Vice-President of the Civil Division
The Vice-President of the Civil Division is a Lord Justice of Appeal who assists the Master of the Rolls in leading the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The power to appoint a Vice-President was created by the Senior Courts Act 1981,[n 1] but was not exercised until Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers was appointed Master of the Rolls in 2000. Because Lord Phillips was in the process of completing the inquiry into the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy outbreak, he appointed Sir Martin Nourse the first Vice-President so he could serve as Acting Master of the Rolls.[3]
Lord Phillips opted to appoint a successor on Nourse's retirement the following year to deputise when he was abroad. Sir Simon Brown took up the office on the condition that he have no duties unless Phillips was in fact out of the country. The next holder, Sir Henry Brooke expanded his duties to include liaising with the Court of Appeal office, the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Bar Pro Bono Unit and the Personal Support Unit; editing the Annual Review; taking a lead on the court's information technology efforts; leading the team dealing with asylum work; and overseeing the editing of the Asylum Bench Book and the Court of Appeal Bench Book.[3] Since then, successive Lords Justices have filled the position.
List of Vice-Presidents
- c. 6 June 2000: Sir Martin Nourse[3][4]
- January 2001: Sir Simon Brown[5]
- October 2003: Sir Henry Brooke[3][6]
- 1 October 2006: Sir Mark Waller[7]
- 6 May 2010: Sir Maurice Kay[8][9]
- 1 October 2014: Sir Martin Moore-Bick
Notes
- ↑ Section 3 of the act, as originally enacted, authorised (but did not require) the Lord Chancellor to appoint a single vice-president of both the Criminal and Civil Divisions or a different judges to be vice-president of either of them.[1] The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 transferred this power to the Lord Chief Justice after consulting the Lord Chancellor, and allowed the former to delegate the power to appoint to another judge to exercise the appointment power.[2]
References
- ↑ Senior Courts Act 1981, s. 3.
- ↑ Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Sch. 4, para. 116.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Valedictory Address for Lord Justice Brooke [2006] EWCA Civ B1 (16 August 2006)
- ↑ "The Rt Hon Sir Martin Nourse". Debrett's People of Today. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ↑ Hough v Staffordshire Constabulary [2001] EWCA Civ 39 (16 January 2001)
- ↑ Khan, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Health [2003] EWCA Civ 1129 (10 October 2003)
- ↑ "Appointments of new Vice President and new Deputy Head of Civil Justice" (Press release). Judiciary of England and Wales. 10 July 2006. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ↑ "Senior Judicial Appointments" (Press release). Judiciary of England and Wales. 8 June 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
- ↑ Ifejika v Ifejika & Anor [2010] EWCA Civ 563 (25 May 2010)