Sir Julian Martin Flaux (born 11 May 1955) is the Chancellor of the High Court.

Early life

Flaux was born on 11 May 1955 and was educated at the

King's School, Worcester The King's School, Worcester is an English independent day school refounded by Henry VIII in 1541. It occupies a site adjacent to Worcester Cathedral on the banks of the River Severn in the centre of the city of Worcester. It offers mixed-sex ma ...

. He studied law at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

, graduating as an

Oxford MA In the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts are promoted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts (MA) on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university (including years as an u ...

and a Bachelor of Civil Law. He became an Honorary

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of Worcester College in 2017.

Career

He was called to the bar by

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1978 and appointed as

King'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 or ...

in April 1994. He was appointed 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 2000, a Deputy Judge of the

High Court of Justice 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 of England and Wales, Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cou ...

in 2002, and a Judge of the High Court sitting on the

King's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of commo ...

in 2007. He was a Presiding Judge on the Midland Circuit from January 2010 to December 2013, later appointed as a Legal Member of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in 2013. Following a spell as Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court, 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) Justice ...

in December 2016 and sworn of the Privy Council. He was appointed Chancellor of the High Court on 3 February 2021. In 2020, Flaux delivered the Court of Appeal's judgement in ''

Begum v Home Secretary ''Begum v Home Secretary'' 021 UKSC 7 is the short name of three closely connected proceedings considered together in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, ''R (on the application of Begum) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission; R (on ...

'', granting

Shamima Begum Shamima Begum (born 25 August 1999) is a British born woman, who left the UK in 2015 aged 15. She obtained entry to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In February 2019, Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, acting for th ...

judicial review of the Home Secretary's decisions to revoke her British citizenship and to refuse her leave to enter the UK from Syria, where she had joined the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

. The decision was reversed by the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. In December 2022, in a case brought by Alexander Darwall (owner of 4000 acres (16 km²) of land in southern Dartmoor National Park), he controversially ruled that a previously assumed right to wild camp without landowners' permission was legally wrong and that permission was needed.

References

1955 births Living people People educated at King's School, Worcester Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Lords Justices of Appeal Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Queen's Bench Division judges Knights Bachelor {{UK-law-bio-stub