Sir Richard George Bramwell McCombe, PC (born 23 September 1952), Is an English barrister and former member of the

Court of Appeal of England and Wales The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Senior Courts of England and Wales, and second in the legal system of England and Wales only to ...

. McCombe attended

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, day school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, North West England. It comprise ...

and

Downing College Downing College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. 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 ...

in 1975 (

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

) and elected 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 1996. He was second junior counsel to the Director-General of Fair Trading from 1982 to 1987, when he became first junior counsel, serving until 1989. The same year, he was made 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 ...

. McCombe and

Price Waterhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along ...

executive John Heywood led an investigation into Norton Group, plc for the

Department of Trade and Industry Department of Trade and Industry may refer to: Current * Department of Trade and Industry (Isle of Man) * Department of Trade and Industry (Philippines) * Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (South Africa) Former * Department of Trade ...

. He became an Assistant Recorder in 1993 and a Recorder in 1996. He was appointed a Deputy High Court judge in 1999. From 1996 to 2001, he served as

Attorney-General of the Duchy of Lancaster The Attorney-General of the Duchy of Lancaster is the law officer of the Crown for matters arising in the Duchy of Lancaster. Attorneys-General *1478–1483: Richard Empson *1519–1522: John Hales *1522–1526: Edmund Knightley *1526–1531: ...

. He was appointed to the High Court on 11 January 2001, 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 served as Presiding Judge on the Northern Circuit from 2004 to 2007 and Chair of the Association of High Court Judges from 2008 to 2009. On 26 October 2012, 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 ...

And received the customary appointment to the Privy Council. He retired from the Court of Appeal with effect from 27 January 2021. In 2011, McCombe passed judgement in the ''Hookway'' case, which had a significant effect on bail in England and Wales. The

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (c. 60) (PACE) is an act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, and provided codes of practice for the exercise of t ...

stipulations on bail had previously been interpreted to mean that the time limits on holding a prisoner in police custody applied only to the time the prisoner was physically in custody. In the ''Hookway'' case, McCombe ruled that the custody time limits included the time the suspect was on bail, effectively limiting the maximum amount of time a suspect could be on bail to 96 hours (less the time spent in the police station). This decision caused significant disruption in the criminal justice system, and drew criticism.

Michael Zander Michael Zander, King's Counsel, KC, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA, (born 16 November 1932 in Berlin) is a British legal scholar. He is Professor Emeritus of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the author of sev ...

called McCombe as "a fool" and a senior police officer described the decision as causing "chaos". The Supreme Court offered to stay the decision ahead of an appeal by the police, but the government instead passed emergency legislation to reverse the change – the Police (Detention and Bail) Act 2011. He was the presiding judge in the case concerning elderly torture victims in the

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt, or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, and the ...

, in which McCombe repeatedly ruled in their favour against the British government, paving the way for their eventual compensation. He also presided over the trial of Sharon Matthews and Michael Donovan for the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews in 2008. Sir Richard is married to

Jill Black, Lady Black of Derwent Jill Margaret Black, Lady Black of Derwent, (née Currie; born 1 June 1954) is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Family She is the daughter of two medical doctors, James Irvine Currie and Margaret Yvonne Currie.'BLA ...

, a 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 President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the president and Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United ...

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCombe, Richard 1952 births Living people Welsh King's Counsel Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 20th-century English judges Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Lord justices of appeal 20th-century Welsh lawyers 21st-century English judges Queen's Bench Division judges People educated at Sedbergh School

Arms

See also

References