By Abdul Tukur

Baroness Hale of Richmond is to become the next President of the Supreme Court, Downing Street has said.

In a statement Number 10 said that Lady Hale, will take up the new position following the retirement of Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury in September.

This would make the 72-year-old family law expert the first woman to be appointed as Britain’s most senior judge.

Lady Hale made a QC in 1989, would be sworn in on October 2. She said her appointment to the countries highest court was “a great honour and a challenge.”

The news follows the appointment of the new Lord Chief Justice, Sir Ian Burnett.

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The family lawyer, who was became the first woman to be appointed Law Commission is the current deputy of the Supreme Court, an appointment she received in 2013.

David Edmond Neuberger, who she replaces was appointed in 2012.

She said: “I look forward to building upon his pioneering achievements, including developing closer link with each part of the United Kigdom, for example by sitting outside London, and improving the ways in which we communicate our work to the public.

“Recent high-profile cases mean that more people than ever before have heard of the Supreme Court, and we hope that this will help to create a broader understanding of how the judiciary serves society.”

Lady Hale, born in Yorkshire, is exempted from mandatory retirement provisions and will be able to serve until she is 75 because she became a judge before rules were changed in 1995.