Sir Richard John Pearson Aikens PC (born 28 August 1948) is a retired British judge, who was 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 ...

from 2008 to 2015.

Career

Aikens was educated at

Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...

and

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 ...

, where he read history and law. He 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 ...

(

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

) in 1973 and joined what is now Brick Court Chambers in 1974. He 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 1986. 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 1993, and a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

in 1994. On 6 May 1999, Aikens was appointed to the

High Court of Justice 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 of England and Wales, Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cou ...

, 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 ...

. He was a judge of the Commercial and Admiralty Courts from 1999 to 2008, and was in charge of the Commercial Court in 2005–06). He was chairman of the Commercial Court Long Trials Working Party in 2006. On 19 November 2008, Aikens became a Lord Justice of Appeal, and received 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 ...

the same year. He retired as a Lord Justice of Appeal on 2 November 2015. After retirement as a judge, Aikens rejoined Brick Court Chambers as a

door tenant A door tenant is a barrister who has been granted permission to join a set of chambers and work with them from premises outside the chambers themselves.Anna Williams (ed), ''Chambers Student Guide to the Legal Profession'' (London: Chambers and Pa ...

. He is a Visiting Professor at Queen Mary University of London and King's College, London. Aikens is a supporter of

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

, writing "our ability to determine our own laws is picked apart by the EU and its unaccountable judges. For the future of our democracy, we should vote Leave". He co-authored a proposal with

Guglielmo Verdirame Guglielmo Verdirame, Baron Verdirame, (born 25 August 1971) is a legal scholar, barrister and a member of the House of Lords. He is Professor of International Law at King's College London in the Department of War Studies and the School of Law. H ...

and Professor George Yarrow for Britain to remain in the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Ass ...

. He is married with 2 sons and 2 step daughters. Sir Richard is a patron of the arts, serving as a director of the English National Opera 1995-2004, founder and President of the Temple Music Foundation, chairman of Music and Theatre For All, and as a trustee of the Razumovsky Ensemble and Academy.

Books

*Bullen and Leake on Pleadings and Practice (13th edition, 1991) *Bills of Lading (2006, 2nd edition 2015) *Reforming Marine and Commercial Insurance Law (2008) *Tom Bingham and the Transformation of the Law (2009) *Law and Society: Which is to be Master (2011)

References

1948 births English King's Counsel Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor People educated at Norwich School {{UK-law-bio-stub

Career

Books

See also

References