Helen Mountfield


Helen Mountfield, is a British barrister and legal scholar, specialising in administrative, human rights, and equality law. She has been Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford since 2018.

Early life and education

Mountfield was born on 14 March 1967 in London, England to Sir Robin Mountfield and Anne Mountfield. She was educated at Crown Woods School, a comprehensive school in London. She studied modern history at Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with a first class Bachelor of Arts degree. She then moved into law, and studied for and completed the Common Professional Examination in Law at City University.

Career

Legal career

Mountfield was Called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1991. She was a founding member of Matrix Chambers in 2000 from which she still practices. She has been a Recorder since May 2009, and a Deputy High Court Judge since 2013. She took silk as a Queen's Counsel on 22 March 2010.
Notable cases she has been involved in include R v Governing Body of JFS, R v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and R v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.

Academic career

In January 2018, she was announced as the next Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford: she took up the appointment in September 2018. She has co-authored seven editions of Blackstone's Guide to the Human Rights Act 1998; a monograph concerning the Human Rights Act 1998.

Personal life

In 2005, Mountfield married Damian Tambini. Together they have three daughters.

Selected works

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