Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers
The Right Honourable The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers KG PC QC |
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![]() Coat of arms of The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers
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President of the Supreme Court | |
In office 1 October 2009 – 30 September 2012 |
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Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Deputy | The Lord Hope of Craighead |
Preceded by | Office created |
Succeeded by | The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury |
Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary | |
In office 1 October 2008 – 30 September 2009 |
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Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Deputy | The Lord Hoffmann The Lord Hope of Craighead |
Preceded by | The Lord Bingham of Cornhill |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales | |
In office 3 October 2005 – 30 September 2008 |
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Preceded by | The Lord Woolf |
Succeeded by | The Lord Judge |
Master of the Rolls | |
In office 6 June 2000 – 3 October 2005 |
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Preceded by | The Lord Woolf |
Succeeded by | The Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony |
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary | |
In office 12 January 1999 – 6 June 2000 |
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Preceded by | The Lord Lloyd of Berwick |
Succeeded by | The Lord Scott of Foscote |
Personal details | |
Born | 21 January 1938 |
Nationality | ![]() |
Spouse(s) | Christylle née Rouffiac (now The Lady Phillips of Worth Matravers) |
Children | 2 |
Residence | Hampstead, London |
Alma mater | King's College, Cambridge |
Nicholas Addison Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, KG PC QC (born 21 January 1938)[1] is a British lawyer and former senior English judge.
Lord Phillips served as the inaugural President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, holding office between October 2009 and October 2012. He is also the last Senior Law Lord and the first Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales to be head of the English judiciary when that function was transferred from the Lord Chancellor in April 2006.[2] Before his chief justiceship, he was Master of the Rolls from 2000 to 2005. He sits as a crossbencher.
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Early life[edit]
Phillips was educated at Bryanston School; appointed a Governor of the school in 1975, he has been Chairman of its Governors since 1981. He undertook his National Service with the Royal Navy and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, being commissioned as an officer. After the two years' service he went to King's College, Cambridge, where he read law. In 1962, he was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple, where he was the Harmsworth Scholar. He undertook pupillage at 2 Essex Court Chambers (with the Anglo-American QC, Waldo Porges) and subsequently obtained a Tenancy there, later moving to 1 Brick Court (now Brick Court Chambers). In 1973 he was appointed as Junior Counsel to the Ministry of Defence and to the Treasury in Maritime and Admiralty matters. On 4 April 1978, he became a Queen's Counsel (QC).[3] His maternal grandparents, two young immigrants to this country were Sephardic Jews and had eloped to Britain from Alexandria.
Judicial career[edit]
In 1982, Phillips was appointed a Recorder and from 1987 was a full-time High Court Judge on the Queen's Bench Division, with the customary knighthood. He took an interest in legal training, and was Chairman of the Council of Legal Education from 1992 to 1997. He presided over several complex fraud trials including those covering the Robert Maxwell pension fund fraud and Barlow Clowes. In 1995, he became a Lord Justice of Appeal and was appointed to the Privy Council.
On 12 January 1999, he was appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary[4] and created a Life Peer under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 as Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, of Belsize Park in the London Borough of Camden.[5] He then succeeded Lord Woolf as Master of the Rolls on 6 June 2000.[6] He conducted an inquiry into the outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. He served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2005 to 2008, when he was reappointed as a Law Lord. Since 2008, Phillips was the Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary until he became the first President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on 1 October 2009. Elizabeth II advanced him as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter on 23 April 2011.[7]
On 11 October 2011, Phillips announced his retirement on 30 September 2012, almost four months before the mandatory retirement age for British judges at turning 75 on 21 January 2013.[8]
After retiring from the bench, Phillips followed Lord Woolf as President of the Qatar International Court at Doha.[9] He also acts as an arbitrator.
In March 2012, the Government of Hong Kong SAR appointed Lord Phillips as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. He also serves as President of the British Maritime Law Association and Chairman of the European Maritime Law Organisation.
International legal distinction[edit]
Phillips was awarded the International Jurist Award at the International Conference of Jurists 2007; the award was presented by the President Smt. Pratibha Patil at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
Personal life[edit]
Phillips is married to Christylle Marie-Thérèse Rouffiac, with whom he has two daughters, and a stepson and stepdaughter, and lives in Hampstead, London. His daughter Marie is a novelist. He is a member of Brooks's and the Garrick Clubs. He is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Drapers and a Past Prime Warden of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, as well as being an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Advanced Legal Studies, University College London, Hughes Hall, Cambridge, and of King's College, Cambridge.
Lord Phillips was also appointed the inaugural Distinguished Fellow and Visiting Professor of The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London. He has received honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws (Hon. LLD) from Exeter (1998), Birmingham (2003), London (2004), Wake Forest University (2010), and the International Institute of Maritime Law, and of Doctor of Civil Law (Hon. DCL) from City University, London (2003). He also currently serves as Chancellor of Bournemouth University.
Styles[edit]
- Nicholas Phillips Esq (birth–1978)
- Nicholas Phillips Esq QC (1978–1987)
- Mr Justice Phillips (1987–1995)
- Lord Justice Phillips PC (1995–1999)
- The Rt Hon. The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers PC (1999–2011)
- The Rt Hon. The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers KG PC(2011–present)
Arms[edit]
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See also[edit]
- Decided cases
- Moore Stephens v Stone Rolls Ltd [2009] UKHL 39
- Great Peace Shipping Ltd v Tsavliris Salvage (International) Ltd (2002)
- Shogun Finance Ltd v Hudson [2004] UKHL
- Regina v Armel Gnango [2011] UKSC 59 (14 December 2011)
References[edit]
- ^ "Birthday's today". The Telegraph. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, President of The Supreme Court, 2009–12, 76
- ^ 23 July 2009 The Times Law 100, 2009 "No surprise, probably, that Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers takes the No 1 slot."
- ^ The London Gazette: no. 47505. p. 4164. 6 April 1978. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
- ^ Beamish, David. "Lords of Appeal in Ordinary 1876–2009". Peerages. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
- ^ The London Gazette: no. 55376. p. 479. 15 January 1999.
- ^ The London Gazette: no. 55870. p. 6308. 9 June 2000.
- ^ "Lord Phillips and Admiral Boyce made Knights of Garter". BBC News. 23 April 2011.
- ^ "Retiring Supreme Court president defends human rights". BBC News. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
- ^ "Article of Lord Phillips in ''International Review of Law'' 2012:3". Qscience.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
External links[edit]
- Dyer, Clare, He pointed a finger where it ought to be pointed. He didn't go over the top ... He has shown himself to be politic, The Guardian, 23 September 2005.
- BSE enquiry, UK Government
- Ministry of Justice: President, Supreme Court
- Lord Phillips interviewed by ReConstitution, sharing views on the new UK's Supreme Court and the role of the Judiciary.
Legal offices | ||
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Preceded by The Lord Woolf |
Master of the Rolls 6 June 2000 – 3 October 2005 |
Succeeded by Sir Anthony Clarke |
Lord Chief Justice 3 October 2005 – 30 September 2008 |
Succeeded by The Lord Judge |
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Preceded by The Lord Bingham of Cornhill |
Senior Law Lord 1 October 2008 – 30 September 2009 |
Abolished |
New creation | President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom 1 October 2009 – 30 September 2012 |
Succeeded by The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury |
Academic offices | ||
Preceded by The Lady Digby |
Chancellor of the University of Bournemouth 2009–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Order of precedence | ||
Preceded by The Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal |
Hong Kong Order of Precedence Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal |
Succeeded by James Spigelman Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal |
- Knights of the Garter
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- British Queen's Counsel
- 1938 births
- People from Hampstead
- Royal Navy officers
- English judges
- Queen's Counsel 1901–2000
- Knights Bachelor
- Living people
- Lord Chief Justices of England and Wales
- Law lords
- Senior Lords of Appeal in Ordinary
- Crossbench life peers
- People educated at Bryanston School
- Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
- Queen's Bench Division judges
- Members of the Middle Temple
- Masters of the Rolls
- Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
- Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
- Presidents of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
- People associated with Bournemouth University