Sir Royston Miles "Roy" Goode (born 6 April 1933) is an academic commercial lawyer in the United Kingdom. He founded the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, University of London. He was awarded the OBE in 1972 followed by the CBE in 1994 before being

knight 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 ...

ed for services to academic law in 2000.

Education and early life

He was educated at Highgate School in North London,Highgate School Register 7th Edn 1833–1988, Ed. Patrick Hughes & Ian F Davies 1989 and obtained his

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

by external study through the University of London External Programme in 1954. He completed the LLD at London in 1976 and the DCL at 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 ...

in 2005.

Career

He was admitted as a solicitor in 1955; he was later called to the Bar at

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 association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1988. Goode spent 17 years in private practice as a solicitor before turning to academia. While in practice, he wrote a series of legal textbooks. He began by writing a text on hire purchase as nothing had been written on the subject in the previous 20 years; he knew nothing about this area of law but researched it and produced a text which launched his legal writing career. He joined

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 ...

in 1971 as Professor of Law. He served from 1976 to 1980 as Head of Department. He served as the Crowther Professor of Credit and Commercial Law from 1973 to 1989. Then he left Queen Mary for the

to become the Norton Rose Professor of

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, ...

in 1990, serving until 1998; now he is an now an

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

of Law at the University. Concurrently he served as a fellow of St John's College, Oxford between 1990 and 1998; now an Emeritus Fellow. Goode was also a member of the Crowther Committee on Consumer Credit, the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and the DTI Advisory Committee on Arbitration. He chaired the Pension Law Review Committee, which was set up following the Maxwell scandal, and which led to a report on '' Pension Law Reform'' and the Pensions Act 1995. He was previously chairman of the executive committee of

JUSTICE In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

, the all-party human rights and law reform organisation, and a member of the Governing Council of

UNIDROIT UNIDROIT (formally, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law; French: ''Institut international pour l'unification du droit privé'') is an intergovernmental organization whose objective is to harmonize private internati ...

. He is also known for his writings on documentary letters of credit and demand guarantees; he has called these financial instruments "abstract payment undertakings". He was made a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

in 1988. He was made a QC in 1990. He was made an Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in the same year. He was made an honorary

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 ...

of the

in 1992.

Personal life

He is married and has one daughter.

Publications

* *''Consumer Credit Law and Practice'' (General Editor) *''Consumer Credit Reports'' (General Editor) * * *''Payment Obligations in Commercial and Financial Transactions'' *''My Engagement with European and International Commercial Law: An Errant Scholar's Reflections. Zeitschrift für europäisches Privatrecht, 28, 833 - 855 (2020).''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goode, Roy 1933 births Living people People educated at Highgate School Academics of Queen Mary University of London Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English solicitors Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Goode, Roy Knights Bachelor Lawyers awarded knighthoods Legal scholars of the University of Oxford