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Judge Emma Arbuthnot
Emma Arbuthnot, Baroness of Edrom, is a Chief magistrate in London. She oversees Judge Baraitser as the senior judge.
- She is married to James Arbuthnot, Baron of Edrom.
Ironically, in her ruling from February 2018, Arbuthnot had said that Assange’s fears of U.S. extradition were not “reasonable,” and dismissed concerns about his health problems, remarking that they “could be much worse.”
In August 2018, Arbuthnot recused herself from further involvement in the Uber licensing case in London after it was alleged that there may be a conflict of interest due to “her husband’s work for a strategy firm that has advised one of Uber’s largest investors,” the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Investment Authority (QIA). QIA is a client of SC Strategy Ltd, co-founded by Lord Alexander Charles Carlile and former MI6 chief Sir John Scarlett, and Mr. James Arbuthnot has been a consultant there. It was later argued in court that Arbuthnot “had failed to check whether her family had a financial interest in the issue.” Arbuthnot has said she was not aware of the connection with her husband's work.
Mr. Arbuthnot is also chairman of the advisory board for the large U.K. subsidiary of Thales Group, a military arms and communication systems manufacturer. WikiLeaks has published documents about them within various releases (including under their former name, Thomson-CSF), such as their response to the “Blue Lantern” inquiry by the U.S. State Department.