predecessor successor office birth_date term_start article_title term_end name occupation alma_mater
sir anthony hughes sir john thomas sir nigel davis vice-president appeal vice-president of the queen 's bench division of the criminal division of the court of 16 december 1949 8 november 2013 3 october 2011 heather hallett
 3 march 2014 dame heather hallett judge st hugh 's college , oxford
heather hallett

dame heather carol hallett , dbe -lrb- born 16 december 1949 -rrb- , styled the rt hon. lady justice hallett , is an english judge of the court of appeal .
she is the fifth woman to sit in the court of appeal , after dame elizabeth butler-sloss -lrb- now baroness butler-sloss -rrb- -lrb- 1988 -rrb- , dame brenda hale -lrb- now baroness hale of richmond -rrb- -lrb- 1999 -rrb- , dame mary arden -lrb- 2000 -rrb- and dame janet smith -lrb- 2002 -rrb- .
hallett was educated at brockenhurst grammar school , in the new forest , and at st hugh 's college , oxford .
she was called to the bar by the honourable society of the inner temple in 1972 .
she became a queen 's counsel in 1989 and a bencher of inner temple in 1993 .
she was the first woman to chair the bar council , in 1998 , having been vice-chair in 1997 .
she became treasurer of the inner temple in 2011 .
she was appointed a recorder of the crown court in 1989 and a deputy high court judge in 1995 .
she became a full-time judge of the high court , in 1999 , in queen 's bench division , and was promoted to the court of appeal in 2005 .
she was appointed a member of the judicial appointments commission in january 2006 , as a representative of the judiciary .
hallett was chosen in 2009 to act as coroner in the inquest of the 52 fatal victims of the 7/7 bombings ; hearings began in october 2010 .
she began a four-year term as vice-president of the queen 's bench division on 3 october 2011 , succeeding lord justice thomas .
in may 2012 in an appeal hearing she quashed the murder conviction of 24-year-old sam hallam as unsafe after he had spent seven years in prison , which made him one of the youngest victims of a uk miscarriage of justice .
in february 2013 she was assessed as the 8th most powerful woman in britain by woman 's hour on bbc radio 4 .
in november 2013 , she was appointed vice-president of the criminal division of the court of appeal , succeeding lord hughes .
in march 2014 she was appointed by the secretary of state for northern ireland to carry out an independent review of the administrative scheme by which ` letters of assurance ' were sent to those known as the ` on the runs ' -lrb- otrs -rrb- .
