Students attend a special School’s Question Time in honour of Dr Ivy Williams

In celebration of the centenary of Dr Ivy Williams, the first woman to be called to the Bar of England and Wales, the Judicial Office hosted a Question Time event with a panel of four women judges at the Royal Courts of Justice in May.

As part of the Judicial Office’s work on diversity and inclusion, the Schools’ Question Time events bring together students from across the country to provide encouragement and to make clear that no matter your background, ethnicity, sex, gender or physical ability, a career in law is open to all.

The Right Honourable Dame Ingrid Simler, the Chair for the Judicial Diversity Committee, opened the Question Time session by honouring the work of Dr Ivy Williams before introducing the rest of the panel – Chair of CILEX Caroline Jepson, solicitor Lynette Wieland and magistrate Dawn Gibbons.

Schools in attendance were Heathcote School and Science College, Twickenham School, St Michael’s Catholic School and Westminster City School.

The students asked the judges a range of questions. These included why the panel became interested in law, how they remain impartial when hearing a case, the cases that have had a lasting impact on them and why they felt advocating for women in the law was still important.

As the event concluded, magistrate Dawn Gibbons ended on these powerful words: “Don’t let anything stop you”.

Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/7lpwrl-Wex4