HON. DAME LINDA DOBBS DBE
HIGH COURT JUDGE
Dame Linda spent the early part of her childhood in Sierra Leone. She completed her secondary education in the UK. Her love of music led her to pursue a music degree at Edinburgh University. Quickly realising that the required practice time would eat into her active social life, she later transferred to Surrey University where she completed a degree in Russian and Law. Linda then obtained an LLM and PhD from the London School of Economics. A successful career at the Bar followed, during which time, Linda chaired, or was a member of a number of Bar Council Committees, in particular the Race Relations and Professional Standards Committees. She was also the first non-white chair of the Criminal Bar Association. In 2004, she became the first non-white high court judge in England and Wales where she became the senior judge for diversity. She stepped down from the bench in 2013. Dame Linda has a varied portfolio. Her roles have included: Judicial Commissioner for the Investigatory Commissioner’s Office, Independent Assessor for Miscarriages of Justice Compensation, Director of Programmes at the Judicial Institute for Africa based at the University of Cape Town where she is an honorary professor. She is a patron of several charities working in Africa.
“You have to know yourself. You need to have a vision and the ability to communicate it, and most importantly to bring people along with you, as well as the determination to achieve it .”
LINDA DOBBS
