Sir Henry Brooke CMG (19 July 1936 – 30 January 2018) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
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 ...
in 2003. He retired from judicial office on 30 September 2006.
Early life
Brooke was the son of
Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor
Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor (9 April 1903 – 29 March 1984) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster-General from 1961 to 1962 and — following the "Night of the Long K ...
, a former
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville
Peter Leonard Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, (born 3 March 1934) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, and was a Member of ...
and he also had two younger sisters; Honor Miller and Margaret Pulfer.
Brooke was educated at Marlborough College (1949–54) and undertook
national service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
in the Royal Engineers (1955–57). He then studied Mods and Greats (classical language and literature, and ancient history and philosophy) at
Balliol College
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
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 ...
in 1963, and was Junior Counsel to
the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
(
Common Law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...
) from 1978 to 1981. He became a
Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...
in 1981, and was a Recorder from 1983 to 1988. He was Counsel to the Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station Inquiry in 1983–85, and one of the DTI Inspectors into the 1985 takeover of Harrods by the Al Fayed brothers (1987-88).
He practised at
Fountain Court Chambers
Fountain Court Chambers is a set of commercial barristers based in the Temple in London and with offices in Singapore. It has 95 full members (in addition to door tenants), of whom 41 are silks. It is in the Magic Circle.
The present Head of ...
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 1988, and received the customary
knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of 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. Knighthood finds origins in the ...
. He was chairman of the
Law Commission
A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...
from 1993 to 1995, and was promoted to become a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1996. He was the judge in charge of the modernisation of the English law courts from 2001 to 2004. He was vice-president of the Court of Appeal's Civil Division from 2003 to 2006.
He was President of the Society for Computers and Law for nine years, and was a major player in the formation of the
British and Irish Legal Information Institute
The British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII, pronounced "Bailey") provides legal information, and especially reports of cases decided by courts, in the United Kingdom generally. Decisions from England and Wales, Ireland, Northern ...
(BAILII), of which he was the Chairman of trustees between 2000 and 2011. He became General Editor of The White Book (
Civil Procedure Rules
The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) were introduced in 1997 as per the Civil Procedure Act 1997 by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee and are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Courts in civil ...
) between 2004 and 2007, and was a trustee of the
Wordsworth Trust
The Wordsworth Trust is an independent charity in the United Kingdom. It celebrates the life of the poet William Wordsworth, and looks after Dove Cottage in the Lake District village of Grasmere where Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy Wordswor ...
until 2001, when became a Fellow.
Following his retirement from the Bench in September 2006 he practised as a civil mediator for eight years and was Chairman of the Civil Mediation Council between 2007 and 2011. He is the Emeritus President of the Slynn Foundation, and a patron of nine charities in the legal field, including the Public Law Project, the Prisoners of Conscience Appeal Fund, Prisoners Abroad, Law for Life and the Harrow Law Centre.
2012 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours List 2012 was released on 16 June 2012 in the United Kingdom. on 11 June 2012 in Australia on 4 June 2012 in New Zealand,/sup> In 2013 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. In 2017 he became a Knight of the Order of Skanderbeg, Albania's highest honour for a non-citizen.
Personal life
Brooke was married to Bridget Kalaugher in 1966. They had four children; Michael, Nick, Christopher and Caroline. He died on 30 January 2018 following cardiac surgery.