British Sikh judge promoted to UK Court of Appeal

A British Sikh has become the first Indian-origin judge to be promoted to one the senior-most posts in the UK judicial system. Sir Rabinder Singh is one of seven new judges to occupy the seven-member UK Court of Appeal after new judicial appointments were unveiled by the UK government this week. The 53-year-old High Court judge known for his characteristic white turbans in court was born in Delhi before his family moved to the UK. He won a scholarship to a prestigious school in the city of Bristol and went on to study law at Trinity College, Cambridge University. He then studied at the University of California at Berkeley, graduating with a Masters in Law in 1986. As he could not afford to study for the UK Bar exam, he became a lecturer in law at the University of Nottingham from 1986 to 1988 before winning a scholarship from the Inns of Court in London. He was called to the Bar in 1989 and became a Queen's Council (QC) in 2002.