Sir Thomas Scott Gillespie Baker, PC (born 10 December 1937) is a retired English Court of Appeal judge. Scott Baker is the eldest son of Sir George Baker, a former High Court judge who was

President of the Family Division The President of the Family Division is the head of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice in England and Wales and head of Family Justice. The Family Division was created in 1971 when Admiralty and contentious probate cases were remove ...

from 1971 to 1979. One of his brothers, Judge Michael Baker, KC, was the Resident

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 ...

at St Albans Crown Court.

Education

Scott Baker was educated at Haileybury & Imperial Service College, and studied at

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

. He was a member of Chorleywood Urban District Council from 1964 to 1967. He married Margaret Joy Baker on 10 February 1973. The couple has two sons and one daughter.

Career

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 ...

at the

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 1961, and practised in a range of legal areas, including family finance cases, and professional

negligence Negligence ( Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate care expected to be exercised in similar circumstances. Within the scope of tort law, negligence pertains to harm caused by the violation of a duty of care through a neg ...

. He became a recorder in 1976, and was appointed 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 1978. He became 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 ...

at Middle Temple in 1985. He was a member of the Committee that inquired into human fertilisation in 1982 to 1984, chaired by

Mary Warnock Helen Mary Warnock, Baroness Warnock, (née Wilson; 14 April 1924 – 20 March 2019) was an English philosopher of ethics, morality, philosophy of education, education, and philosophy of mind, mind, and a writer on existentialism. She is best ...

, which led to the

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (c. 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It created the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority which is in charge of human embryo research, along with monitoring and licensing ...

. He was appointed as a High Court judge in 1988 (and was styled Mr Justice Scott Baker), 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 allocated to the

Family Division 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 ...

. He moved 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 ...

in 1993. He was Presiding Judge of the Wales and Chester Circuit from 1991 to 1995, and a member of the Parole Board from 1999 to 2002. He was the Lead Judge of the

Administrative Court An administrative court is a type of specialized court on administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are usually co ...

from 2000 to 2002. In 1999, he presided over the trial of Great Western Trains following the Southall rail crash in 1997. He dismissed charges of

corporate manslaughter Corporate manslaughter is a crime in several jurisdictions, including England and Wales and Hong Kong. It enables a corporation to be punished and censured for culpable conduct that leads to a person's death. This extends beyond any compensation ...

, as there was no identifiable individual in the company who was also guilty of

gross negligence Gross negligence is the "lack of slight diligence or care" or "a conscious, voluntary act or omission in reckless disregard of a legal duty and of the consequences to another party." In some jurisdictions a person injured as a result of gross neg ...

, but levied a then-record fine for

health and safety Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work (i.e., while performing duties required by one's occupation). OSH is re ...

offences of £1.5m. His judgment was upheld on appeal. The same year, Baker presided at the trial of Jonathan Aitken on charges of

perjury Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...

following the collapse of Aitken's

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

suit against ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Baker was promoted in 2002, becoming 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 ...

. He was Treasurer of his

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...

, the Middle Temple, in 2004. He sat as

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

for the

inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...

s into the deaths of Princess Diana and

Dodi Fayed Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena'em Fayed (; 15 April 195531 August 1997), commonly known as Dodi Fayed, was an Egyptian film producer and the eldest child of the businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed. He was romantically involved with Diana, Princess of W ...

from 2 October 2007 to 7 April 2008. In March 2011, Baker was sworn in as a Justice of the Court of Appeal of Bermuda, a position that he held until 2018.

Notable cases

* St Albans City and DC v International Computers Ltd (1994) - Baker delivered the first instance judgment regarding unfair contract terms and liability limitation in business to business contracts, whilst a portion of the case was overturned on appeal, the ratio and obiter delivered by Baker remains leading law in the area of sale of goods and limitation. * R v Great Western Trains Co (1999) (Unreported) - Baker dismissed the case against Great Western, holding that it was a condition precedent for a guilty mind to be proven before charges of gross negligence manslaughter could be made out. The judgment was referred by the Attorney General to the Court of Appeal in Attorney General’s Reference No 2 of 1999.

000 Triple zero, Zero Zero Zero, 0-0-0 or variants may refer to: * 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number * 000, the size of several small List of screw drives, screw drives * 0-0-0, a Droid (Star Wars)#0-0-0, dro ...

EWCA Crim 91

References

Sources

The Court of Appeal - Judges
from HM Court Service
Biography
from

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and docto ...

School of Law
Announcement of appointment of new Deputy Coroner
Judicial Communications Office, 24 April 2007
Official Archived website of the Inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi FayedThe Royal Gazette: New Court of Appeal judge sworn in
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Scott 1937 births English King's Counsel 21st-century English judges People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Family Division judges Queen's Bench Division judges Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Knights Bachelor Living people Lord justices of appeal 20th-century King's Counsel People from Chorleywood Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 20th-century English judges Bermudian judges