Court structure list

The Rt. Hon. Lord Burnett of Maldon was the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2017 until 30 September 2023. He studied law at Pembroke College, Oxford University, and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1980. He practiced as a barrister and was head of a barrister chambers in London, UK, from 2003. He was Junior Counsel to the UK Crown from 1992 and was appointed a Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 1998. He had a wide common law practice at the Bar of England and Wales with a particular focus on public and administrative law including public inquiries and high profile inquests. His final case at the Bar was as counsel to the inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed. He was appointed a Judge of the High Court of England and Wales in 2008, and was presiding Judge of the Western Circuit from 2011 until 2014.

He was appointed to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in 2014. He was Vice Chairman of the independent UK Judicial Appointments Commission from 2015 until 2017. In July 2017, at the age of 59, he was the youngest Lord Chief Justice to be appointed since 1958. As Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett was President of all the Courts of England and Wales. He presided over civil and criminal appeals in the Court of Appeal, sat in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and continues to sit from time to time in the Supreme Court.

Justice Lord Mance was called to the Bar of England and Wales (Middle Temple) in 1965 and was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1982. He became a Recorder in 1990 and was appointed as a High Court Judge in the High Court of England and Wales in 1993, serving in the Queen’s Bench Division. In 1993 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. In 2005 he was appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in the House of Lords. In 2009 he and nine other Lords of Appeal became Justices of the UK Supreme Court upon that court’s inauguration. He was appointed Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court in 2017. He retired from the UK Supreme Court in 2018. Lord Mance served as the Chief Justice of the AIFC Court from 1 January 2020 to 31 October 2023.
He has many years of experience in commercial law and international trade, in public and private international law and in European law. He served as Chair of various Banking Appeals Tribunals (1992-1993), Chair of the Consultative Council of European Judges (2000-2003), President of the British Insurance Law Association (2000-2002), and trustee of the European Law Academy (2003). From 2012 to 2018 he was appointed High Steward of Oxford University, where he read Jurisprudence, holds an honorary doctorate of Civil Law and is an Honorary Fellow of University College and Wolfson College.

The Rt. Hon. Lord Burnett of Maldon was the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2017 until 30 September 2023. He studied law at Pembroke College, Oxford University, and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1980. He practiced as a barrister and was head of a barrister chambers in London, UK, from 2003. He was Junior Counsel to the UK Crown from 1992 and was appointed a Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 1998. He had a wide common law practice at the Bar of England and Wales with a particular focus on public and administrative law including public inquiries and high profile inquests. His final case at the Bar was as counsel to the inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed. He was appointed a Judge of the High Court of England and Wales in 2008, and was presiding Judge of the Western Circuit from 2011 until 2014.

He was appointed to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in 2014. He was Vice Chairman of the independent UK Judicial Appointments Commission from 2015 until 2017. In July 2017, at the age of 59, he was the youngest Lord Chief Justice to be appointed since 1958. As Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett was President of all the Courts of England and Wales. He presided over civil and criminal appeals in the Court of Appeal, sat in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and continues to sit from time to time in the Supreme Court.