Sir Robin Ernest Auld, (born 19 July 1937) is a former

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 ...

in 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 ...

Early life and career

Born in Staines to Adelaide ( Mackie) and Ernest Auld, a toolmaker who later became a publican, Robin Auld failed the

eleven-plus The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardised examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...

exam and went to Brooklands College, a technical college. Later he won a State Scholarship to study for a law degree 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 ...

; he worked as a long distance lorry driver, baker's assistant and navvy on roadworks in the vacations, gaining an HGV lorry driver's licence and a qualification in bread baking. He graduated with

first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

in Law in 1958. He had intended to be a country solicitor, but when faced with a premium of 400

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

to train with a law firm decided for an academic career instead, and was awarded a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Law from King's College in 1963. He won a scholarship to train for the bar, and was called to the bar in

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

in 1959, placed first in order of merit in the Bar Final Examinations, and awarded the Macaskie and Holker Scholarships. He was also, during his practice at the Bar from 1963 to 1987, admitted to the Bars of Northern Ireland, New York State USA, Hong Kong and New South Wales, Australia. During that period he was appointed

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 1975, a Recorder of the

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

in 1977, and elected a Bencher of

in 1984. As a barrister he chaired or otherwise participated in a number of public inquiries in the UK and abroad, including: Member, Commission of Inquiry into Casino Gambling in the Bahamas, 1967; Chairman, William Tyndale Schools Inquiry, 1975–1976; Department of Trade Joint Inspector into the affairs of Ashbourne Investments Ltd., 1975–1979; Counsel to the Home Office Inquiry into the Brixton Disorders, 1981; Chairman, Home Office Committee into Late-Night and Sunday Trading, 1983–84; and Counsel for the UK, Australian Royal Commission of Inquiry into British Nuclear Tests in Australia ( McClelland Royal Commission), 1984–1987. He became a Fellow of King's College (FKC) in 1987 and was appointed Visiting Professor for three years from 2007. He has served on the College Council and in other roles, including President of

Association, and as a Member of the King's College London Campaign Board and Patron of the college's Bar Society.

Judicial career

In 1988 Auld was appointed a Justice of the High Court,

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 ...

, and was knighted a month later. During his ensuing term of eight years in the post he was successively also a Member of the Judicial Studies Board and Chairman of its Criminal Committee, and Presiding Judge of the Western Circuit. In 1995 Auld was appointed a

and made a Member of the Privy Council. During his ensuing period of 12 years in 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 ...

he was also: the Senior Presiding Judge for England & Wales, 1995–1998, and he conducted ''A Review of the Criminal Courts of England & Wales'', 1999–2001; in the latter half of 2001 he was a Senior Resident Scholar at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

; he was also vice-chairman of the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee, 2004-2006 and vice-chairman of the

Judicial Appointments Commission The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is an independent commission that selects candidates for judicial office in courts and tribunals in England and Wales and for some tribunals whose jurisdiction extends to Scotland or Northern Ireland. ...

from 2006 to 2007. He retired from the

in 2007. Following his retirement from the

, he has undertaken a variety of part-time judicial, academic and other work, including: Sole Commissioner of Inquiry into Governmental Corruption in the Turks & Caicos Islands from 2008 to 2009; Visiting Goodhart Professor in Legal Science at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and Fellow of Selwyn and Wolfson Colleges, 2009–2010; a Justice of the Bermuda Court of Appeal, 2008–2015; President of the Solomon Islands Court of Appeal, 2009–2012; Member of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

's Appeal Court, 2009–2015; Judicial Member, Tribunal of Inquiry into Misconduct of the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, 2010; and, since 2012, Slynn Foundation Trustee & Consultant on Constitutional/Judicial and Procedural Reforms in Eastern Europe, including their compliance with ECHR and EU norms – in particular in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

Personal life

Sir Robin is married to Catherine Alison Geissler, Professor Emerita of Human Nutrition at

, past President of The Nutrition Society of the UK and Ireland, and Secretary-General of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (2013–2017, 2017–2021). He was formerly married to Catherine Eleanor Mary Pritchard, by whom he has a son, Timothy, and a daughter, Rohan. He is a member of the

Athenaeum Club, London The Athenaeum is a private members' club in London, founded in 1824. It is primarily a club for men and women with intellectual interests, and particularly (but not exclusively) for those who have attained some distinction in science, engineerin ...

, the Yale Club (New York City), and of the Worshipful Company of Woolmen (Master 1984–85).

References

External links

Court of Appeal, Civil Division
from

Her Majesty's Courts Service Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) was an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and was responsible for the administration of the civil, family and criminal courts in England and Wales. It was created by the amalgamation of the Ma ...

Chair and Commissioners
from the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auld, Robin 1937 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Fellows of King's College London 20th-century English judges Members of Gray's Inn Lord justices of appeal Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Queen's Bench Division judges British King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Knights Bachelor People from Staines-upon-Thames Bermudian judges British judges on the courts of the Solomon Islands 21st-century English judges