Margaret Obi

The Honourable
Mrs Justice Obi
Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
Justice of the High Court
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 October 2025
Appointed byCharles III

Dame Margaret Obi is a British judge who is a justice of the High Court. She is the most senior black judge in the United Kingdom.

Biography

Margaret Obi was born and grew up in London. She is of Nigerian descent. She qualified as a solicitor in 1998. Obi worked as a special adviser to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

In 2018, she was appointed as a deputy High Court judge. In February 2023, she was appointed as the first Service Police Complaints Commissioner. In December 2024, she ruled that twelve asylum seekers had been unlawfully detained as an Acting Judge of the Supreme Court of the British Indian Ocean Territory. In 2025, she was appointed as a House of Lords Commissioner for Standards.

In 2025, she was appointed to the High Court of Justice and assigned to the King's Bench Division. She became the first black woman solicitor to be appointed to the court.

References

  1. ↑ Ames, Jonathan; Baksi, Catherine. "Solicitor sworn in as England's most senior black judge". The Times. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  2. ↑ "New Appointments of High Court Judges". Judicial Appointments Commission. 2025-09-20. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  3. ↑ "Nigerian-Born Margaret Obi Appointed High Court Judge in England and Wales". Gistmania. 2025-10-18. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  4. ↑ "Margaret Obi | Competition Appeal Tribunal". www.catribunal.org.uk. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  5. ↑ Rigby, Ben (2025-09-26). "Former solicitor becomes High Court judge in four-person appointments round". The Global Legal Post. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  6. ↑ Baksi, Catherine. "Margaret Obi: Getting my foot in the door of the legal profession was a challenge". The Times. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  7. ↑ "Margaret Obi". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  8. ↑ Cuddy, Alice (17 December 2024). "UK unlawfully detained migrants on Diego Garcia, judge finds". BBC News. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  9. ↑ "Commissioner for Standards Volume 843". UK Parliament. 12 February 2025.
  10. ↑ "Appointment of a High Court Judge: Obi". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 2025-09-25. Retrieved 2026-07-09.
  11. ↑ Chinonye, Amanze (2025-10-23). "'I'm Not a Statistic': Margaret Obi Becomes First Black Uk High Court Judge from Solicitor Profession". Retrieved 2026-07-09.

See also