Carolyn Kirby made history for women in law when she was elected the first woman president of the Law Society of England and Wales in 2002-2003.
Carolyn is a judge, President of the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales since 1999. The tribunal is an independent judicial body whose remit is to safeguard the rights of people detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. Its work covers risk assessment, the legality of detention or forced treatment of people in psychiatric hospitals and their subsequent supervision in the community. Its primary role is to decide whether patients, some of whom have committed serious crimes, can safely be discharged from hospital.
She was formerly a solicitor in private practice and has a long record of representative work on behalf of the legal profession. Carolyn is the Law Society Council member for Mid and West Wales, has chaired a number of specialist committees of the Law Society and is currently involved in a comprehensive review of its governance.
In 2002-2003 Carolyn became the first women to be elected President of the Law Society of England and Wales.
In the 2016 New Years Honours list she was awarded the OBE for services to justice and to cancer care. She co-founded and chairs a charity, Cancer Information and Support Services (CISS) based in South West Wales, which provides counselling, support and advice to anyone affected by cancer. The charity has clients increasingly referred by health professionals across the region and to date has had more than 190,000 client contacts.
She holds a number of lay and quasi-legal roles in the Church in Wales and is a licensed lay worship leader.
Carolyn has chaired a wide variety of boards and committees and takes a close interest in the ways in which effective relationships can be developed in different settings and the benefits which they bring to organisations.