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Cherie
Booth
Founder
Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
UNITED KINGDOM

Cherie Booth is a leading barrister specialising in public law, human rights, employment and European Community law, arbitration and mediation. She has appeared in a number of leading cases both at home and abroad. She is also a noted speaker on human rights and a staunch supporter of women's rights.

Cherie studied law at the London School of Economics (LSE) and graduated with a First Class Degree in 1976. While studying for her Bar exams she also taught Law at the University of Westminster. Later Cherie came top of her year in her Bar examinations and was called to the Bar in 1976. Initially she was a general common law junior with a broad practice, including personal injury, crime and family.

Cherie moved to 4-5 Grays Inn Square in 1991, and became a Queen's Counsel in 1995. In 1999, she was appointed a Recorder (a permanent part-time judge) in the County Court and Crown Court.

In 2000 Cherie and 21 other prominent Barristers set up a ground breaking legal practice, Matrix Chambers. They were looking to achieve a different working model from the traditional English Chambers and to break down the barriers between providers of legal services. With a focus on human rights and public law and an expanding scope into criminal, commercial and EU law, Matrix has quickly built an impressive reputation.

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 as an international arbitrator. She has also argued cases in the House of Lords, one of the most well known being the Begum case on whether a decision by a school to exclude a female pupil for wearing a full jilbab infringed her religious rights.

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 as well as acting for individuals and organisations who want to challenge these bodies in Court.
Cherie is also an active campaigner for prison reform and is currently 'President of The Commission on English PrisonsToday', under the auspices of the Howard League for Penal Reform, for which she is an Ambassador. She regularly visits prisons on behalf of the Prison Reform Trust and is a Patron of Victim Support.

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