SMASHING barriers and stereotypes to pieces on multiple levels in her career, Her Honour Judge Anuja Dhir KC is now determined to create an inclusive, diverse and balanced judiciary fairly representing the population of Britain. Apart from being a renowned name in the world of judiciary, Dhir has been a change maker and that too on several fronts. Speaking with the GG2 Power List, Dhir talked in detail about her work on diversity, her early days in the British legal system, her thoughts on dyslexia (as a dyslexic) and how she came to be The Old Bailey’s first woman of colour judge in its 300-year history. “A diverse judiciary fairly representing the population of this country is better for everybody. However, diversity doesn’t just happen overnight. So one of the things that we really battled for at the beginning was being allowed to have a seat at the table. And now, I think what we understand is that that’s not enough and we ought to be included. “Now we’ve evolved into realising that equality means that the workplace must adapt, not the individual.
That’s a big shift,” she explained. “I was involved in the race relations and equality committee of the Bar Council from the early 1990s. So, I have been involved in dealing with equality and diversity, for almost 30 years. I started right at the time when it was quite unpopular and was not something that people talked about or considered important,” she outlined. When she joined the profession, the Race Relations Act and Sexual Discrimination Act didn’t apply to the Bar, because it was a collection of self-employed barristers – meaning legally they were able to employ the same people they had always done – without anyone challenging them.
“It was very white male, Oxford, Oxbridge centred, public school crowd. And I don’t come from that background. “I was a state educated, Scottish Asian woman with no connections at the Bar,” she revealed. As a young barrister, just getting into court rooms proved to be a hurdle. People often mistook her for a defendant or witness. In fact, there were moments when she had to show her wig and gown to security just to gain entry into the room. “About 30 years ago, people just didn’t believe that I was a barrister, mainly because there wasn’t anyone who looked liked me there and there were not many women judges either. So obviously, I stood out. In that sense, we have come a long way but we still have got a long way to go.
” Apart from being a judge at The Old Bailey, Dhir is also on the Judicial Appointments Commission – an independent 15-member strong commission that selects candidates for judicial office in England and Wales as well as candidates for some tribunals with UK-wide powers. Dhir stated that she took the role in Judicial Appointments Commission to make the judiciary a fair place for both women and people from diverse backgrounds.
“I am there at the table, making the decisions about how we can encourage a more diverse pool of applicants, and to make sure that the tools that we use to decide whether someone can become a judge or not, are also fair so that we are not ruling out tools that might benefit certain types of people and dis[1]advantage others,” Dhir revealed to the Power List. Dhir also sits in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division for a month every year, which is the final court for dealing with criminal cases on appeal. Born and raised in Dundee, Dhir wanted to study law from quite an early age and started university at the age of 16. “I went to university in Dundee. The university offered the opportunity to study both English and Scottish law at the same time. I was the first person at Dundee to do both and get a dual degree in English and Scottish law.” In 1998, Dhir moved to London and got her pupillage (the apprenticeship to the Bar). She also had a job lecturing at the City of London University and felt quite fortunate that she managed to pick up enough scholarships along the way to provide for herself in London.
Though she was enjoying her time in commercial law and teaching, she still wanted to do more for those who she felt were vulnerable. Eventually, she dived into criminal law. She took Silk (used to describe those who are King’s Counsel and chosen on merit) in 2010 and was eventually appointed as Old Bailey court judge in 2017, becoming its first judge of colour and south Asian ancestry. The Old Baily court is the most well-known criminal court partly because the judges there all specialise in murder cases. All the country’s most high profile criminal cases end up at The Old Bailey. Dhir finds it amusing that in its 300-year history, they never had a judge of colour – before she became one in 2017. “I was the first non-white judge, and the youngest one when I was appointed. I didn’t know this fact when I applied for the job. I think if I had known, I might not have applied so I am quite pleased that I didn’t know,” she told the Power List. Dhir’s achievements must be a total shock to her schoolteachers who used to advise her to pursue hairdressing rather than going to university. “So, if a child is not very good at spelling or reading, then most schools put the child in the bottom class. “A lot of dyslexic people boom in later life and don’t necessarily excel at the beginning. “Proper provisions for such children can make a massive difference to their self-esteem, and to what they can achieve. “It wasn’t until really my early 40s I realised that I am dyslexic.
“Within our population, if you look at people who suffer from mental health problems or addictions, there will be a larger percentage of people who are neurodiverse; however these conditions mostly go undiagnosed.” Dhir has also been teaching advocacy and been involved in training students and barristers all over the world for over 20 years. In recognition of her achievements, Dhir was conferred with an honorary doctorate (Hon LLD) from Dundee University in 2018. In 2020, she was appointed as a trustee for the Mansion House Scholarships and in 2022, she was appointed onto the board of mental health charity A Place 2B. Dhir advises young British Asian women to find people who can mentor and support them. “Don’t believe people who say that it’s not for you. Work out what you want and pursue it and do it in a strategic and organised way,” she counselled.
