Anthony Dudley

Anthony Edward Dudley (1967) is a Gibraltarian barrister, and one of the two judges of the Supreme Court of Gibraltar. He is married and has two daughters.

Dudley was called to the Bar in 1989. After working several years in private practice, he became Registrar to the Supreme Court of Gibraltar, and subsequently, Stipendiary Magistrate and Coroner. After being appointed Additional Judge, became Acting Chief Justice in September 2007, after the suspension of the previous Chief Justice (the Hon. Derek Schofield, embroiled in allegations of corruption).

He was appointed Chief Justice on 1 February 2010, by the Governor Sir Adrian Johns. Dudley is the first Gibraltarian to occupy this position as holder.

Dudley was accused of allegedly having benefited Inna Gudavadze, widow of the Georgian philanthropist Badri Patarkatsishvili, in a case involving the control of the inheritance. The billionaire died in London in February 2008, under unclear circumstances, and allegations were raised that he had been victim of a murder plot between Gudavadze and the tycoon Boris Berezovsky, a former partner of Patarkatsishvili.

In April 2011, under Dudley's guidance, the Supreme Court of Gibraltar ruled that consensual sex (both for heterosexual and male homosexuals) would be considered legal from the age of 16. Previously, gay men were only legally allowed to have sexual intercourse (anal) from the age of 18 onwards. Also, the Supreme Court declared that criminalisation of consensual anal sex among heterosexuals was unconstitutional. Both decisions were strongly criticised by some sectors of Gibraltarian civil society, particularly by the Gibraltar Women's Association and the Evangelical Alliance. However, the government made it clear that the question still depended on a referendum to be held on an undetermined date.