The senior judge, who was appointed to the High Court in 2008, was sworn into office at a ceremony in the Royal Courts of Justice this morning.

Sir Bernard McCloskey was educated at Queen’s University Belfast and subsequently acquired a certificate in international human rights law at the University of Strasbourg. He was called to the Bar in 1979 and took silk in 1999.

He chaired the Northern Ireland Law Commission from 2009 to 2012, was president of the UK Upper Tier Tribunal, Immigration and Asylum Chamber from 2013 to 2017, and once served as deputy chairman of the Boundary Commission of Northern Ireland.

He is currently the senior Queen’s Bench and judicial review judge of the High Court.