Sir Robert Gerard Finch (20 August 1944 – 31 March 2016) was a British businessman, lawyer, and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

from 23 July 2003 to 22 July 2004. Born in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, Finch was educated at

Felsted School Felsted School is a co-educational independent school, independent boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school, situated in Felsted in Essex, England. It is in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, and was founded i ...

and the College of Law. He joined

Linklaters Linklaters LLP is a British multinational law firm, headquartered in London. Founded in 1838, it is one of the four ' Magic Circle' law firms known for their corporate and financial expertise. It currently employs about 3,100 lawyers in 31 of ...

in 1969, progressed to Partner in 1974, and Head of Real Estate from 1997 to 1999. Linklaters' most Senior Partner, he left the firm on 1 July 2005 to become Chairman of property developer

Liberty International Intu Properties plc was a British real estate investment trust (REIT), largely focused on shopping centre management and development. Originally named Transatlantic Insurance Holdings plc and later Liberty International plc, it changed its name ...

, overseeing its transition to a

REIT A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...

when the status was first introduced. He was

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

for the City Ward of

Coleman Street Coleman Street is one of the Wards of the City of London, 25 ancient wards of the City of London, England, and lies on the City's northern boundary with the London Borough of Islington. The ward, which includes land lying on either side of the ...

, having first been elected to represent Coleman Street in 1992. He became a

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

in 1999, Master of the Solicitors' Company in 2000, and

in 2003. In 2008, following a change to the voting system to the

Court of Aldermen The Court of Aldermen forms part of the senior governance of the City of London Corporation. It comprises twenty-five Aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor (becoming senior Alderman during his or her year of office). ...

, he was successfully challenged by a previously unheard-of young lawyer, Matthew Richardson (''now''

), in a close-fought campaign. Finch admitted to having overspent on the campaign, by not declaring the use of

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

company car A company car is a vehicle which companies or organizations lease or own and which employees use for their personal and business travel. A take-home vehicle is a vehicle which can be taken home by company employees. Depending on the company, comp ...

and

chauffeur A chauffeur () is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or a limousine. Initially, such drivers were often personal employees of the vehicle owner, but this has changed to s ...

. When challenged, in ''Finch and another v Richardson'' (2008), a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

ruled that

ignorance of the law In law, (Latin for 'ignorance of the law excuses not'),''Black's Law Dictionary'', 5th Edition, p. 672 or ('ignorance of law excuses no one'),''Black's Law Dictionary'', 5th Edition, p. 673 is a legal principle holding that a person who is unaw ...

could constitute by virtue of inadvertence a defence in electoral law: a point that hitherto existed in

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

and

Northern Ireland law The law of Northern Ireland is the legal system of statute and common law operating in Northern Ireland since the partition of Ireland established Northern Ireland as a distinct jurisdiction in 1921. Before 1921, Northern Ireland was part of ...

, but not in

English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

. Finch was appointed

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in 2004 for "services to the City of London". He died on 31 March 2016 at the age of 71 after a short illness.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Robert 1944 births 2016 deaths British solicitors Anglo-Indian people People educated at Felsted School Sheriffs of the City of London Councilmen and Aldermen of the City of London 21st-century lord mayors of London Knights Bachelor Knights of Justice of the Order of St John