| Mrs Justice Arbuthnot | |
| Honorific Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
| Birth Date: | 9 January 1959 |
| Office: | High Court Judge Family Division |
| 1Blankname: | Division |
| 1Namedata: | Family (High Court of Justice) |
| Termstart: | 1 February 2021 |
| Birth Name: | Emma Louise Broadbent |
| Birth Place: | Macclesfield, Cheshire, England |
| Nationality: | British |
| Education: | Lycée Français de Londres |
| Alma Mater: | Queen Mary College, London |
| Spouse: | , Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom (cr. 2015) |
| Children: | 4 |
| Father: | Michael Broadbent |
| Relatives: | Bartholomew Broadbent (bro); Broadbent baronets (kinsmen) |
| Occupation: | Barrister |
| Profession: | Law |
Emma Louise Arbuthnot, Baroness Arbuthnot of Edrom, (née Broadbent; born 9 January 1959), known professionally as Mrs Justice Arbuthnot, serves as a High Court judge for England and Wales since 2021.[1] [2]
Born in 1959 at Macclesfield, Cheshire, the only daughter of wine critic Michael Broadbent, she grew up in London and was educated at the French Lycée. She then read Law at Queen Mary College, London (BA), before pursuing further legal studies at City University (Dip. Law).
On 6 September 1984, she married James Arbuthnot, later Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom,[3] a barrister and British Conservative Party politician.[4] [5] [6]
Called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1986, Arbuthnot was appointed as a Deputy District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) in 2000, a Recorder in 2001 (Crime and then Family), a full time District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) in 2005, the Deputy Senior District Judge (Deputy Chief Magistrate) in 2012, the Senior District Judge (Chief Magistrate) for England and Wales in 2016, and a Justice of the High Court of England and Wales in 2020.[7]
Arbuthnot oversaw Archie Battersbee's case in the Family Division of the High Court, London. In a final hearing, which took place on 6 and 7 June 2022, she ruled that doctors could terminate the patient's treatment and end his life support.[8] The family was given limited time to launch appeal proceedings. However, following another hearing, Arbuthnot granted the parents permission to take the case to the Court of Appeal.[9] The Court of Appeal later ruled that the High Court should reconsider its opinion as to whether he was brain-dead, and that a new hearing of the Court of Appeal would be set for 11 July 2022. The Court of Appeal subsequently denied the appeal on 25 June 2022.[10] The Court of Appeal agreed to stay their ruling for 48 hours to give Archie's parents time to ask for an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom or to the European Court of Human Rights.[11] [12]
As Chief Magistrate, Lady Arbuthnot made rulings related to the fugitive Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya,[13] and Zamira Hajiyeva, the first person subject to an unexplained wealth order (UWO).[14]
Towards the end of 2019, Arbuthnot, who had presided at several of Julian Assange's extradition hearings,[15] [16] stepped aside because of a "perception of bias", apparently linked to her husband.[17]
Uber's application for a five-year licence was rejected by Transport for London in September 2017. In June 2018, Arbuthnot granted Uber a probationary 15-month licence for London. An investigation by The Observer newspaper reported that Arbuthnot's husband, James Arbuthnot, was a director of SC Strategy Ltd during Uber's appeal before his wife. SC Strategy Ltd is a private intelligence company which has worked for the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), one of the main investors in a $1.2bn financing arrangement for Uber. After The Observer report was published, Lady Arbuthnot withdrew from hearing any further appeals by the company.[18] [19]
In August 2019 Arbuthnot cleared a man accused of filming a Grenfell Tower effigy being burned at a bonfire night party, whilst a group of friends laughed and joked.[20] [21] Her decision was overturned by the High Court in August 2021.[22]