THE CENTURIES-OLD corridors of the Old Bailey have witnessed countless moments of legal history, but perhaps none quite as symbolic as the day Her Honour Judge Anuja Dhir first donned her judicial robes. As the first non-white judge to preside at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, she didn’t just step into a courtroom – she stepped into history.
Yet for those who know her, Judge Dhir's groundbreaking appointment was merely a culmination of a career defined not by breaking barriers, but by building bridges. “When I joined the Bar, there were mainly white males, and that too from certain types of backgrounds,” she told the GG2 Power List, reflecting on her early days in 1989.
“Since then, we have come such a long way; the makeup of the professions, both solicitors and barristers, has changed considerably, and that, of course, has an impact on the pool of potential candidates for judicial appointment.”
As the lead diversity, equality, and inclusion judge at the Old Bailey, Judge Dhir has transformed her historic position into a platform for meaningful change. Commenting on the evolution of diversity in British judiciary system, she says there is now a “real commitment” from the higher judiciary and the senior judges to support a more diverse judiciary.
“Things are improving,” she said. “There is definitely a real commitment to encourage anyone who is suitably qualified, from whatever background they come from, to apply to become a judge.”
Her influence extends far beyond the courtroom’s oak-panelled walls, reaching into schools, universities, and communities where legal careers might once have seemed out of reach.
“My proudest achievement this year has been my interaction with schoolchildren and university students, giving them information about the profession and sharing my experiences. We have made huge progress through various initiatives. It gives me a real sense of purpose and achievement when I feel I can encourage people who may not have thought law was something for them,” she said.
Her eyes light up when discussing these encounters, revealing the teacher’s spirit that runs in her family – her father an academic, her mother a teacher. “Teaching has always been part of what I enjoy, and so I do quite a bit of that alongside judging. It is also part of our Hindu culture, to share knowledge, to support others and to learn from those who are more experienced than us.”
Called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn, she has invested her time to support various aspects of the Inn’s education programme including delivering advocacy training. She has also previously held positions as the Inn’s Master of Debates, Master of Students and Masters of Outreach.
A dyslexic, she has also been actively involved in training judges and young practitioners on how they should deal with vulnerable witnesses and neurodivergent witnesses in court.
“I enjoy being able to support, also encourage and to speak to younger judges and see and hear what their concerns are,” she said.
As the judge in charge of overseas visits to the Old Bailey, she hosts judicial delegations from around the world, sharing expertise on handling complex criminal cases. “We have had judges from places like Turkey coming to us to learn from us,” she explained. “Sharing our knowledge on handling terrorism and international criminal cases is an important part of fostering global judicial cooperation.”
She has spearheaded initiatives like ‘No Knives, Better Lives’, bringing at-risk youth into the Old Bailey courtroom to confront the stark realities of knife crime.
“We bring in students who have been involved in some form of criminal activity and therefore are at risk of being more involved,” she said. “We organise evenings where they are spoken to by a number of experts, including a mother who has lost a child to knife crime and a pathologist who explains what happens to the body when a knife goes inside it.”
“Sometimes, young minds need to be explained of the consequences of their actions,” she added.
The Old Bailey sees some of Britain's most serious crimes, and Judge Dhir acknowledges the emotional toll this can take.
“There is no pleasure derived from sentencing young people to long sentences of imprisonment, particularly if they have been convicted of murder,” she admitted.
“There is the family of the person who was killed, whose child is never coming back. Then there are the defendants, often young themselves, sitting in the dock. And then you have the jury, hearing the most harrowing evidence about how a young person lost their life.
“So, when a judge comes out of court, on some rare days, there is bound to be a feeling of sadness or exhaustion, but that’s where the support of your colleagues makes a huge difference.”
Born and raised in Dundee, Dhir graduated in 1988 with dual law degree in English and Scottish Law. After practicing the bar for 23 years – mainly in crime, and from 2007 as a special advocate in national security cases – she was appointed as a circuit judge in 2012, Five years later, she was appointed as the first non-white Old Bailey judge, at age 49, also making her the youngest to fill the role.
She is currently a commissioner on the Judicial Appointments Committee and is authorised to sit in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division.
Dhir is married to High Court judge Sir Nicholas Lavender and has two sons and a daughter.
Her own diverse background, she believes, enhances her ability to dispense justice fairly. “Being diverse myself makes it easier for me to understand the range of the diversity of the people who come in front of me,” she said.
