Kirsty Brimelow KC takes office at Bar Council amid focus on jury trials and legal aid priorities
Kirsty Brimelow KC began her year-long term as Chair of the Bar Council on 1 January 2026, succeeding Barbara Mills KC and taking office at what the Council described as a critical moment for the justice sector.
Brimelow practises in criminal, international and public law from Doughty Street Chambers. She previously served as Chair of the Criminal Bar Association in 2022–23 and was the first female Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee between 2012 and 2018.
Her appointment marks the beginning of the Bar Council’s first all-female leadership team. She will work alongside Heidi Stonecliffe KC of the Crown Prosecution Service as Vice Chair, Lucinda Orr of Enyo Law as Treasurer, and Amelia Clegg of BCL Solicitors as Chair of the Young Barristers’ Committee.
Brimelow has held a range of representative roles at the Bar during her career. She served on both the Bar Council Conduct and Complaints Committee and the Public Affairs Committee, and she acted as a Bar Council Young Spokesperson from 1998 to 2008. In 2022, while leading the Criminal Bar Association, she took part in negotiations with the government that resulted in an increase in fees for criminal barristers. Prosecution fees later rose as well.
Alongside her representative work, Brimelow was appointed a deputy High Court judge in the King’s Bench Division in 2021 and became a Recorder in 2022. She is also an accredited mediator and has participated in conflict-resolution work, including involvement in the Colombian peace process. Her international work has included consultancies with the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
In the United Kingdom, she led proposals and drafting work that contributed to the introduction of female genital mutilation protection orders into law. She also advised Denmark and assisted in developing consent-based sexual offences legislation. Between 2017 and 2021, she worked on the first United Nations resolution addressing harmful practices connected with accusations of witchcraft and ritual attacks.
Brimelow is a Bencher at Gray’s Inn and sits on its management committee. In 2018 she received both the Pro Bono International Barrister of the Year award and the First 100 Years Inspirational Woman in Law Barrister of the Year award. She has also twice been named The Times Lawyer of the Week. She serves as a trustee of WWF UK and is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts for her work on human rights.
She is expected to set out her priorities formally at her inaugural address on 12 January. As Chair, she will continue the Bar Council’s opposition to proposals to curtail jury trials following the Leveson review of criminal courts. She will also advocate for increased investment across jurisdictions, particularly criminal legal aid, while maintaining attention on pressures affecting family and civil courts and highlighting issues concerning children in the justice system.
Speaking after taking office, Brimelow said it was “both an honour and a responsibility” to serve the profession and that she intended to lead with “courage and kindness”.