Appointment of Chancellor of High Court
The Right Honourable Lord Justice Etherton has been appointed Chancellor of the High Court.
Her Majesty The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of The Right Honourable Lord Justice Etherton as Chancellor of the High Court with effect from 11 January 2013.
This appointment follows the retirement of Sir Andrew Morritt in 10 January 2013.
Notes to Editors
The Right Honorable Lord Justice Etherton was called to the bar (Gray’s Inn) in 1974 and became a Queen’s Counsel in 1990. He was appointed a High Court Judge on 11 January 2001 and assigned to the Chancery Division, receiving the customary knighthood. In August 2006, he was appointed Chairman of the Law Commission. In 2008 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and received the customary appointment to the Privy Council.
The appointment of Chancellor of the High Court was made by Her Majesty The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor following the recommendation of an independent selection panel chaired by Lord Neuberger. The other panel members were: Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, Christopher Stephens, Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission, and Dame Valerie Strachan, Judicial Appointments Commissioner.
In accordance with section 70 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 the panel determined the selection process to be followed and applications were invited from Justices of the Supreme Court, members of the Court of Appeal, England and Wales, and relevant divisions of the High Court.