Igor Judge, Baron Judge, (born 19 May 1941) is an English former judge who served as the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, the head of the judiciary, from 2008 to 2013. He was previously

President of the Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

, at the time a newly created post assuming responsibilities transferred from the office of Lord Chief Justice. In 2019, he became

Convenor The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

of the Crossbench peers 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 Westminste ...

Early life and education

Judge was born in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

to Raymond and Rosa Judge (née Micallef). Judge was educated at St. Edward's College, Malta, from 1947 to 1954 and

The Oratory School The Oratory School () is an HMC Co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Roman Catholic day and boarding school for pupils aged 11–18 located in Woodcote, north-west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. Founded in 1859 by S ...

Woodcote Woodcote is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, about southeast of Wallingford and about northwest of Reading, Berkshire. It is in the Chiltern Hills, and the highest part of the village is above sea level. Woodcote lies betwe ...

in Oxfordshire from 1954 to 1959, where he was Captain of School and Captain of Cricket. He was awarded an Open Exhibition to study History and Law at Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1959, and he graduated BA in 1962.

Legal career

He was called to the bar (

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

) in 1963 and became a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

in 1976 and

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 1979. From 1980 to 1986, he served on the Professional Conduct Committee of the

Bar Council {{see also, Bar association A bar council ( ga, Comhairle an Bharra) or bar association, in a common law jurisdiction with a legal profession split between solicitors and barristers or advocates, is a professional body that regulates the profes ...

. In 1987, he was elected Leader of the Midland Circuit. On 10 October 1988, Judge was appointed a Justice of the High Court, assigned to the

Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

, and awarded the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

. He was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal, a judge of the Court of Appeal, on 4 June 1996, becoming a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

. He was the

Senior Presiding Judge The Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales is a member of the Court of Appeal appointed by the Lord Chief Justice to supervise the Presiding Judges for the various judicial circuits of England and Wales. The Senior Presiding Judge is respons ...

from 1998 to 2003, when he became Deputy Chief Justice. He was not appointed as

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

following the retirement of

Lord Woolf Harry Kenneth Woolf, Baron Woolf, (born 2 May 1933) is a British life peer and retired barrister and judge. He was Master of the Rolls from 1996 until 2000 and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2000 until 2005. The Constitutional R ...

in 2005 despite having served as his deputy. The

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers Nicholas Addison Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, (born 21 January 1938) is a British former senior judge. Phillips was the inaugural President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, holding office between October 2009 and Oc ...

, then

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...

, was appointed instead. He was appointed as the first

on 3 October 2005, when that post was split from that of Lord Chief Justice. In addition to that role, Judge was appointed Head of Criminal Justice in January 2007. Judge replaced Lord Phillips as Lord Chief Justice on 1 October 2008. The same day, he was created a life peer as Baron Judge, of Draycote in the county of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, and he was introduced in the

five days later, where he sits as a crossbencher. In 2007 Lord Judge was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from Nottingham Trent University, and in 2010 was made an Honorary Fellow of Aberystwyth University as well as Kingston University. On 20 June 2012 he received an honorary doctorate from Cambridge. He retired as Lord Chief Justice at the end of September 2013. He was Treasurer to the

for the year 2014. As of November 2013, Lord Judge has served as a Distinguished Visitor to

The Dickson Poon School of Law The Dickson Poon School of Law is the law school of King's College London, itself part of the federal University of London, and serves as one of the nine schools of study within the college. It is situated on the Strand in the East Wing of Some ...

at King's College London.

Parliament

Judge succeeded

Lord Hope of Craighead James Arthur David Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead, (born 27 June 1938) is a retired Scottish judge who served as the first Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2009 until his retirement in 2013, having previously b ...

as Convenor of the Crossbench Peers in 2019.

Personal life

Judge has a son and two daughters. Helen was born in 1966 and married Timothy Noble in 1991. She gave birth to daughters Lucinda (1994) and Amelia (1996). Alastair was born in 1968 and married Kate Holcroft in 1998. Their own children are Cecelia (2005) and Benedict (2006). Emma was born in 1970.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Judge, Igor 1941 births Living people 21st-century Roman Catholics Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge 21st-century English judges British people of Maltese descent English King's Counsel British Roman Catholics Crossbench life peers English Roman Catholics Knights Bachelor Lord chief justices of England and Wales Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at The Oratory School Presidents of the Queen's Bench Division 20th-century King's Counsel Lords Justices of Appeal 20th-century English judges Life peers created by Elizabeth II