Nicolas Christopher Henry Browne-Wilkinson, Baron Browne-Wilkinson, PC (30 March 1930 – 25 July 2018) was a British judge who served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1991 to 2000, and

Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary The President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is equivalent to the now-defunct position of Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, also known as the Senior Law Lord, who was the highest ranking among the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (the ju ...

from 1998 to 2000.

Life and career

Browne-Wilkinson was the sixth child and only son of the Rev Canon Arthur Browne-Wilkinson, MC, and of Mary Abraham, daughter of Charles Abraham,

Bishop of Derby The Bishop of Derby is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Derby in the Province of Canterbury.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . The diocese was formed from part of the Diocese o ...

. He was educated at Lancing and at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

, where he took a First in Jurisprudence in 1952. 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 ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...

in 1953 and took silk in 1972. He was a judge of the Court of Appeal of Jersey and of

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

from 1976 to 1977. In 1977, Browne-Wilkinson was appointed a Justice of 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 and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC ( Engl ...

and assigned to the

Chancery division 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 ...

, 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 ...

. He was promoted as 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) Justic ...

in 1983, and was of sworn of 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 mo ...

. From 1985 to 1991 he was

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

, the ''de facto'' head of the Chancery Division. He was made a

Lord of Appeal in Ordinary Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House o ...

and 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 Browne-Wilkinson, ''of Camden in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and S ...

'' on 1 October 1991, and was

from 1998 until his retirement as Law Lord in 2000. His tenure as Senior Law Lord was marred by the controversy surrounding the Pinochet extradition case. He retired from the House of Lords under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 on 1 March 2016.

Family

Browne-Wilkinson married Ursula de Lacy Bacon in 1955; they had three sons and two daughters. After her death in 1987, he married Hilary Warburton in 1990.

Selected judgments

*'' Johnstone v Bloomsbury Health Authority'' 992QB 333 *'' Airedale NHS Trust v Bland'' 993AC 789 *''Tan Te Lam v Superintendent of Tai A Chau Detention Centre''

997 Year 997 ( CMXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 1 February: Empress Teishi gives birth to Princess Shushi - she is the first child of the ...

AC 97 * ''Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale v Islington London Borough Council''

996 Year 996 ( CMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * February - Chotoku Incident: Fujiwara no Korechika and Takaie shoot an arrow at Retired Emp ...

AC 669 *'' R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, Ex p Pinochet Ugarte (No 2)'' 0001 AC 119 *'' R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, Ex p Pinochet Ugarte (No 3)'' 0001 AC 147 *''Multiservice Bookbinding Ltd v Marden'' 979Ch 84

References

1930 births 2018 deaths People educated at Lancing College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford 20th-century English judges Senior Lords of Appeal in Ordinary Law lords Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Chancery Division judges Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Members of Lincoln's Inn English King's Counsel Lords Justices of Appeal {{Life-peer-stub