Sir Peter Leslie Gibson (born 10 June 1934), is a former British barrister and

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 ...

of the

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 Courts of England and Wales#Senior Courts of England and Wales, Senior Courts of England and Wal ...

, and is currently a judge of the Qatar International Court. Gibson has also served, between April 2006 and December 2010, as the UK's

Intelligence Services Commissioner The Intelligence Services Commissioner, was a regulatory official in the United Kingdom appointed under Section 59 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. They are tasked with reviewing actions and warrants taken by the Secretary of Sta ...

, and was appointed by David Cameron in July 2010 to lead the Detainee Inquiry. He is an honorary member of the

Society of Legal Scholars The Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) is the learned society for those who teach law in a university or similar institution or who are otherwise engaged in legal scholarship. As of the beginning of 2016 the Society had over 3,000 members consisting ...

Education and career

Gibson was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

and graduated from

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

. 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 ...

by 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 Wal ...

in 1960, and was knighted and 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 ...

in 1981, serving in the Chancery Division. He served as a judge of the

Employment Appeal Tribunal The Employment Appeal Tribunal is a tribunal in England and Wales and Scotland, and is a superior court of record. Its primary role is to hear appeals from Employment Tribunals in England, Scotland and Wales. It also hears appeals from decisions o ...

in 1984, and, from 1990 to 1992, as Chairman of the Law Commission for England and Wales. From 1993 until 2005, he was a Lord Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. In 2006, he was made

, with his first term expiring in 2009. On 1 April 2009, he was granted a second term, though Gibson stepped down early, at the end of 2010, in order to chair an inquiry into the UK's alleged role in the torture and other ill-treatment of persons detained during the highly controversial

War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...

. He was succeeded, on 1 January 2011, as ISC by Mark Waller. Gibson is currently a judge of the Qatar International Court.

Judgments

*''

Wheeler v JJ Saunders Ltd ''Wheeler v JJ Saunders Ltd'' Court of Appeal case on Nuisance in English law">nuisance which amended the precedent set by ''Gillingham Borough Council v Medway (Chatham) Dock Co Ltd''. Wheeler was a veterinary surgeon who owned Kingdown Farm Hous ...

994 Year 994 ( CMXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * September 15 – Battle of the Orontes: Fatimid forces, under Turkish gener ...

EWCA Civ 32 - case on

nuisance Nuisance (from archaic ''nocence'', through Fr. ''noisance'', ''nuisance'', from Lat. ''nocere'', "to hurt") is a common law tort. It means that which causes offence, annoyance, trouble or injury. A nuisance can be either public (also "common") ...

which amended the precedent set by ''

Gillingham Borough Council v Medway (Chatham) Dock Co Ltd ''Gillingham Borough Council v Medway (Chatham) Dock Co Ltd'' 993QB 343 is a case in English tort law covering nuisance. The council granted planning permission to Medway (Chatham) Dock Co Ltd to redevelop the Chatham Dockyard as a commercial p ...

''.

Detainee Inquiry

On 6 July 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed Gibson to head the Detainee Inquiry, which would look into allegations that the UK intelligence services were complicit in the torture of detainees, including those from the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...

or subject to rendition flights. Troubled from the outset—Gibson's appointment was questioned by the director of Reprieve,

Clive Stafford Smith Clive Adrian Stafford Smith (born 9 July 1959) is a British attorney who specialises in the areas of civil rights and working against the death penalty in the United States of America. He worked to overturn death sentences for convicts, and h ...

, almost as soon as it was announced, and human and civil rights and other advocacy groups slammed the inquiry for its lack of independence, impartiality, openness, and its failure to meet the UK's stringent obligations under domestic and international law to comprehensively investigate claims of torture (some groups had such grave misgivings that they threatened to boycott it)—the Detainee Inquiry was eventually scrapped after it reportedly fell into conflict with police investigations. After a much-criticised delay, the interim report of the Inquiry was finally published on 19 December 2013. It concluded that the British intelligence services had been complicit in extraordinary rendition. It was announced that further investigations would be undertaken by the Parliamentary

Intelligence and Security Committee The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) is a statutory joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, appointed to oversee the work of the UK intelligence community. The committee was established in 1994 by the ...

Arms

References

External links

Call for Omagh intelligence probe: Sir Peter Gibson rejected many of Panorama's assertions.
The Malvern Gazette, 16 March 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Peter Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford British barristers Chancery Division judges Knights Bachelor Living people Lords Justices of Appeal Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Inner Temple People educated at Malvern College 1934 births Intelligence Services Commissioners