Lord Justice Fraser | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Lord Justice of Appeal | |
Assumed office 15 December 2023 | |
Monarch | Charles III |
Justice of the High Court | |
In office 2015–2023 | |
Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
Personal details | |
Born | County Down,Northern Ireland | 6 September 1963
Alma mater | St John's College,Cambridge |
Sir Peter Donald Fraser PC (born 6 September 1963 [1] [2] ),styled The Right Honourable Lord Justice Fraser,is a Judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. [2]
Born in County Down,Northern Ireland, [2] he attended Harrogate Grammar School and then won an Open Exhibition to St John's College,Cambridge,from where he obtained both an MA in law and an LLM. [3] [2]
Fraser represented Cambridge University in basketball,playing against Oxford in the Annual Varsity match in 1984 and 1985. He also rowed for the Lady Margaret Boat Club. Boats he rowed in won the University IVs competition twice (Clinker IVs,1984;Shell IVs,1985);and finished fourth (in 1985 and 1986) and Head of the River (1988) in the May Bumps. He was selected for Blue Boat trials and awarded a CUBC trial cap. [4]
He was called to the Bar by Middle Temple on 21 November 1989, [5] and was awarded a Harmsworth Exhibition and Ashbury Scholarship by the Inn. [2] He was a summer associate in the Los Angeles office of White &Case in both 1988 and 1989,and after completing his pupillage at Atkin Chambers in Gray's Inn,he remained there in practice until he was appointed to the High Court Bench in 2015. [3] His practice was in the field of technology,engineering,construction and international arbitration. [2] He practised both in the UK and internationally,including in Hong Kong,China,South Africa,Sweden,Botswana,France,Dubai,Qatar,Oman,Bermuda,and the Bahamas,where he was called to the Bar in 2007. [3] He was appointed a recorder of the Crown Court in 2002, [2] sitting on the Western Circuit,and Queen's Counsel in 2009. [5] [2] He became a High Court Judge,assigned to the Queen's Bench Division,on 1 October 2015 [3] [6] [2] and was made a Knight Bachelor in November 2015. [5] [7] [2]
He served as the Judge in Charge of the Technology and Construction Court from 2017 to 2020, [3] [8] [2] part of the Business and Property Courts that sit in the Rolls Building in London. He also sits as a Judge of the Commercial Court.
He has also served as an arbitrator at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, [3] and is the consulting editor of Building Law Reports,having been editor from 1990–2015. [3]
His notable cases include being the managing judge of the group litigation called Bates &Others v Post Office Ltd , [9] brought by 550 sub-postmasters against the Post Office over issues resulting from the Horizon IT system. [10] [11] In the associated dramatisation Mr Bates vs The Post Office he is portrayed by Pip Torrens.
In 2021 he was one of two High Court judges that ruled that Uber could only legally operate in the UK as a principal with respect to its passengers,and could not legally operate as an agent between the driver and the passenger. [12]
He was appointed as the Chair of the Law Commission of England and Wales,replacing Sir Nicholas Green,with effect from 1 December 2023. [13]
He was elevated to the Court of Appeal with effect from 15 December 2023. [14] [15] He was appointed to the Privy Council on 22 May 2024. [16]
He competes as an Ironman triathlete. [5] [2]
The High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is a part of the legal system of Hong Kong. It consists of the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance;it deals with criminal and civil cases which have risen beyond the lower courts. It is a superior court of record of unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction. It was named the Supreme Court before 1997. Though previously named the Supreme Court,this Court has long been the local equivalent to the Senior Courts of England and Wales and has never been vested with the power of final adjudication.
The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is an independent commission that selects candidates for judicial office in courts and tribunals in England and Wales and for some tribunals whose jurisdiction extends to Scotland or Northern Ireland.
There are various levels of judiciary in England and Wales—different types of courts have different styles of judges. They also form a strict hierarchy of importance,in line with the order of the courts in which they sit,so that judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales are given more weight than district judges sitting in county courts and magistrates' courts. On 1 April 2020 there were 3,174 judges in post in England and Wales. Some judges with United Kingdom-wide jurisdiction also sit in England and Wales,particularly Justices of the United Kingdom Supreme Court and members of the tribunals judiciary.
A justice of the High Court,commonly known as a High Court judge,is a judge of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales,and represents the third-highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne justices and wear red and black robes.
Dame Elizabeth Gloster,Lady Popplewell,DBE,PC is a British lawyer who was a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Vice-President of the Civil Division. She was the first female judge of the Commercial Court.
Sir Gary Robert Hickinbottom is a British judge who currently serves as President of Welsh Tribunals and as Knight Principal of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor. In 2008,he became the fourth solicitor to be appointed a High Court judge,after Michael Sachs in 1993,Lawrence Collins in 2000,and Henry Hodge in 2004.
Dame Victoria Madeleine Sharp,,PC is a British barrister and judge. She has been the President of the King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice since 2019.
The judiciary of Scotland are the judicial office holders who sit in the courts of Scotland and make decisions in both civil and criminal cases. Judges make sure that cases and verdicts are within the parameters set by Scots law,and they must hand down appropriate judgments and sentences. Judicial independence is guaranteed in law,with a legal duty on Scottish Ministers,the Lord Advocate and the Members of the Scottish Parliament to uphold judicial independence,and barring them from influencing the judges through any form of special access.
Sir Wyn Lewis Williams is a Welsh judge who served as President of Welsh Tribunals from 2017 to 2023. He had been a High Court judge from 2007 to 2017.
Sir Timothy Victor Holroyde,PC,styled The Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Holroyde,is an English Court of Appeal judge,formerly a judge of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales,Queen's Bench Division. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in October 2017. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 2017. In 2015 he was appointed a member of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales,and served as its Chairman between 2018 and 2022. In June 2022 he was appointed Vice-President of the Court of Appeal,succeeding Lord Justice Fulford.
Vivien Judith Rose,Lady Rose of Colmworth,is a British judge currently serving as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Sue Lascelles Carr,Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill,is an English judge who has served as Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales since 1 October 2023. She is the first woman to serve as the head of the judiciary of England and Wales since the inception of the office of Lord Chief Justice in the 13th century. Carr previously served as a High Court judge from 2013 to 2020 and a Lady Justice of Appeal from 2020 to 2023.
Sir Peter Marcel Roth is a British High Court judge.
Sir Mark David John Warby PC,styled The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Warby,is a Lord Justice of Appeal.
Sir Nicholas Nigel Green is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. He also served as the Chair of the Law Commission of England and Wales between 2018 and 2023. He was appointed Deputy Senior Presiding Judge with effect from January 2024.
Sir Akhlaq Ur-Rahman Choudhury is a British High Court judge of England and Wales. In 2017,he was made Knight Bachelor on appointment,becoming the first British-Bangladeshi and Muslim to be appointed to the High Court of Justice.
Dame Amanda Louise Yip (née Kay) is a British High Court judge. Born in Liverpool,she is the daughter of Sir John Kay,a Lord Justice of Appeal.
Sir Richard Andrew Snowden,PC,styled Lord Justice Snowden,is a Lord Justice of Appeal.
Sir Christopher John Butcher styled The Hon Mr Justice Butcher,is a British High Court Judge.
The King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts.