New justices to join UK Supreme Court as Lady Hale takes presidency

The swearings-in of Baroness Hale of Richmond as President, Lord Mance as Deputy President, and Lady Black of Derwent, Lord Lloyd-Jones and Lord Briggs of Westbourne as justices will take place next Monday.

For the first time in its history, the court will remain open to the public whilst the ceremony takes place. Visitors, including the media, will be welcome to watch a screening of the ceremony live in courtroom two.

The ceremony will be live streamed on the UKSC website and, a short time after the event, will be available to view on YouTube.

Lady Justice Black attended Penrhos College in North Wales before studying at Durham University. The first lawyer in her family, her initial career at the bar involved a broad range of criminal and civil work, although she later specialised in family law. For a period in the 1980s she taught law at Leeds Polytechnic. She was a founding author of the definitive guide to family law practice in England and Wales, and continues to serve as a consulting editor.

Lady Justice Black was appointed to the High Court in 1999, assigned to the Family Division. In 2004 she became the chairman of the Judicial Studies Board’s Family Committee, until her appointment as a judicial appointments commissioner in 2008, where she served until 2013. Lady Justice Black was appointed a Lady Justice of Appeal in 2010. She is currently the Head of International Family Justice.

Lord Justice Lloyd-Jones was born and brought up in Pontypridd, Glamorgan where his father was a schoolteacher. He attended Pontypridd Boys’ Grammar School and Downing College, Cambridge. He was a Fellow of Downing College from 1975 to 1991. At the bar his practice included international law, EU law and public law. He was amicus curiae (independent advisor to the court) in the Pinochet litigation before the House of Lords.

Lord Justice Lloyd-Jones was appointed to the High Court in 2005. A Welsh speaker, from 2008 to 2011 he served as a presiding judge on the Wales Circuit and chair of the Lord Chancellor’s Standing Committee on the Welsh Language. In 2012 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and from 2012 to 2015 he was Chairman of the Law Commission.

Lord Justice Briggs grew up around Portsmouth and Plymouth, following his naval officer father between ships, before spending his later childhood in West Sussex. He attended Charterhouse and Magdalen College, Oxford. A keen sailor and the first lawyer in his family, he practised in commercial and chancery work before being appointed to the High Court in 2006. He was the judge in charge of the extensive Lehman insolvency litigation from 2009 to 2013.

Lord Justice Briggs was appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2013. He was the judge in charge of the Chancery Modernisation Review in 2013, and led the Civil Courts Structure Review in 2015 to 2016. He is currently leading the implementation of its recommendations, alongside serving as the civil justice partnership lead for the HMCTS Reform Programme. In January 2016 he was appointed deputy head of Civil Justice.