A high-ranking army legal officer won a sex discrimination and victimisation claim against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) last week because she was refused paid leave to take up a part-time judicial appointment.

In what the tribunal chairman described as an 'institutional knee-jerk reaction', barrister Lieutenant Colonel Linda McGarr was told in July 2001 that she could not apply to become a part-time chairman of the Appeals Service Tribunal because she did not hold the rank of colonel or above.

At the time there were no female colonels in the Army Legal Service.

The rules were amended in July 2002 to allow her to take up a role on the south-eastern circuit during her periods of leave, but were later changed again in such a way that that she would never be granted paid leave to perform a judicial function, even if she attained the rank of colonel.

Julie Mellor, chairwoman of the Equal Opportunities Commission, which supported Lt Col McGarr's claim, said: 'At a time when there are so few women at senior levels in the armed services, the MoD needs to find ways of expanding rather than restricting their opportunities.

'Women are also under-represented in the judicial system generally, a situation which will not have been helped by the MoD's policy.'

An MoD spokeswoman said the ministry was considering the implications of the tribunal's decision and would not comment further until it had decided whether to appeal.

Rachel Rothwell