Bobbie Cheema-Grubb

The Honourable
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb
DBE
Justice of the High Court
Incumbent
Assumed office
25 November 2015
Preceded bySir Kenneth Parker
Personal details
BornParmjit-kaur Cheema
(1966-10-06) 6 October 1966
Yorkshire, UK
Spouse
Russell Grubb
​
(m. 1990)​
Children3
EducationCity of Leeds School
King's College London

Dame Parmjit Kaur "Bobbie" Cheema-Grubb, DBE (née Cheema; born 6 October 1966), styled Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, is a judge of the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales.[1][2] She is the first Asian woman to serve as a High Court judge in the United Kingdom.

Early life and education

Parmjit Kaur Cheema was born in 1966 to Sikh Punjabi parents who emigrated from India to Great Britain in the 1960s.[3] She grew up in Yorkshire, and attended City of Leeds School before reading law at King's College London.[4][5]

Called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1989,[6][7] Cheema-Grubb, in 2006, became the first Asian woman to be appointed a Junior Treasury Counsel.[4] In 2007, she was appointed to sit as a Recorder.

In 2013, Cheema-Grubb took silk (QC)[6] serving as Senior Treasury Counsel before receiving authorisation to sit as a deputy High Court judge.[6] She chaired an Advocacy Training Council working group which produced the report "Raising the Bar: The Handling of Vulnerable Witnesses, Victims and Defendants in Court".[8]

Cheema-Grubb successfully acted for the prosecution against retired Anglican Bishop Peter Ball for sexual abuse[9] and against barrister and Recorder Constance Briscoe for perverting the course of justice.[10]

Judiciary

Appointed as a High Court judge on 22 October 2015,[6] Cheema-Grubb was sworn in to the Queen's Bench on 25 November 2015,[5] receiving the customary accolade of the Realm as DBE.[11]

Cheema-Grubb is one of a small number of High Court judges who are selected to preside over trials involving terrorism offences.

In 2025, Cheema-Grubb was judge at the trial of Nathan Gill, the former leader of Reform UK in Wales, whom she sentenced to 10-and-a-half years for taking pro-Russia bribes.[12]

DBE insignia

In 2026, following a ruling by the Court of Appeal that contempt proceedings against defence barrister Rajiv Menon KC had been initiated using the wrong procedure, the President of the King's Bench Division referred the matter for reconsideration under the statutory procedure governing contempt in the Crown Court. The application was assigned to Cheema-Grubb, who held that there was sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case of contempt and that it was in the public interest for proceedings to be instituted. She directed that the allegations should proceed to a substantive hearing before her sitting as a judge of the Crown Court.[13]

The hearing was originally scheduled to take place on 28 July 2026. However, on 24 July 2026, the High Court of England and Wales ruled that an appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the High Court to rule on contempt should be allowed to proceed, resulting in an adjournment of proceedings until such time as the appeal could be heard.[14][15]

Personal life

In 1990, she married Russell Grubb and they have three children.[16] They are practising Christians.[17]

Notable cases


References

  1. ↑ "Senior Judiciary". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Dame Parmjit Kaur (Bobbie) Cheema-Grubb DBE became the first Asian woman judge in the High Court in October 2015". Twitter.com. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Kumar, Reena (12 November 2015). "Bobbie Cheema-Grubb: First Asian woman judge in high court". EasternEye. London, UK. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Law Diary". The Times. London, UK. 21 November 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  5. 1 2 "First Asian female High Court judge sworn in". BBC News. BBC. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "High Court Judge Appointment: Cheema-Grubb". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 22 October 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Mairi. "Dame Bobbie Cheema-Grubb". graysinn.org.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  8. ↑ www.judiciary.uk
  9. ↑ Davies, Caroline (23 October 2015). "High court appoints Bobbie Cheema-Grubb as its first Asian female judge". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Two more women elevated to High Court bench". Law Society Gazette. London, UK. 22 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  11. ↑ www.npg.org.uk
  12. ↑ "Ex-leader of Reform UK in Wales sentenced to 10-and-a-half years for taking pro-Russia bribes". BBC News. BBC. 21 November 2025. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
  13. ↑ (High Court of Justice 30 June 2026), Text.
  14. ↑ "In the matter of contempt proceedings against Rajiv Menon KC". High Court of England and Wales. 24 July 2026. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "Court of Appeal stays Menon contempt proceedings". The Law Gazette. 27 July 2026. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  16. ↑ www.city.ac.uk
  17. ↑ "Christian barrister becomes first Asian female High Court judge". Premier.org. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  18. ↑ Author31 (17 May 2024). "Man Given Life Sentence for Hartlepool Terrorist Attack". Counter Terrorism Policing. Retrieved 10 October 2025. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ↑ "Friend of Manchester synagogue attacker jailed for plot on military base". BBC News. 23 July 2026. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
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