Ian Duncan Burnett, Baron Burnett of Maldon, (born 28 February 1958) is a British judge and the current Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.

Early life and education

Burnett was born on 28 February 1958. He was educated at

St John's College, Portsmouth St John's College was a former independent day and boarding school located in Southsea, Hampshire, England. On 16 May 2022, the Governors of St John's College announced that the school would not re-open in September 2022 due to declining stude ...

, and studied jurisprudence at Pembroke College, Oxford, where he became an honorary fellow in 2008.BURNETT Hon. Sir Ian Duncan
''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A. & C. Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016.

Legal career

He was called to the bar at

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 ...

in 1980, and became a bencher there in 2001. From 1982, he practised at Temple Garden Chambers, serving as head of chambers from 2003. He was made a QC in 1998. He practised mainly in public and administrative law, acting on the inquiry into the 1987 Kings Cross fire, the inquiry into the convictions of the

Guildford Four and Maguire Seven The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were the collective names of two groups whose convictions in English courts in 1975 and 1976 for the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974 were eventually quashed after long campaigns for justice. The Guil ...

, the inquiries into the 1997

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

and 1999 Ladbroke Grove rail crashes, and the inquests after the 1997 deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales, and

Dodi Fayed Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena'em Fayed (; arz, عماد الدين محمد عبد المنعم الفايد, ʿImād ed-Dīn Muḥammad ʿAbd el-Munʿim el-Fāyid , 17 April 1955 – 31 August 1997), better known as Dodi Fayed ( ar, دودى ...

. Burnett served as an Assistant Recorder from 1998 to 2000, and then as a Recorder until 2008. He also served as a deputy Judge of the High Court from 2008. He was appointed as a Judge of the High Court in 2008, in 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 ...

. Burnett was knighted on 7 November 2008. He sat in the

Administrative Court An administrative court is a type of court specializing in administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are considered s ...

and was presiding Judge of the Western Circuit 2011–14. He was promoted to the Court of Appeal in 2014, becoming a Lord Justice of Appeal. It was announced in July 2017 that he would replace

Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd 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 from 2013 to 2017. Early life and education Thomas was born in 1947 to Roger E ...

as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2 October 2017. Aged 59, he became the youngest Lord Chief Justice since Lord Parker of Waddington in 1958. On 12 October 2017, it was announced that Burnett would be awarded a life peerage. He was created Baron Burnett of Maldon, of

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced ...

in the

County of Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, on 30 October 2017. In November 2022, he announced his intention to stand down from his role as Lord Chief Justice from 30 September 2023.

Personal life

He married Caroline Ruth Monks in 1991, and they have one son and one daughter.

References

1958 births Living people People educated at St John's College, Portsmouth Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Queen's Bench Division judges Lords Justices of Appeal Lord chief justices of England and Wales Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor English King's Counsel Life peers created by Elizabeth II {{UK-law-bio-stub