Igor Judge, Baron Judge, (19 May 1941 – 7 November 2023), was an English judge who served as

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English and ...

, the head of the judiciary, from 2008 to 2013. He was previously President of the Queen's Bench Division, at the time a newly created post assuming responsibilities transferred from the office of lord chief justice. From 2019 to 2023, he served as Convenor of the Crossbench Peers in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Early life and education

Judge was born in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

on 19 May 1941, to Raymond and Rosa Judge (née Micallef). Judge was educated at St. Edward's College, Malta, from 1947 to 1954 and The Oratory School in Woodcote 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 Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, in 1959, and he graduated BA in 1962.

Legal career

Judge 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 ...

(

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

) in 1963, became a Recorder in 1976 and

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1979. From 1980 to 1986, he served on the Professional Conduct Committee of the Bar Council. 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, and awarded the customary knighthood. He was appointed 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) Just ...

, a judge of the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

, on 4 June 1996, becoming a

privy counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

. Judge was the Senior Presiding Judge from 1998 to 2003, when he became Deputy Chief Justice. He was not appointed

Lord Chief Justice The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...

following the retirement of Lord Woolf in 2005 despite having served as his deputy; Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, 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 Court of Appeal (England and Wales)#Civil Division, Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ...

, was appointed instead. On 3 October 2005, he was appointed the first President of the Queen's Bench Division, 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 In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as ''Baron Judge, of Draycote in the County of Warwickshire'', and he was introduced to the

five days later, where he sat as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...

. In 2007 Lord Judge was awarded an honorary doctorate from

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...

, and in 2010 was made an Honorary Fellow of

Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

as well as

Kingston University Kingston University London is a Public university, public research university located within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in South London, South West London, England. Its roots go back to the Kingston Technical Institute, founded ...

. On 20 June 2012 he received an honorary doctorate from Cambridge. Judge retired as Lord Chief Justice at the end of September 2013. He was Treasurer of the

for the year 2014. From November 2013 until his death in November 2023, Judge served as a distinguished visitor to The Dickson Poon School of Law at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. Contrary to popular belief, he was never referred to as "Judge Judge" throughout his career. This was despite a number of media reports listing him by that title, especially when discussing

nominative determinism Nominative determinism is the hypothesis that people tend to gravitate towards areas of work or interest that fit their names. The term was first used in the magazine ''New Scientist'' in 1994, after the magazine's humorous "Feedback" column no ...

Parliament

Judge succeeded Lord Hope of Craighead as Convenor of the Crossbench Peers in 2019.

Personal life and death

Judge had a son and two daughters. Judge died on 7 November 2023, at the age of 82.

Arms

References