New appointments to the UK Supreme Court and JCPC
Lord Lloyd-Jones is re-appointed to his position as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and Sir David Richards is appointed as a Justice to fill the vacancy created by Lady Arden’s retirement, it was announced today.
17 August 2022
Her Majesty The Queen made these appointments on the advice of the Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor, following the recommendations of an independent selection commission.
The commission consulted across each of the Supreme Court's three United Kingdom jurisdictions before making its recommendations, which were today welcomed by the President of the Supreme Court, The Right Hon The Lord Reed of Allermuir:
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome the announcement of these appointments to the Supreme Court.
We look forward to welcoming Lord Lloyd-Jones back to his position as a Justice. Following his retirement in January 2022, having reached the then mandatory retirement age of 70 shortly before it was increased by Parliament to 75, he has continued to hear cases as a member of the Court’s Supplementary Panel. He will continue to make an enormously valuable contribution to the Court on a wide range of cases, and especially in dealing with appeals in the field of international law and criminal law.”
“We are also delighted that Sir David Richards will be joining us as a Justice of the Court. His outstanding legal ability and breadth of experience, notably in company law and corporate insolvency, will maintain the Court’s expertise in these areas following Lady Arden’s retirement, and will be invaluable in maintaining the high quality of our judgments and our reputation as an international centre of legal excellence.
Both appointees will make a significant contribution to the work of the Court and the development of the law, drawing on their extensive experience gained throughout their distinguished judicial careers.”
David Lloyd Jones, The Right Hon Lord Lloyd-Jones, was born and brought up in Pontypridd, Glamorgan where his father was a schoolteacher. He attended Pontypridd Boys' Grammar School and Downing College, Cambridge. He was a Fellow of Downing College from 1975 to 1991. At the Bar his practice included international law, EU law and public law. He was amicus curiae (advocate to the court) in the Pinochet litigation before the House of Lords.
A Welsh speaker, Lord Lloyd-Jones was appointed to the High Court in 2005. From 2008 to 2011 he served as a Presiding Judge on the Wales Circuit and Chair of the Lord Chancellor's Standing Committee on the Welsh Language. In 2012 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and from 2012 to 2015 he was Chairman of the Law Commission. He was appointed as the inaugural President of the Law Council of Wales in October 2021.
Lord Lloyd-Jones first served as a Justice of the Supreme Court between October 2017 and January 2022. He was the first Justice of the Supreme Court to come from Wales. He stepped down as a Justice on 13 January 2022 after reaching the then mandatory retirement age of 70. On his retirement Lord Lloyd-Jones was appointed to the Supplementary Panel of the Supreme Court. Following the increase of the mandatory retirement age for judicial office holders from 70 to 75 in March 2022, Lord Lloyd-Jones successfully applied to be re-appointed as a Justice.
Sir David Richards
Sir David Anthony Stewart Richards studied Law at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1974 and took Silk in 1992. Whilst at the Bar, Sir David’s principal area of practice was company law and corporate insolvency.
He was appointed a deputy High Court Judge in 2001, a High Court Judge (Chancery Division) in 2003, a chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal in 2004 and chairman of the Insolvency Rules Committee from 2005 to 2015. He was the Chancery Supervising Judge for the Northern and North Eastern Circuits and Vice–Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster from 2008 to 2011.
Sir David was appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal and made a Privy Counsellor in 2015. He retired as a Lord Justice of Appeal, after reaching the then mandatory retirement age of 70, in June 2021. Thereafter, he practised as an arbitrator and legal expert, as well as continuing to sit in the Court of Appeal as a retired Judge on a part time basis. He also sat in appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
He was elected a Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn in 2000 and Treasurer of the Inn for 2020-21. He served as Chairman of the Lincoln’s Inn Finance and General Purposes Committee from 2014 to 2019. He was a director of the International Insolvency Institute from 2015 to 2019 and co-chair of its Judicial Committee from 2012 to 2019.
Notes to editors
- The appointment was announced today by 10 Downing Street. The official announcement can be viewed on the GOV.UK website via the following link:
- Appointments to the Supreme Court
GOV.UK
17 August 2022 - A detailed description of the appointments process for Justices is available on the Supreme Court website via the following link: Appointments of Justices (last updated June 2022)
- Further details about the application process, available on the Supreme Court website. The following documents and webpages may be of interest:
- Appointments of Justices
- Information pack for Justices role (PDF)
- Equal Merit Provision Policy
- Procedure for Appointing a Justice of The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (PDF)
- These appointments follow the retirements of Lord Lloyd-Jones and Lady Arden in January 2022. Lady Arden retired on 24 January 2022. She was able to stay on until her 75th birthday due to the fact she was already a High Court judge when the retirement age was lowered to 70 in 1995.
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