Senior Circuit Judge, Designated Family Judge Appointment: Stephen Smith

AppointmentDesignated Family JudgeSenior Circuit JudgeNorth Eastern

The King has appointed Upper Tribunal Judge Stephen Smith to be a Senior Circuit Judge, Designated Family Judge, on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, the Right Honourable Shabana Mahmood MP, and the Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales, the Right Honourable the Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill.

The Lady Chief Justice has deployed him to the North Eastern Circuit, based at the Newcastle Civil & Family Courts and Tribunals Centre, with effect from 3 March 2025

Background Information

Stephen Smith will be known as His Honour Judge Stephen Smith. He was called to the Bar (Lincoln’s Inn) in 2003. In 2018, he was appointed as a Recorder and a Salaried Judge of the First-tier Tribunal, assigned to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, and in 2019, he was appointed as a Salaried Judge of the Upper Tribunal, assigned to the same chamber. In 2023, he was also appointed to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission and was authorised to act as a Judge of the High Court under s9(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, sitting in the Family Division.