Judge Judy delivers her verdict at the Cambridge Union

Judge Judith Sheindlin, of TV’s Judge Judy fame, got the series of talks and debates for the academic year at the Cambridge Union under way on Saturday, October 5.

The 76-year-old New Yorker discussed the enduring popularity of her show, the importance of rules in society and why she is a strong believer in people taking responsibility for their actions.

Ahead of the lecture and Q&A, she told the Cambridge Independent: “I’ve never been to Cambridge.

"I did make the journey to Oxford a couple of years ago and had a wonderful experience.

“What I think I respect about these two institutions – and I know that they are a bit competitive – is that they encourage diversity of opinion.

"I think that that is so important on university campuses.

"It has been frustrating for me over the last several years in the States to have witnessed on college campuses a threat to diversity of opinion.”

She said if you only listen to one side of an argument, you are a “narcissistic fool”.

“Speech is not violent,” she said. “There are very narrow exceptions to that but you can’t be hurt by speech.

"It can hurt your feelings and you may take issue with certain speech, but once you start prohibiting it, prohibiting people from listening to it, you’ve opened that crack in the door for someone else to define what you think – and that’s frightening.”

The celebrated judge, who has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next to her good friend, actor Sidney Poitier, continued: “There’s a difference between protest and prohibition.

"I don’t see anything wrong with protesting - that’s free speech - but I think that you should pick your battles.

“If you protest everything, nobody listens to you.”

Judge Judy airs on CBS Reality. Check your local listings for details.

Now in its 24th season, Judge Judy is seen by 10million daily viewers in the US.

It has been the number one programme in first-run syndication for 10 consecutive years.