THE CHAIR

She is also an active campaigner for prison reform and is currently Chair of the Commission on English Prisons Today, under the auspices of The Howard League for Penal Reform, for which she is an ambassador. She visits prisons on behalf of the Prison Reform Trust, and is a Patron of Victim Support.

Born in Bury in 1954, Cherie grew up and went to school on Merseyside. The first member of her family to go to university, she won a place at the London School of Economics to study law – encouraged by the story of Rose Heilbron, who also came from Liverpool, and was the first women to be made a Kings Counsel.

Having come first in the country in her Bar Finals in 1975, Cherie the following year joined Lincoln’s Inn where she is still based. She has forged a successful career in employment, public and human rights law. In 1995, she matched the achievements of her role model when she was appointed a QC.

Cherie continues to work as a barrister both in Britain and internationally. She has appeared in the European Court of Justice, in Commonwealth countries and is an international arbitrator. She is also a Recorder, or part-time judge, in the County Court.

In her employment and discrimination work, Cherie acts for applicants and respondents in both individual and collective disputes. In public law, she has a strong practice advising local authorities and other public bodies on human rights law as well as acting for individuals and organisations who want to challenge these bodies in the courts.

Among the well-known and important cases in which she has been involved are the Begum case on whether a decision by a school to exclude a pupil for wearing a jilbab infringed their religious rights, and the campaign for equal treatment by Gurkha soldiers who had served in the British Army.

• If you'd like to find out more about Cherie, you can visit her website.