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Mary Arden, Lady Arden of Heswall

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"Baroness Mance" redirects here. For the title, see Baron Mance.
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The Right Honourable
Lady Arden of Heswall
DBE PC
Arden in November 2010
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
In office
1 October 2018 – 24 January 2022
Nominated byDavid Gauke
Appointed byElizabeth II
Preceded byThe Lord Mance
Succeeded byLord Richards of Camberwell
Lady Justice of Appeal
In office
2000–2018
Justice of the High Court
In office
1993–2000
Personal details
Born
Mary Howarth Arden

(1947-01-23) 23 January 1947 (age 77)
Liverpool, England
Spouse
​
(m. 1973)​
EducationHuyton College
Alma materGirton College, Cambridge
Harvard Law School

Mary Howarth Arden, Baroness Mance, DBE, PC (born 23 January 1947), known professionally as Lady Arden of Heswall, is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Before that, she was a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.

Early life and education

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Mary Howarth Arden was born in Liverpool, the daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Cuthbert Arden, of Heswall, Cheshire, a solicitor who had served with the Royal Garrison Artillery, and Mary Margaret (née Smith).[1][2] Her grandfather was a partner in Gamon Arden and Co., a Liverpool firm of solicitors. Her father and brother, Roger, joined the family firm which merged with Hill Dickinson in 2007.[3] She was brought up in south Liverpool and educated at Huyton College.[3] She read law at Girton College, Cambridge, where she gained a starred first and an LLM,[4][5] and an LLM degree at Harvard Law School in 1970 as a Kennedy Scholar.[3]

Career

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She was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1971,[6] and joined Lincoln's Inn in 1973. She practised at Erskine Chambers from 1971 to 1993, mainly in company law.[3] She became a QC in 1986, and served as Attorney-General of the Duchy of Lancaster.[7] She is an Honorary Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge, Royal Holloway, University of London, and of Liverpool John Moores University.[7]

She was appointed to the High Court on 30 April 1993,[6][8] becoming the first female High Court judge to be assigned to the Chancery Division. As is customary, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) at the same time. Arden was chairman of the Law Commission from 1996 to 1999.[6] On 2 October 2000, she was also appointed to the Court of Appeal.[6][9]

Other posts held by Arden include her membership of the Steering Group of the Company Law Review, and a current post as Head of International Judicial Relations for England and Wales.[6] She is a member of the advisory board, Centre of Commercial Law; of the Council of the Statute Law Society; of the Board of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, as well as being President of the Trinity Hall Law Society, and of the Association of Women Barristers.[3] She is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.[10]

Arden's appointment to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, replacing her husband Lord Mance on the court, was announced in June 2018, to take effect on 1 October 2018.[11][12] On entering her office, she took the judicial courtesy title of Lady Arden of Heswall. She was the only woman out of the eleven judges of the court between the retirement of Lady Black of Derwent in January 2021 and the appointment of Lady Black's successor, Lady Rose of Colmworth, in April 2021.

By the time she retired in 2022, she was the eldest of the justices (Lord Lloyd-Jones was the second-eldest at 69). Following the retirement (and death) of Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore in 2020 she was the only remaining member to have held judicial office before 31 March 1995 and was thus allowed to retire at 75 instead of 70.

Personal life

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She married Jonathan Mance (now Lord Mance, former Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom) in the Lady Chapel at Liverpool Cathedral in 1973; they have three children:[3]

  • Abigail Mance, a speech therapist
  • Jessica Mance, a barrister
  • Henry Mance, chief features writer at the Financial Times.

Arden's husband, Lord Mance, joined the Queen's Bench Division in October 1993, making them the first married couple to sit on the High Court bench. The couple also became the first married couple both to sit on the Court of Appeal.

By virtue of her marriage, Lady Arden of Heswall is entitled to be styled The Lady Mance, but is instead known by her own judicial title.

Honours

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Judgments

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Arden's judgments include:

Bibliography

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  • with George Eccles, Companies Act, 1980 (1982)
  • with Geoffrey Newton Lane, Rotaprint PLC: Investigation under Section 432 (2) and Section 442 of the Companies Act 1985 (1991)
  • The Common Law in the Age of Human Rights (2000)
  • Human Rights and European Law: Building New Legal Order (2015)

Arms

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Coat of arms of Mary Arden, Lady Arden of Heswall
Escutcheon
Gules three crosses crosslet fitchy Or a chief Or the brissure of a woman in chief Gules.
Motto
Patientia Vinces [27]

References

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  1. ^ Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 2011, p. 1024
  2. ^ Burke's Peerage 2003, vol. 1, p. 133
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Rt. Hon Lady Justice Mary Arden - Oration". Liverpool John Moores University. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  4. ^ "Swearing-in Ceremony at the Supreme Court". Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Arden of Heswall, Rt Hon. Lady, (Mary Howarth Arden), a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, since 2018". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u5672. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Biographies of the Court of Appeal judges". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Honorary Fellows 2006". Liverpool John Moores University. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  8. ^ "No. 53295". The London Gazette. 6 May 1993. p. 7925.
  9. ^ "No. 55989". The London Gazette. 5 October 2000. p. 11135.
  10. ^ "Women at the Inns of Court" (PDF). Inner Temple Library. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Appointments to the Supreme Court: 27 June 2018". GOV.UK. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Three new appointment's to UK's top appeal court". supremecourt.uk. The Supreme Court. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  13. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ^ [1995] FSR 365
  15. ^ The history of advertising 17 - Chris Joseph's silver hook.campaignlive.co.uk, 3 June 2011
  16. ^ [2000] 2 All ER (Comm) 346
  17. ^ [2001] 1 WLR 1369
  18. ^ [2002] EWCA Civ 227, [2002] 1 WLR 2075
  19. ^ [2004] EWCA Civ 1244
  20. ^ [2007] EWCA Civ 11
  21. ^ [2007] EWCA Civ 1329, [2008] 1 WLR 643
  22. ^ [2008] 3 C.M.L.R. 7
  23. ^ [2008] Fam. 54
  24. ^ [2009] EWCA Civ 142
  25. ^ [2011] 2 W.L.R. 448
  26. ^ [2014] EWCA Civ 360
  27. ^ Lincoln's Inn Great Hall, Eb13 Arden, M. Baz Manning. 13 July 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
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