Igor Judge, Baron Judge, (born 19 May 1941) is an English former judge who served as the

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 ...

, the head of the judiciary, from 2008 to 2013. He was previously President of the Queen's Bench Division, at the time a newly created post assuming responsibilities transferred from the office of Lord Chief Justice. In 2019, he became Convenor of the Crossbench peers in the House of Lords.

Early life and education

Judge was born in Malta to Raymond and

Rosa Judge Rosa Judge MQR ( Micallef; 1919 – 6 September 2017) was a Maltese musician. She was educated at St Catherine's School in Sliema, Malta. Career In 1934 she was awarded the Gold Medal from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music fo ...

(née Micallef). Judge was educated at

St. Edward's College, Malta St Edward's College, Malta is a Maltese private boys' independent school, with optional boarding, in Cottonera. Its enrollment is just under 700 pupils of 5–18 years of age. It was founded in 1929 by Baroness Strickland, Countess della Catena, ...

, from 1947 to 1954 and The Oratory School in Woodcote in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

from 1954 to 1959, where he was Captain of School and Captain of Cricket. He was awarded an Open Exhibition to study History and Law at

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

in 1959, and he graduated BA in 1962.

Legal career

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) in 1963 and became a Recorder in 1976 and Queen's Counsel in 1979. From 1980 to 1986, he served on the Professional Conduct Committee of the Bar Council. In 1987, he was elected Leader of the Midland Circuit. On 10 October 1988, Judge was appointed a Justice of the High Court, assigned to the Queen's Bench Division, and awarded the customary knighthood. He was appointed 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 ...

, a judge of 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 ...

, on 4 June 1996, becoming a Privy Counsellor. He was the Senior Presiding Judge from 1998 to 2003, when he became Deputy Chief Justice. He was not appointed as Lord Chief Justice following the retirement of Lord Woolf in 2005 despite having served as his deputy. The

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers Nicholas Addison Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, (born 21 January 1938) is a British former senior judge. Phillips was the inaugural President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, holding office between October 2009 and Oc ...

, then Master of the Rolls, was appointed instead. He was appointed as the first President of the Queen's Bench Division on 3 October 2005, when that post was split from that of Lord Chief Justice. In addition to that role, Judge was appointed Head of Criminal Justice in January 2007. Judge replaced Lord Phillips as Lord Chief Justice on 1 October 2008. The same day, 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 ...

as Baron Judge, of Draycote in the county of Warwickshire, and he was introduced in the House of Lords five days later, where he sits as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

. In 2007 Lord Judge was awarded an honorary doctorate from

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as a new university in 1992, although its roots go back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham Government School of Design, w ...

, and in 2010 was made an Honorary Fellow 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 = ...

as well as Kingston University. On 20 June 2012 he received an honorary doctorate from Cambridge. He retired as Lord Chief Justice at the end of September 2013. He was Treasurer to the Middle Temple for the year 2014. As of November 2013, Lord Judge has served as a Distinguished Visitor to The Dickson Poon School of Law at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Parliament

Judge succeeded Lord Hope of Craighead as Convenor of the Crossbench Peers in 2019.

Personal life

Judge has a son and two daughters. Helen was born in 1966 and married Timothy Noble in 1991. She gave birth to daughters Lucinda (1994) and Amelia (1996). Alastair was born in 1968 and married Kate Holcroft in 1998. Their own children are Cecelia (2005) and Benedict (2006). Emma was born in 1970.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Judge, Igor 1941 births Living people 21st-century Roman Catholics Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge 21st-century English judges British people of Maltese descent English King's Counsel British Roman Catholics Crossbench life peers English Roman Catholics Knights Bachelor Lord chief justices of England and Wales Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at The Oratory School Presidents of the Queen's Bench Division 20th-century King's Counsel Lords Justices of Appeal 20th-century English judges Life peers created by Elizabeth II