Robert Walker, Baron Walker of Gestingthorpe , (born 17 March 1938) is an English barrister and former

Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom are the judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom other than the president and the deputy president. The Supreme Court is the highest court of the United Kingdom for civil and crimin ...

. He also serves as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. He sat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

until his retirement from the House on 17 March 2021.

Early life and non-judicial career

Born on 17 March 1938, the son of Ronald Robert Antony Walker by his wife Mary Helen, Walker was educated at Downside School and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

from where he graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and Law. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...

in 1960 and became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1982. In 2010 he was the Treasurer of

. He is an Honorary Fellow of

. Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe has served on the Honorary Editorial Board of the Warwick Student Law Review since its inception in 2010.

Judicial career

In 1994, Walker was appointed a High Court Judge in the

Chancery Division The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

, and as is customary was then made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are ...

, before appointment as a

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Justic ...

in 1997. He succeeded

Lord Slynn of Hadley Gordon Slynn, Baron Slynn of Hadley (17 February 1930 – 7 April 2009) was a British judge and Advocate General of the European Court of Justice. He particularly specialised in European law. He was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. Early life Sl ...

GBE as a

Lord of Appeal in Ordinary Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House o ...

in 2002 and was created a

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Walker of Gestingthorpe, of Gestingthorpe in the County of Essex. He and nine other Lords of Appeal in Ordinary became

Justices A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ( initialism: UKSC or the acronym: SCOTUK) is the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom for all civil cases, and for criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. As the Unite ...

upon its inauguration on 1 October 2009.

Personal life

Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe married Suzanne Diana Leggi in 1962. They have one son (Robert, born 1963) and three daughters (Penelope Mary, born 1966; Julian Diana, born 1968; and Henrietta Solveig, born 1972).

Notable judgments

*'' Re A (Children) (Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation)'' 001Fam 147 *''

Gillett v Holt ''Gillett v Holt'' 000is an English land law case concerning proprietary estoppel and a farming businesses' dispute. The case focussed on a farmer of a portfolio of farming businesses without any obvious heirs who made many promises and assuranc ...

'' 0003 WLR 815 * *''

Moore Stephens v Stone Rolls Ltd is a leading case relevant for UK company law and the law on fraud and ''ex turpi causa non oritur actio''. The House of Lords decided by a majority of three to two that where the director and sole shareholder of a closely held private company d ...

'' 009UKHL 39 *''

HJ and HT v Home Secretary ''HJ (Iran) and HT (Cameroon) v Secretary of State for the Home Department'' 2010_Judgments_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_Kingdom.html" "title="/nowiki>2010 Judgments of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom">2010] Supreme Court of the Un ...

010 010 may refer to: * 10 (number) * 8 (number) in octal numeral notation * Motorola 68010, a microprocessor released by Motorola in 1982 * 010, the telephone area code of Beijing * 010, the Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the R ...

UKSC 31 *'' Futter & Anor v HMRC; Pitt & Anor v HMRC'' 013UKSC 26 *, (2014) 17 HKCFAR 218 *, (2018) 21 HKCFAR 370

Arms

External links

www.parliament.uk

Debrett's People of Today

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Robert 1938 births Living people Crossbench life peers People educated at Downside School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn Chancery Division judges Walker of Gestingthorpe Walker of Gestingthorpe English King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Justices of the Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong) 21st-century English judges Knights Bachelor Knights of Malta