Chancellor of the High Court: Sir Geoffrey Vos
The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of The Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Vos as the Chancellor of the High Court.
Her Majesty The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of The Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Vos as the Chancellor of the High Court with effect from 24 October 2016. This appointment follows the elevation of Sir Terence Etherton to the post of Master of the Rolls on 3 October 2016.
Background
Biography
The Right Honorable Lord Justice Vos was called to the Bar in 1977, and took silk (QC) in 1993. He was appointed as a Justice of the High Court assigned to the Chancery Division in October 2009. Between 2005 and 2009 he was a Judge of the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey, and a Judge of the Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands between 2008 and 2009.
He sat as a Deputy High Court Judge from 1999 until 2009. He was the Chairman of the Chancery Bar Association from 1999 to 2001 and of the Bar Council in 2007. He was President of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary from June 2014 to June 2016. He was appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2013.
The appointment
The appointment of the 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 Thomas of Cwmgiedd, the Lord Chief Justice. The other panel members were: the President of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger, and 3 lay judicial appointments commissioners, namely Dame Valarie Strachan, Professor Emily Jackson and Professor Noel Lloyd. This selection exercise was run under the relevant sections of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 as amended by the Crime and Courts Act 2013.
In accordance with section 70 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, as amended by the Crime and Courts Act 2013, the panel determined the selection process to be followed. As required by the Crime and Courts Act 2013, the Lord Chancellor was consulted as part of the selection process.
In accordance with section 10(3) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, the selection exercise was open to all applicants who satisfy the judicial-appointment eligibility condition on a 7-year basis, or are judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Court of Appeal, or High Court.