=Rt Hon. Lady Justice Sharp, DBE |url=http://www.bristol.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-degrees/hondeg14/sharp.html |access-date=6 January 2021 |work=University of Bristol |date=15 July 2014}}
References
{{Appeal judges in England & Wales}}
{{Queen's Bench Division of England & Wales}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Victoria}}
Category:Alumni of the University of Bristol
Category:English King's Counsel
Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Daughters of life peers
Category:Queen's Bench Division judges
Category:21st-century King's Counsel
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:People educated at North London Collegiate School
Category:Lady justices of appeal
Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Category:21st-century British women judges