Judicial appointments

Lady Hale (Baroness Hale of Richmond) will become President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom upon the retirement of Lord Neuberger - Supreme Court website.  Lady Hale has been Deputy President since 2013 and was called to the Bar in 1969,  QC 1989, High Court Judge 1994, Court of Appeal 1999 and the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords in 2004.  Lady Hale has a retirement age of 75 whereas Lord Neuberger's retirement age is 70 which he attains in January 2018.  The difference is accounted for by the statutory retirement age of 70 introduced by the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993 but this was not applied to judges already appointed when the Act came into force on 31st March 1995.

The name of the next Deputy President will be announced prior to 2nd October 2017.  The recommendation for this appointment will come from a commission convened by the Lord Chancellor for this purpose.

The Supreme Court will gain three new Justices - Downing Street announcement.  They are Lord Justice Lloyd Jones; Lady Justice Black and Lord Justice Briggs.

On 14th July, the appointment of the next Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales was announced - Judiciary.   Lord Justice Burnett will replace Lord Thomas in September.


Promotions to the Court of Appeal have also been announced - Judiciary.   They are Mrs Justice Asplin; Mr Justice Coulson, Mr Justice Holroyde, Mr Justice Peter Jackson, Mr Justice Leggatt, Mr Justice Newey and Mr Justice Singh.  These appointments will fill forthcoming vacancies in the Court of Appeal arising from autumn 2017.

The appointees to the Supreme Court:

The Rt Hon Lord Justice Lloyd Jones

Lord Justice Lloyd Jones was called to the Bar in 1975 (Middle Temple). From 1975 to 1991 he was a Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge. He was appointed as Queen’s Counsel in 1999. Lord Justice Lloyd Jones was appointed to the High Court in 2005, and was assigned to the Queen’s Bench Division. He served as a Presiding Judge on the Wales Circuit and Chair of the Lord Chancellor’s Standing Committee on the Welsh Language from 2008 to 2011. From August 2012 to August 2015 he was Chair of the Law Commission. He was appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2012.

The Rt Hon Lady Justice Black DBE

Lady Justice Black was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1976. In 1994 she was appointed as Queen’s Counsel and became a Deputy High Court Judge in 1996. She was appointed to the High Court in 1999, assigned to the Family Division; she also sat in the Administrative Court. Lady Justice Black served as Family Division Liaison Judge on the Northern Circuit from 2000-2004. In 2004 she became the Chairman of the Judicial Studies Board’s Family Committee, until her appointment to the Judicial Appointments Commission in 2008. She was appointed a Lady Justice of Appeal in 2010. In 2013, she was appointed as Head of International Family Justice.

The Rt Hon Lord Justice Briggs

Lord Justice Briggs was called to the Bar (Lincoln’s Inn) in 1978. He was appointed as Queen’s Counsel in 1994. In 2001 he was appointed as the Attorney General to the Duchy of Lancaster, a position he held until 2006. He was appointed to the High Court in 2006, assigned to the Chancery Division. Lord Justice Briggs was the Judge in charge of the Chancery Modernisation Review in 2013, and has been the Personal Support Unit liaison judge since 2013. He was appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2013. On 1 January 2016 he was appointed Deputy Head of Civil Justice.’

Retirement ages:

A general judicial retirement age of 70 was introduced by the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993.  The rationale behind the change was to introduce consistency to the judicial retirement system.  The age of 70 was settled on by the government of the day following consultations between the Lord Chancellor and senior members of the judiciary.  However, this new retirement age only applied to judges first appointed to office after the commencement of the relevant provisions (31 March 1995).  As such, any judge first appointed prior to 31 March 1995 is not required to retire until reaching 75.  See Constitution Committee 25th Report dated 7 March 2012.