It is
such exciting news to learn that Hon. Dame Linda Dobbs will be a Special Guest
and Speaker at the upcoming 60th Annual General Conference of the
Nigerian Bar Association. Hon. Dame is the Director of Training at the Judicial
Institute for Africa; Pro Chancellor of the University of Surrey; Senior Fellow
at SOAS; Advisory Board of the International Inequalities Institute at the
London School of Economics; Independent Assessor for Miscarriages of Justice
Compensation; Judicial Commissioner to the Investigatory Powers Commission; and
acting judge of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.
At
the Conference, she would be speaking on “The Equality Gap: Changing the Status
Quo against Stereotypes in the Legal Profession”.
See
her profile below –
Following
a successful career at the Bar, in October 2004, Dame Linda became the first
non-white high court judge in the UK, having been appointed a Deputy High CoNBAurt
Judge in 2013. At the Bar she was a member of, and chaired, a number of
committees, including the Race Relations, Equal Opportunities, International, Professional
Conduct and Professional Standard Committees. In 2003 she became the Chairman
of the Criminal Bar Association where she set up its first Equality and Diversity
sub-committee. Whilst on the High Court Bench she was the Senior Liaison Judge
for Diversity, Chair of the Magisterial Committee of the Judicial Studies Board
and Chair of the International Committee of the Judicial College and a Fawcett
Commissioner.
In
2013 Dame Linda stepped down early from the High Court Bench to pursue her
various interests, which includes the training of judges and lawyers
internationally (in particular, in the Caribbean and Africa), and supporting the
charities with which she has connections.
Dame
Linda is a contributing and consultant editor to a number of legal publications. She has been involved in the training of
lawyers and judges both in the UK and internationally for over 25 years and is
the Director of training at the Judicial Institute for Africa, based at the
University of Cape Town where she is an honorary professor. Other areas of
expertise include mediation, facilitation, conducting investigations, inquiries,
needs assessments, chairing panels/boards/committees and other consultancy work.
She is a regular keynote speaker at events.
Dame
Linda holds 7 honorary doctorates; she is a Fellow of the Judicial College; she
was a member of the Court of Governors at the London School of Economics from
2006 – 2015 and chair of its Ethics Policy Committee from 2012 to 2015. She is
a patron of a number of charities (including in Sierra Leone and South Africa);
she also sits on a number of advisory committees. She is the immediate past President
of ILFA (International Lawyers for Africa) and chair of the UK-Sierra Leone Pro
Bono Network. She has been named in the past as one of Britain’s most powerful
black women and one of the 100 Great Black Britons and she has featured regularly
in the Power 100 List of Influential Black Britons. She is the current Chair of
the Powerlist Selection Panel.