ASK most people who know Her Honour Judge Kalyani Kaul KC, and they will tell you that she is scrupulously fair minded but will not put up with “nonsense, racism, misogyny or bullying”. In 2023, she won her bullying and negligence case against the Ministry of Justice. Even though the MoJ did not admit liability, it had to pay £50,000 in compensation to the judge.

The former criminal barrister sued the MoJ, the lord chancellor and the lord chief justice because she said she was bullied and mistreated by senior members of the judiciary. Kaul’s case meant that the MoJ was forced to create a policy on “expected behaviour”, and it made sure that every judge in the country undergoes proper diversity training. Weeks after the settlement, Kaul lost her appeal against an employment tribunal that she had been indirectly discriminated against, victimised and harassed. One unnamed judge said, “The judge agreed with another white man who said that Kaly didn’t suffer racism because it was preposterous that racism exists in the judiciary. Can you believe that two white men would dare lecture a brown woman about her lived experiences? But that’s the judiciary for you, blinkered and in denial about everything in the real world.” Kaul’s claim was that senior judges failed to support her when others bullied her after she raised complaints about “disrespectful, dis courteous, unprofessional, and rude” barristers who appeared before her in 2015 at Snares brook crown court in east London.

Disciplinary tribunals found that two defence barristers be haved in a rude and unprofessional manner. Court papers seen by the GG2 Power List alleged that a senior justice grabbed Judge Kaul’s “arm and dragged her across a corridor, digging his fingers into her arm where they remained, causing redness and tenderness”. As part of