Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom are the judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom other than the president and the deputy president of the court.Constitutional Reform Act 2005, s.23(6) The Supreme Court is the highest court of the United Kingdom for all civil cases, and for criminal cases from the jurisdictions of England and Wales and Northern Ireland. Judges are appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the prime minister, who receives recommendations from a selection commission.

The number of judges is set by section 23(2) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which established the Supreme Court, but may be increased by Order in Council under section 23(3). There are currently twelve positions on the court: the president, the deputy president, and ten justices. Judges of the Court who are not already peers are granted the judicial courtesy title of Lord or Lady.

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is required to have judges with experience of, and practice in, the legal systems of England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Once appointed to the Supreme Court, each judge acts as a representative for their distinct legal system in which they practice, whether it be English law, Scots law or Northern Ireland law.

History

Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, colloquially known as law lords, were judges appointed to the House of Lords of the United Kingdom to carry out the House's judicial functions under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, which included serving as the final court of appeal for most domestic matters.

On 1 October 2009, the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 was repealedStatute Law DatabaseUK Statute Law Database by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which created the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The House of Lords thus lost its judicial functions and the power to create law life peers lapsed, although the validity of extant life peerages created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 remains intact. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary who were in office on 1 October 2009 automatically became justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. At the same time, those Supreme Court justices who already held seats in the House of Lords lost their right to speak and vote there until after retirement as justices of the Supreme Court.

Qualification The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 sets out the conditions for the appointments of a President, Deputy President or Justice of the Court. That person must have held high judicial office (judge of the Supreme Court, English High Court or Court of Appeal, Northern Irish High Court or Court of Appeal, or Scottish Court of Session) for at least two years,Constitutional Reform Act 2005, section 25(1)(a) or have held rights of audience at the higher courts of England, Scotland or Northern Ireland for at least fifteen years.Constitutional Reform Act 2005, section 25(1)(b) This means it is not necessary for someone applying to become a judge of the Supreme Court to have judicial experience (allowing Jonathan Sumption, a leading barrister, to successfully apply for the role in 2011).

Appointment Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the King by the issue of letters patent,Constitutional Reform Act 2005, section 23(2) on the advice of the Prime Minister, to whom a name is recommended by a special selection commission. The Prime Minister is required by the Constitutional Reform Act to recommend this name to the King and not permitted to nominate anyone else.Constitutional Reform Act 2005, sections 26(2)&(3)

Selection commission The selection commission is made up of the President of the Court, another senior UK judge (not a Supreme Court Justice), and a member each from the Judicial Appointments Commission, the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission. By law, at least one of these cannot be a lawyer.Constitutional Reform Act 2005, schedule 8 para 1(1) Should the President's place on the commission be unfilled, that place is to be taken by the next most senior judge of the court, either the Deputy President or, if they are also vacant, the most senior Justice.Constitutional Reform Act 2005, schedule 8 para 2Constitutional Reform Act 2005, schedule 8 para 3 However, there is a similar but separate commission to appoint the next President, which is chaired by one of the non-lawyer members and features another Supreme Court Justice in the place of the President. Both of these commissions are convened by the Lord Chancellor.

Selection procedure Once the commission is formed, there are a number of people it is required to consult. The first group is a set of "senior judges" defined by the Act who do not wish to be considered for nomination.Constitutional Reform Act 2005, section 27(2)(a) Section 60 of the Act defines "the senior judges" as (a) the other judges of the Supreme Court, (b) the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, (c) the Master of the Rolls, (d) the Lord President of the Court of Session, (e) the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, (f) the Lord Justice Clerk, (g) the President of the King's Bench Division, (h) the President of the Family Division and (i) the Chancellor of the High Court.Constitutional Reform Act 2005, section 27(3)

In the event that no judge from one of the UK's three jurisdictions has been consulted (e.g. if the Lord President and Lord Justice Clerk, the two most senior judges in Scotland, both wish to be considered for appointment, they will both be excluded from the consultation), the commission must consult the most senior judge in that jurisdiction who is not a member of the commission and does not wish to be considered for appointment. The commission is then also required to consult the Lord Chancellor, the First Minister of Scotland, the First Minister for Wales and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.Constitutional Reform Act 2005, section 27(2)(b)-(e)

The selection must be made on merit, in accordance with the qualification criteria of section 25 of the Act (above), of someone not a member of the commission, ensuring that the judges will have between them knowledge and experience of all three of the UK's distinct legal systems, having regard to any guidance given by the Lord Chancellor, and of one person only.Constitutional Reform Act 2005, section 27(5)-(10)

Lord Chancellor's role Once the commission has selected a nomination to make, this is to be provided in a report to the Lord Chancellor,Constitutional Reform Act 2005, section 27A and 27B. who is then required to consult the judges and politicians already consulted by the commission before deciding whether to recommend (in the Act, "notify") a name to the Prime Minister, who in turn advises the King to make the appointment. The Act provides for up to three stages in the Lord Chancellor's consideration of whether to do so: When the selection is first put forward, the Lord Chancellor is entitled to accept the nomination, to reject it, or to ask the commission to reconsider. If the nomination was rejected in Stage One, the commission must put forward a new name for Stage Two. The Lord Chancellor must either accept or ask the commission to reconsider. If instead the Lord Chancellor asked for reconsideration at Stage One, the commission may put forward either the same name or a new one. In either case, the Lord Chancellor must either accept or reject the name. In other words, the Lord Chancellor has one opportunity to reject and one to ask for reconsideration. At Stage Three (i.e. when the Lord Chancellor has both rejected and asked once for reconsideration), the name put forward by the commission must be accepted and forwarded to the Prime Minister, with one caveat: in the event the commission was asked to reconsider a name and then forwarded a new name, the Lord Chancellor may choose to accept the earlier name.Constitutional Reform Act 2005, section 29.

Original judges The Supreme Court was established on 1 October 2009. It assumed the former judicial functions of the House of Lords, which were removed by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. The twelve Lords of Appeal in Ordinary became judges of the Supreme Court,Constitutional Reform Act 2005, section 24(a) except for The Lord Scott of Foscote, who retired the day before the Court began business, and The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, who resigned to become Master of the Rolls. A former Master of the Rolls, The Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, became a judge of the Supreme Court on its first day, the first Justice directly appointed to the Court. Sir John Dyson was appointed as the twelfth member on 13 April 2010, the first Justice not to be a peer.

The Senior Law Lord on 1 October 2009, The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, became the Court's first President, and the former Second Senior Law Lord, The Lord Hope of Craighead, the first Deputy President. The Court originally had one female Justice, The Baroness Hale of Richmond; two Scottish justices, The Lord Hope of Craighead and The Lord Rodger of Earlsferry; and one Northern Irish Justice, The Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore.

Of the original justices, The Lord Saville of Newdigate was the first to retire, on 30 September 2010, and The Lord Rodger of Earlsferry was the first to die in office, on 26 June 2011. Lord Dyson stood down to become Master of the Rolls on 1 October 2012, the first time a Justice had left the Court to take up another judicial office. The last of the original justices to retire was The Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore on 30 September 2020.

List

The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, first President (retired 30 September 2012) The Lord Hope of Craighead, first Deputy President (retired 26 June 2013) The Lord Saville of Newdigate (retired 30 September 2010) The Lord Rodger of Earlsferry (died in office 26 June 2011) The Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe (retired 17 March 2013) The Baroness Hale of Richmond (retired 10 January 2020)

The Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood (retired 9 April 2012) The Lord Mance (retired 6 June 2018) The Lord Collins of Mapesbury (retired 7 May 2011) The Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore (retired 30 September 2020) The Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony (retired 4 September 2017)

Current judges

The most recent to join the court is Lord Snowden of Redcar, who joined on 15 June 2026 in place of Lord Richards of Camberwell. In order of seniority, they are as follows:

Portrait Name Born Alma mater Invested Mandatoryretirement Prior senior judicial roles (President) (age ) University of Edinburgh School of LawBalliol College, Oxford Senator of the College of Justice: Inner House (2008–2012) Outer House (1998–2008) (Deputy President) (age ) Churchill College, CambridgeWorcester College, Oxford Lord Justice of Appeal (2014–2018)Justice of the High Court, CD (2008–2014) (age ) Downing College, Cambridge Lord Justice of Appeal (2012–2017)Justice of the High Court, QBD (2005–2012) (age ) Magdalen College, Oxford Lord Justice of Appeal (2013–2017)Justice of the High Court, CD (2006–2013) (age ) St John's College, OxfordHarvard Law School Lord Justice of Appeal (2016–2020)Justice of the High Court, QBD (2008–2016)(age )King's College, CambridgeHarvard UniversityCity Law School Lord Justice of Appeal (2018–2020)Justice of the High Court, QBD (2012–2018)(age )Brasenose College, OxfordHarvard Law SchoolNone: first Justice to be appointed directly from academia(age )University of Manchester Lord Justice of Appeal (NI) (2017–2020)Justice of the High Court (NI) (2007–2017)(age )Newnham College, CambridgeBrasenose College, OxfordLady Justice of Appeal (2019–2021)Justice of the High Court, CD (2013–2019)(age )Sidney Sussex College, CambridgeUniversity of AmsterdamLady Justice of Appeal (2019–2023)Justice of the High Court, QBD (2013–2019)(age )University of Edinburgh School of LawHertford College, OxfordHarvard UniversitySenator of the College of Justice: Inner House (2020–2026)