Her Honour Judge Khatun Sapnara is a Circuit Judge and Deputy High Court Judge. She sits at the Central London Family Court and Kingston Crown Court, presiding over both criminal and family law cases. She graduated with an LLB(Hons) from the London School of Economics (University of London) and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Royal Holloway (University of London). Both of her sons have studied at Royal Holloway.
She practised as a barrister for 24 years and was recognised by the legal directories as a leading barrister in her field. Khatun was appointed to the Family Justice Council, a body of experts to advise government on family law issues.
For 16 years, she served as Governor of the state secondary school she attended in Chadwell Heath. She has advised and served as Chair or Trustee of Boards of NGOs and charities such as “Project Fusion – Newlon Housing Trust” “Rights of Women”, “Ashiana” and also “Pause”
Judge Sapnara sets test papers and sits on selection panels assessing applicants for judicial posts for the Judicial Appointments Commission. She has taught family law to judges at the Judicial College. She is a Bencher of the Middle Temple (one of the four Inns of Court) and was appointed as a Judicial Role Model by the Lord Chief Justice in 2015.
