The UK Supreme Court’s CEO, Vicky Fox, sheds light into her fascinating work and a range of initiatives focused on community outreach, education, and driving forward more diversity, accessibility and transparency.
Many people do not know the UK Supreme Court has a CEO and, indeed, many other countries’ top courts also have CEOs. The Court does much international work and Vicky has met her counterparts in the USA, Canada, France, and Germany.
Vicky is in charge of all the non-judicial functions of the Court, including the running of an effective and efficient court, taking into account the lifecycle of a case – from the minute it enters their doors to the minute it leaves.
The Court runs a range of programmes to engage with communities. One such programme is called ‘Ask a Justice’ where a justice shows up in a classroom virtually and answers questions from students for an hour, leading to thoughtful, challenging, provocative interactions.
We also learn of their drive to encourage more diversity in the legal profession. The Court’s initiatives address the entire career pipeline, from schools and universities to very senior, experienced judges. They work in partnership with many organisations, including a charity called ‘Bridging the Bar’, focusing on helping underrepresented groups into the legal profession.
Listen to this episode for some great insight and inspiration!
About Vicky Fox
Vicky is the Chief Executive and Accounting Officer of The Supreme Court and the JCPC. The role involves responsibility for all the non-judicial functions of the Court and overseeing the administration of a team of approximately 55 staff and contractors supporting the work of the Justices.
Vicky was previously the Director of Regulation and Insight at the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. She was called to the Bar in 1995 and has 15 years' experience as a government lawyer, including work at the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health. She was Head of Guidance at the Electoral Commission before moving to work at the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority as Director of MP Support Services and then in 2018 as Director of Regulation and Insight.
Vicky is passionate about equality and fairness. In 2019, she made the Timewise Power 50 List. She has held a number of voluntary and trustee roles including as a governor at a London comprehensive school, a lay member of the NHS Blood and Transplant National Retrieval Group, charity trustee and mentoring roles.