Sir Richard John Pearson Aikens PC (born 28 August 1948) is a retired British judge, who was 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 ...

from 2008 to 2015.

Biography

Aikens was educated at

Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a private selective day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as an episcop ...

and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, where he read history 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 ...

(

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 1973 and joined what is now Brick Court Chambers in 1974. He became a

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 1986. 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 newsp ...

in 1993, and a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

in 1994. On 6 May 1999, Aikens was appointed to 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 (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

, receiving the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...

, and was 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 ...

. He was a judge of the Commercial and Admiralty Courts from 1999 to 2008, and was in charge of the Commercial Court in 2005–06). He was chairman of the Commercial Court Long Trials Working Party in 2006. During his judicial career in the High Court, He was noted for presiding the O'Connor–Keogh official secrets trial, where on 9 October 2006 he ruled the hearing should be held in secret under Section 11 of the

Contempt of Court Act 1981 The Contempt of Court Act 1981 (c. 49) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It codifies some aspects of the common law offence of contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of bei ...

. On 19 November 2008, Aikens became a Lord Justice of Appeal, and received the customary appointment to the Privy Council the same year. He retired on 2 November 2015. After retirement, Aikens rejoined Brick Court Chambers as a

door tenant A door tenant is a barrister who has been granted permission to join a set of chambers and work with them from premises outside the chambers themselves.Anna Williams (ed), ''Chambers Student Guide to the Legal Profession'' (London: Chambers and Pa ...

. He is a visiting professor at

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

and

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 ...

. Aikens is a supporter of

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

, writing "our ability to determine our own laws is picked apart by the EU and its unaccountable judges. For the future of our democracy, we should vote Leave". He co-authored a proposal with

Guglielmo Verdirame Guglielmo Verdirame, Baron Verdirame, (born 25 August 1971) is a legal scholar, barrister and a member of the House of Lords. He was previously a Junior Research Fellow at Merton College, Oxford, a university lecturer in law at the Universit ...

and Professor George Yarrow for Britain to remain in the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...

. He is married with 2 sons and 2 step daughters. He is also a patron of the arts, serving as a director of the English National Opera 1995-2004, founder and President of the Temple Music Foundation, chairman of Music and Theatre For All, and as a trustee of the Razumovsky Ensemble and Academy.

Books

*Bullen and Leake on Pleadings and Practice (13th edition, 1991) *Bills of Lading (2006, 2nd edition 2015) *Reforming Marine and Commercial Insurance Law (2008) *Tom Bingham and the Transformation of the Law (2009) *Law and Society: Which is to be Master (2011)

References

1948 births English King's Counsel Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor People educated at Norwich School {{UK-law-bio-stub

Biography

Books

See also

References