Roger John Laugharne Thomas, Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd, (born Carmarthen, 22 October 1947) is a British judge. He served as

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

from 2013 to 2017.

Early life and education

Thomas was born in 1947 to Roger Edward Laugharne Thomas and his wife Dinah Agnes Thomas, of

Cwmgiedd Cwmgiedd is a small village beside the River Giedd within the community of Ystradgynlais, Powys, Wales. It lies 22.5 km (15 miles) north-east of Swansea and 253 km (157 miles) west of London. ''The Silent Village'', a 1943 British propa ...

. Thomas was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, where he graduated B.A. in Law in 1966. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity Hall in 2004. He proceeded to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

where he earned a J.D. degree and was a

Commonwealth Fellow The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is an international programme under which Commonwealth governments offer scholarships and fellowships to citizens of other Commonwealth countries. History The plan was originally proposed ...

. Thomas was an assistant teacher at

Mayo College Mayo College (informally Mayo) is a boys-only independent boarding school in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. It was founded in 1875 by Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, who was the Viceroy of India from 1869 to 1872. This makes it one of the oldest Pub ...

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "''Aj ...

, India, from 1965 to 1966.

Legal career

Thomas 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 ...

in 1969 (

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

). He was elected a Bencher in 1992. He commenced practice in 1972, became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1984 and was appointed a

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

in 1987. He practiced as a member of the commercial chambers at 4 Essex Court in the Temple, which in 1994 moved to

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...

and has since then been known as

Essex Court Chambers Essex Court Chambers is a set of commercial barristers in Lincoln's Inn Fields, central London. It has 96 tenants, of whom 45 are King's Counsels, also known as Silks. It is considered by legal commentators to be one of the 'Magic Circle' of London ...

. In 1992 he was appointed by the Department of Trade and Industry as an Inspector into the affairs of Mirror Group Newspapers plc (when it was owned by Robert Maxwell) and its IPO. On 11 January 1996, he was appointed a High Court judge, receiving 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 Gr ...

, and was assigned 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 ...

, serving on the Commercial Court until his appointment to the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

. From 1998 to 2001 he was a Presiding Judge of the Wales and Chester Circuit. On 14 July 2003, Thomas became 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 ...

and given the customary appointment to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

later that year. He served as the

Senior Presiding Judge The Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales is a member of the Court of Appeal appointed by the Lord Chief Justice to supervise the Presiding Judges for the various judicial circuits of England and Wales. The Senior Presiding Judge is respons ...

from 2003 to 2006, and President of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary from 2008 to 2010, having participated in its founding in 2003–2004. In October 2008, Thomas was appointed Vice-President of the Queen's Bench Division and Deputy Head of Criminal Justice. On 3 October 2011, he succeeded Sir Anthony May as

President of 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 ...

Promotion to Lord Chief Justice

On 1 October 2013, Thomas was appointed to succeed Lord Judge as

. On 26 September 2013, it was announced Thomas would become a life peer upon taking office as Lord Chief Justice. He was created a

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

on 4 October 2013, taking the title Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd, of Cwmgiedd in the County of

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

. Following his introduction, as a serving member of the judiciary he was immediately disqualified from sitting in the House of Lords under section 137(3) of the

Constitutional Reform Act 2005 The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, relevant to UK constitutional law. It provides for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the previous appellate jurisdiction of the Law Lo ...

Other affiliations

He was appointed by the Government of Wales in September 2017 to chair a

Commission on Justice in Wales The Commission on Justice in Wales ( cy, Y Comisiwn ar Cyfiawnder yng Nghymru), also known as the Thomas Commission (after the commission's head John Thomas, Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd), was a commission set up by the Welsh government to review the ...

. Commissioners were appointed in November 2017. The commission undertook a review of the justice system in Wales (for December 2017 - October 2019) and published its report in October 2019. The report "set a long term vision for the future of justice in Wales". Thomas is one of the Founding Members 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 ...

, a non-profit organisation that conducts research, makes recommendations and provides practical guidance in the field of European legal development. He is a member of its Executive Committee. His disqualification from sitting in the House of Lords ceased on his retirement as Lord Chief Justice. He is a member of the EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee and chaired the Middle Level Bill Committee in 2018. He is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge and a Fellow of the Universities of Cardiff, Aberystwyth, Swansea and Bangor and an Honorary Doctor of Law of the Universities of South Wales, the West of England, Wales and of Cardiff Metropolitan University. He is a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. He has been Chancellor of

Aberystwyth University , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

since January 2018. He was appointed Chairman of the Financial Markets Law Committee in November 2017. He returned to Essex Court Chambers in November 2017 and joined the Arbitrators at 24 Lincoln's Inn Fields. He was a founder of the AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society in 1991 and is its president.

Personal life

In 1973, he married Elizabeth Ann Buchanan, daughter of S J Buchanan of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, US. They have one son and one daughter. He lists his recreations in ''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

'' as gardens, walking and travel.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas of Cwmgiedd, John Thomas, Baron 1947 births Knights Bachelor People educated at Rugby School 20th-century King's Counsel 17th-century Welsh judges Presidents of the Queen's Bench Division Lords Justices of Appeal Lord chief justices of England and Wales Crossbench life peers Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of Gray's Inn University of Chicago Law School alumni Living people 20th-century Welsh lawyers 21st-century English judges Place of birth missing (living people) Welsh King's Counsel Life peers created by Elizabeth II