Sir Geoffrey Charles Vos (born 22 April 1955) is a judge in England and Wales. Since January 2021, he has held the position of
Master of the Rolls, and the head of civil justice in the court system of England and Wales.
Early life
Sir Geoffrey was born on 22 April 1955 to Bernard Vos and Pamela Celeste Rose.
He was educated at
University College School, London and
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...
.
Career
Sir Geoffrey 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
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 associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...
in 1977, and practised in commercial and chancery litigation, both domestically and internationally. He took
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
in 1993 and served as chair of the Chancery Bar Association from 1999 to 2001 and as chair of the
Bar Council in 2007.
Judge
Sir Geoffrey began his judicial career with appointment as a deputy High Court Judge in 1999. Having sat in the Courts of Appeal of
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
and
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
between 2005 and 2009, and in the Court of Appeal of the
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...
between 2008 and 2009, he was appointed as a High Court Judge in October 2009.
He sat as a Deputy High Court Judge from 1999 until 2009 and was appointed as a Justice of the High Court, assigned to the
Chancery Division, in October 2009. He was appointed as 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) Justice ...
in 2013. He was President of the
European Network of Councils for the Judiciary
The European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) is the European organization that unites the councils of the judiciary – national bodies in support of the Judiciary. From May 2018 the chairman is the Dutchman Kees Sterk. Presidents ch ...
between 2014 and June 2016. He became
Chancellor of the High Court on 24 October 2016.
Master of the Rolls
Sir Geoffrey was appointed the Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice in England and Wales on 11 January 2021, succeeding
Sir Terence Etherton
Terence Michael Elkan Barnet Etherton, Baron Etherton, (born 21 June 1951) is a British retired judge and member of the House of Lords. He was the Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice from 2016 to 2021 and Chancellor of the High Court ...
. In addition to being President of the Court of Appeal’s Civil Division, the Master of the Rolls is chair of both the Civil Justice Council and the Civil Procedure Rule Committee. He is chair of the Advisory Council on National Records and Archives and of the Forum on Historical Manuscripts and Academic Research. He is a member of the LawtechUK Panel and chair of its UK Jurisdiction Taskforce.
In March 2021, Sir Geoffrey disclosed that the
Civil Justice Council was "looking at the extent to which litigants should be forced to mediate and if so, in what circumstances". He admitted the idea is "highly controversial".
In April 2021, Sir Geoffrey called for a greater use of digital technology to accelerate the dispute resolution process. In May 2021, he outlined his vision for digital justice reform in more detail, and the need to reform the overall system, rather than focusing only on the judicial decision-making process. Emphasising the need to focus on the whole picture, he said: "We should not allow the tail, however waggy, to wag the huge dispute resolution dog".
Sir Geoffrey was chairman of the Social Mobility Foundation from 2008 to 2011. He is Treasurer of
Lincoln’s Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
for 2023, was made an honorary bencher of the
King’s Inn, Dublin in 2021, and is an honorary fellow of
Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. He was awarded an LLD (hons) by the
University of Hull
The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...
in January 2023.
Sir Geoffrey is a member of the Council of the
European Law Institute
The European Law Institute (ELI) is an independent non-profit organisation established to initiate, conduct and facilitate research, make recommendations and provide practical guidance in the field of European legal development with a goal of enh ...
and of the Steering Group of the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts.
Notable decisions
Notable judicial decisions of Sir Geoffrey include:
* – on the duties of a bank where a person acting fraudulently directs the bank to transfer money out of a company's account.
* ''Director of the Serious Fraud Office v Eurasian Natural Resources Corp Ltd'
[2018EWCA Civ 2006">018">
[2018
EWCA Civ 2006– on the scope of legal professional privilege.
* ''Vodafone Ltd v Office of Communications'
[2020EWCA Civ 183] – on the unjust enrichment of public authorities.
* ''R (Officer W80) v Director General of the Independent Office for Police Conduct'
[2020EWCA Civ 1301">020">
[2020
EWCA Civ 1301– on the misconduct of an officer who shot dead a civilian.
* ''Stanford International Bank Ltd v HSBC Bank Plc'
[2021EWCA Civ 535] – on losses sustained by a company in liquidation.
* ''Broad Idea International Ltd v Convoy Collateral Ltd'
[2021UKPC 24">021">
[2021
UKPC 24(dissenting) – on the court's power to grant Injunction">injunctions.
* ''HRH The Duchess of Sussex v Associated Newspapers Ltd'
[2021EWCA Civ 1810] – on claims by the Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Duchess for misuse of private information and copyright infringements.
* Bell v Tavistock, ''Bell v The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust'']
021">[2021
EWCA Civ 1363[Geoffrey Vos# ftn1">[1">021
EWCA Civ 1363">021">
[1– on the prescribing of Puberty blocker">puberty blockers
Puberty blockers, also called puberty inhibitors or hormone blockers, are medicines used to postpone puberty in children. The most commonly used puberty blockers are gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, which suppress the production ...
to under-18s with Gender dysphoria in children">gender dysphoria
Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder (GID) was used until ...
EWCA Civ 12] – on the availability of damages for psychiatric injury.
* ''Barking and Dagenham LBC v Persons Unknown'
– on the granting of final injunctions against persons who were unknown and unidentified.
* CN v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care#Judgment">''R (CN) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care''br>
EWCA Civ 86] – a refusal to judicially review the infected blood support scheme for non-inclusion of those with chronic hepatitis B.
* ''R (Counsel General for Wales) v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy'
– on the embargo on publication of draft judgments.
* ''Gemalto Holding BV v Infineon Technologies AG'
EWCA Civ 782] – on limitation for cases of discovering deliberately concealed mistakes.
* Archie Battersbee case, ''Barts Health NHS Trust v Dance'']
– on end-of-life treatment and the best interests of a child, Archie Battersbee case">Archie Battersbee.
* ''The Executors of HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh (Deceased) v Guardian News and Media'
EWCA Civ 1081] – on the sealing of the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, late Duke’s will.
* ''Belsner v Cam Legal Services Ltd'
– on government policy relating to the use of private emails and messaging services when undertaking government business.
* ''R (Friends of the Earth) v Secretary of State for International Trade'
EWCA Civ 14] – whether the UK government acted in breach of the Paris Agreement in financing a liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique.
* (dissenting) – on damages for Whiplash (medicine), whiplash injuries.
Sir Geoffrey married Vivien Mary Fieldhouse, in 1984.
and an honorary member of the Worcestershire Golf Club.
He is a member of both the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John's Wood and the Herefordshire Jewish community.