Sir Nicholas Mostyn | |
---|---|
Justice of the High Court | |
In office 20 April 2010 –14 December 2023 | |
Nominated by | Jack Straw |
Appointed by | Elizabeth II |
Preceded by | Mr Justice Bennett |
Personal details | |
Born | Nicholas Anthony Joseph Ghislain Mostyn 13 July 1957 Lagos,Nigeria |
Nationality | British |
Education | Ampleforth College |
Alma mater | University of Bristol Inns of Court School of Law |
Sir Nicholas Anthony Joseph Ghislain Mostyn [1] (born 13 July 1957 in Lagos,Nigeria) is a retired British High Court judge,who was assigned to the Family Division. [2]
The son of a British American Tobacco executive from North Wales,Mostyn was born in Nigeria,and grew up there and in Venezuela and El Salvador. After his parents divorced,he was educated at Ampleforth College alongside Edward Stourton where they won the Observer Mace debating prize. [3] He then studied law at the University of Bristol. [2]
Mostyn was called to the bar in 1980,initially undertaking beginner’s family work such as County Court domestic violence cases. He took silk in 1997. In 2000/01 he was on the losing side of the husband in the White v White case,where the judge ruled that "there should be no bias in favour of the money-earner and against the home-maker and the child-carer." [3]
Mostyn was professionally successful in a number of notable cases including that of the wife of footballer Ray Parlour,and in the 1,000 day marriage case on behalf of the wife of a leading City of London fund manager where no children where involved. Some journalists used the nickname "Mr Payout." [3] At the height of his earnings,he is said to have received £500 an hour,a high figure only in family work,where earnings do not match those in some other areas[ citation needed ]. He was retained by Fiona Shackleton in Paul McCartney's divorce case against Heather Mills. [2] Like other barristers Mostyn undertook pro bono cases where he thought there was an important issue of law involved,such as issues arising from the functions of the Child Support Agency: [3]
I think the performance of the CSA has been the greatest failure of public administration in the history of this country. The figures are simply mind-boggling. In its history, it has assessed about £8bn in child maintenance, and managed to collect about £4bn at a cost of £3bn. You might as well just pay them out of taxes. And the government's proposed reforms of the CSA are hopeless. The basis of the CSA is that child maintenance will be done by administrative assessment by a bureaucrat by reference to a formula – that was introduced in 1993. It did not work! They then had another act of Parliament to try and sort it out in 1995. It did not work! Labour came in, full of good intentions, 'We're going to sort this out, it's going to be brilliant'. Act of Parliament in 2000 – total failure! So if I was given a free bill in Parliament, it would be that. Abolish the CSA.
Mostyn became an assistant recorder in 1997, and both a recorder and a deputy High Court judge (in the Family Division) in 2000. [2] He was appointed as a High Court judge on 20 April 2010, on the retirement of Mr Justice Bennett. [4] He was knighted on 11 May 2010. [1]
In 2015, Mostyn was removed from a case after he failed to follow a relevant ruling of the Supreme Court concerning rights of disabled people (namely that they have the same right to “physical liberty” as non-disabled people). [5] [6] [7] This was the second such occurrence.
His last sitting was 28th July 2023 and he officially retired on 14th December 2023.
Mostyn labels himself "Catholic, Welsh and Wagnerian", [3] enjoys smoking, hunting, windsurfing and skiing; and follows ("generally despairingly") Southampton F.C. and the England cricket team. [2]
Mostyn has Parkinson's disease. Since March 2023 he has contributed to a podcast 'Movers and Shakers' which is "about life with Parkinson's". Recordings are made in a Notting Hill pub and presenters ( Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn and Jeremy Paxman) discuss "the highs and lows, trials and tribulations, of living with the condition". [8] [9] [10] In March 2024 The UK Broadcasting Press Guild made 'Movers and Shakers' its 'UK Podcast of the Year'. [11]
Jeremy Dickson Paxman is an English former broadcaster, journalist and author.
The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride commanded soldiers to purge the Long Parliament, on 6 December 1648, of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason.
The Child Support Agency (CSA) was a delivery arm of the Department for Work and Pensions in Great Britain and the former Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland. Launched on 5 April 1993, the CSA was to implement the Child Support Act 1991 and arrange payments for parents living with their children. The CSA was abolished and replaced in 2012 by its successor, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).
Mark Mardell is a British journalist, formerly the presenter of The World This Weekend on BBC Radio 4. He had previously served as BBC News's Europe editor, and provided coverage for each United Kingdom general election between 1992 and 2005, before he became North America editor.
Sir Johann Thomas Eichelbaum was a New Zealand jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of New Zealand.
Nicholas Rory Cellan-Jones is a British journalist and a former BBC News technology correspondent. After working for the BBC for 40 years, he announced in August 2021 he would leave the corporation in late October.
Sir Jan Peter Singer was a judge of the High Court of England and Wales.
Paul William Mayhew-Archer MBE is a British writer, producer, script editor and actor for the BBC. He is best known as the co-writer of The Vicar of Dibley and Esio Trot alongside Richard Curtis. His solo writing career includes My Hero and Office Gossip, which he created. He was the script editor for Old Harry's Game, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Grownups, Home Again, Coming of Age and Big Top.
Fiona Sara Shackleton, Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia, is an English solicitor and Conservative politician, who has represented members of the British royal family and celebrities, including Sir Paul McCartney, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Charles III, Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, and Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer. Her charm and resoluteness earned her the nickname "Steel Magnolia".
Sir Nicholas Richard Pumfrey styled The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Pumfrey, was a British barrister. He served as a High Court judge for 10 years, and was promoted to the Court of Appeal little more than a month before his sudden death.
Sir (John) Mostyn Hanger was a judge in Queensland, Australia. He was Chief Justice of Queensland and Administrator of Queensland.
The Judges' Council is a body in England and Wales that, representing the judiciary, advises the Lord Chief Justice on judicial matters. It has its historical roots in the original Council of the Judges of the Supreme Court, created by the Judicature Act 1873 to oversee the new Supreme Court of Judicature. This body initially met regularly, reforming the procedure used by the circuit courts, and the new High Court of Justice but met less regularly as time went on, meeting only twice between 1900 and 1907, with a gap of ten years between meetings in 1940 and 1950 respectively. After relative inactivity, it was eventually wound up through the Supreme Court Act 1981, which contained no provisions for its continued existence, something Denis Dobson attributes to newer bodies which performed the duties the Council had originally been created to do.
Sir James Lawrence Munby is a retired English judge who was President of the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales. He was replaced by Sir Andrew McFarlane on reaching the mandatory retirement age.
The Supreme Court of Sierra Leone is the highest court in Sierra Leone. It has final jurisdiction in all civil, criminal, and constitutional cases within Sierra Leone, and its decisions cannot be appealed. The Supreme Court has the exclusive constitutional power to overturn ruling of lower courts within the jurisdiction of Sierra Leone. The Supreme Court, along with the Court of Appeals, High Court of Justice, and magistrate courts form the Judicial branch of the Government of Sierra Leone.
Nicholas Nugent was an Anglo-Irish judge, who was hanged for treason by the government that appointed him. He had, before his downfall, enjoyed a highly successful career, holding office as Solicitor General for Ireland, Baron of the Irish Court of Exchequer, and Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, but he was ruined by the rebellion of his nephew William Nugent, which he was accused of supporting.
Ayesha Mary Barbara Vardag is an English solicitor and divorce lawyer.
2 Hare Court is a barristers' chambers specialising in criminal and regulatory law, located in the Inner Temple, one of the four Inns of court. Established in the 1967, It employs 77 barristers, including 23 King's Counsel and several former prosecutors, including those who have acted as First Senior, Senior and Junior Treasury Counsel – barristers appointed by the Attorney General to prosecute the most serious and complex criminal cases to come before the courts.
Sir Alan Stewart Orr, was a British barrister specialising in taxation who rose to be a High Court judge and a Lord Justice of Appeal. After 1958 he was known as Alan Orr QC, from 1965 as Mr Justice Orr, and from 1971 as Lord Justice Orr.
Sir Peter Donald Fraser PC, styled The Right Honourable Lord Justice Fraser, is a Judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.
Boardwave is a London-based impact-led organisation founded by Phill Robinson in April 2022. Boardwave was established as a community of European software entrepreneurs, Founders and CEOs to enable them to work together to accelerate their business growth and to improve the overall position of Europe as a home for global software companies. It has a launched in the UK, Netherlands, France and Germany.