{{Short description|British judge (born 1946)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Sir Mark Hedley''', DL (born 23 August 1946) is a British retired judge. He was a Justice of the High Court from 2002 to 2013.
==Early life and education== Hedley was born on 23 August 1946 in London, England.<ref name="WW 2017" /><ref name="final">{{cite news|last1=Elston|first1=Laura|title=Judge who had to make the final decision|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/oct/08/health.uknews1|accessdate=18 October 2017|work=The Guardian|date=8 October 2004}}</ref> He was educated at Framlingham College, then an all-boys private school.<ref name="WW 2017" /> He studied law at the University of Liverpool, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree.<ref name="WW 2017" /><ref name="final" />
==Legal career== Hedley was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1969 and made a bencher in 2002. He was appointed a Recorder in 1988 and a circuit judge for the Northern Circuit in 1992.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/h/7751/Mark+Hedley.aspx |title=The Hon Mr Justice Hedley |work=Debrett's People of Today |accessdate=6 January 2013}}</ref> On 11 January 2002, he was appointed a High Court judge,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=56455 |page=541 |date=16 January 2001}}</ref> receiving the customary knighthood, and assigned to the Family Division. He retired on 10 January 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/judicial-appointments/judicial-100113-197 |title=Retirement of a High Court Judge - the Honourable Sir Mark Hedley |website=www.justice.gov.uk |access-date=22 May 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130423185236/http://www.justice.gov.uk/news/judicial-appointments/judicial-100113-197 |archive-date=23 April 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Ecclesiastical career== Since 1975, Hedley has been a Reader (licensed lay minister) of the Church of England. In 2002, he was appointed Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool.<ref name="WW 2017">'HEDLEY, Sir Mark', ''Who's Who 2017'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U19728 accessed 18 Oct 2017]</ref> In August 2024 a BBC investigation revealed that Hedley had made Decisions in his role as Deputy President of Tribunals which meant that complaints against a priest were not able to be examined fully under the Clergy Discipline Measure. Hedley wrote in his Decision: "I think it could be proved that the respondent had some non-consensual homosexual relations with the complainant." However, he declined to send the case to a tribunal because he did not think it was possible to prove that the alleged victim was under the age of 18.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-15 |title=Why does the Church of England struggle to address abuse claims? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5n2542q82o |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
==Honours== On 27 April 2015, Hedley was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of Merseyside.<ref name="LG">{{London Gazette |issue= 61214 |date= 30 April 2015 |page= 7986 |supp= }}</ref>
He was awarded the Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England in 2022.<ref>{{cite web|title=Archbishop of Canterbury honours outstanding people in 2022 Lambeth Awards|url=https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/archbishop-canterbury-honours-outstanding-people-2022-lambeth-awards|website=The Archbishop Of Canterbury|accessdate=22 May 2022|date=7 March 2022}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedley, Mark}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century English judges Category:Alumni of the University of Liverpool Category:Deputy lieutenants of Merseyside Category:Family Division judges Category:Knights Bachelor Category:People educated at Framlingham College Category:Anglican lay readers Category:British Anglicans Category:20th-century English judges
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