Sir Peter Donald Fraser (born 6 September 1963Biography, ''

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 ...

''), styled The Honourable Mr Justice Fraser, is a judge of the

High Court of England and Wales 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 and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

. Born in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, Northern Ireland, he attended

Harrogate Grammar School Harrogate Grammar School is a co-educational academy school and sixth form in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. It has around 1,900 pupils in the main school. A 2022 Ofsted inspection rated the school as 'Outstanding' in all five areas of ...

and then won an Open Exhibition to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, from where he obtained both an MA in law and an

LLM A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

. He was called to the Bar by Middle Temple on 21 November 1989, and was awarded a Hamsworth Exhibition and Ashbury Scholarship by the Inn. He was a summer associate in the Los Angeles office of White & Case in both 1988 and 1989, and after completing his

pupillage A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Hong Kong, is the final, vocational stage of training for those wishing to become practising barristers. Pupillage is similar to an apprenticeship, during which bar ...

at Atkin Chambers in

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 remained there in practice until he was appointed to the High Court Bench in 2015. His practice was in the field of technology, engineering, construction and international arbitration. He practised both in the UK and internationally, including in Hong Kong, China, South Africa, Sweden, Botswana, France, Dubai, Qatar, Oman, Bermuda, and the Bahamas, where he was called to the Bar in 2007. He became a Recorder of the Crown Court in 2002, sitting on the Western Circuit. He 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 2002 and

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 2009. He became a High Court Judge, 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 ...

, on 1 October 2015 and was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in November 2015. He served as the Judge in Charge of the

Technology and Construction Court 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 ...

from 2017 to 2020, part of the Business and Property Courts that sit in the Rolls Building in London. He also sits as a Judge of the Commercial Court. He has also served as an arbitrator at the

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its over 45 million members in over 100 countries have interests spanning every s ...

in Paris, and is the

consulting editor A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews.

of ''Building Law Reports'', having been editor from 1990–2015. His notable cases include being the managing judge of the group litigation called '' Bates & Ors v Post Office Ltd'', brought by 550 sub-postmasters against the Post Office over issues resulting from the Horizon IT system. In July 2023 it was announced that he is to be appointed as the next Chair 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 ...

of England and Wales, which comes with elevation to the Court of Appeal, replacing Sir Nick Green, with effect from 1 December 2023. He competes as an Ironman triathlete.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Peter Living people 1963 births Queen's Bench Division judges 21st-century British lawyers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 21st-century King's Counsel Knights Bachelor British male triathletes Lawyers from County Down Barristers from Northern Ireland Members of the Middle Temple English barristers