Charlotte Proudman

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

The BSB brought five charges against barrister Dr Charlotte Proudman arising from a 14-part Twitter thread she posted on 6 April 2022 criticising the judgment of Sir Jonathan Cohen in a matrimonial case where she was junior counsel for the wife. Charges 1-3 alleged the tweets misleadingly/inaccurately reflected the judge's findings (lack of integrity/diminishing public trust); Charges 4-5 alleged the tweets were without sound factual basis and contained seriously offensive, derogatory language designed to demean/insult the judge. The tribunal (HH Nicholas Ainley, chair) found the tweets were only minimally factually inaccurate, not to the extent of founding a charge of lack of integrity, so Charges 1-3 were not made out. Considering Article 10 ECHR and Morice v France, the tribunal held the tweets were robustly expressed opinions on a matter of public interest (domestic abuse/functioning of the judiciary) that a rational, conscientious lawyer was entitled to express; they were not gravely damaging nor essentially unfounded attacks on the judiciary, so Charges 4-5 were dismissed. All charges were dismissed on 14 March 2025. In a separate ruling dated 10 July 2025, the tribunal refused Dr Proudman's costs application (claiming approximately £352,017), finding no 'good reason' to depart from the principle that costs are not routinely awarded to successful respondents, as the decision to prosecute was not fundamentally misconceived and the malicious prosecution allegations had not been litigated. No order as to costs was made.