Mr Justice Jay | |
|---|---|
 Jay in 2015 | |
| Justice of the High Court | |
| Assumed office 4 June 2013 | |
| Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 September 1959 United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | New College,Oxford |
Sir Robert Maurice Jay (born 20 September 1959),styled The Hon. Mr Justice Jay,is a judge of the High Court of Justice of the Courts of England and Wales. He was counsel to the Leveson Inquiry.
Jay was born on 20 September 1959. [1] His parents were Professor Barrie Samuel Jay,a consultant surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital,and Marcelle Ruby Jay,née Byre,a geneticist. [2]
He was educated at King's College School,a private fee paying school for boys in Wimbledon in South West London. [2] He won an Open Scholarship to New College,Oxford, [2] where he obtained a first in jurisprudence. He was a contemporary of the later actor and film star Hugh Grant. [2] He undertook pupillage with Simon D. Brown (now Baron Brown of Eaton-Under-Heywood). [2]
Jay was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1981. From 1989 to 1998 he was one of the Junior Counsel to the Crown (Common Law). He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1998. [3] He was a recorder from 2000 to 2013 and was approved to sit as a deputy High Court judge. [4] He was counsel to the Leveson Inquiry into phone-hacking and media ethics,when he came to public attention due to televising and other reporting. On 4 June 2013,he was appointed a High Court judge, [5] receiving the customary knighthood in the 2013 Special Honours, [6] and was assigned to the Queen's Bench Division.
During the Leveson Inquiry,Jay became publicly known for his use of rarely used words –such as condign,pellucidly and adumbrate –for highlighting apparent discrepancies in witnesses' emailed descriptions of events,and possible collusion between witnesses,as "light refracted through two intermediate prisms",and for asides such as "I’m beginning to sound irritated,but I am". At one point,he was seen to mouth to colleagues:"This is such fun". [2]
In April 2019 Jay was the judge in the fraud trial of four former Barclays bankers (Varley and others) over the bank's Middle Easter fundraising during the financial crisis of 2008. They were accused of paying millions of pounds in secret fees. After months of hearings in the Crown Court at Southwark,Jay made a terminating ruling,discharging the jury. [7]
In May 2019,the Court of Appeal adopted his own terminology,describing one of Jay's own judgments as being hardly "pellucid". As well as levelling this mocking criticism at his legal writing,the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal on every ground raised,including the ground that Jay had been so overbearing,rude,and bullying to the claimant (whose first language was not English but Polish,and who was acting without legal help),that the trial had been unfair. [8] [9] In June 2020,the UK Supreme Court went further and found that Jay had "harassed and intimidated [the claimant] in ways which surely would never have occurred if the claimant had been represented". [10]
Jay is also hearing cases as member of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. [11]
Jay is interested in history,art,classical music (particularly opera,and Wagner's Ring Cycle),and is also keen on chess, [2] cookery,golf,and cycling. [12]
Jay and his wife Deborah,who is an author,have a daughter. [12]
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.
Nicholas Addison Phillips,Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers,,,is a British former senior judge.
Sir Peter Winston Smith,styled The Hon Mr Justice Peter Smith,and abbreiviated to Peter Smith J in judgements,is a former High Court judge who sat in the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice in England and Wale from 5 April 2002 to 27 October 2017. He was the subject of comment and investigation in relation to his judicial behaviour in various circumstances. He retired on 28 October 2017.
Alan Turnbull,Lord Turnbull is a Scottish lawyer,and a Senator of the College of Justice,a judge of the country's Supreme Courts. He was one of the lead prosecutors in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial.
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 Nigel Hamilton Sweeney KC,styled The Hon. Mr Justice Sweeney,was a High Court judge. He retired on 18 March 2023.
Sir John Henry Boulton Saunders,formerly styled The Hon. Mr Justice Saunders,is a retired High Court Judge of the King's Bench Division.
Sir Brian Henry Leveson is a retired English judge who served as the President of the Queen's Bench Division and Head of Criminal Justice.
The Leveson Inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture,practices,and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal,chaired by Lord Justice Leveson,who was appointed in July 2011. A series of public hearings were held throughout 2011 and 2012. The Inquiry published the Leveson Report in November 2012,which reviewed the general culture and ethics of the British media,and made recommendations for a new,independent body to replace the existing Press Complaints Commission,which would have to be recognised by the state through new laws. Prime Minister David Cameron,under whose direction the inquiry had been established,said that he welcomed many of the findings,but declined to enact the requisite legislation. Part 2 of the inquiry was to be delayed until after criminal prosecutions regarding events at the News of the World,but the Conservative Party's 2017 manifesto stated that the second part of the inquiry would be dropped entirely,and this was confirmed by Culture Secretary Matt Hancock in a statement to the House of Commons on 1 March 2018.
Sir Andrew Jeremy Coulter Edis PC,styled The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Edis,is a Lord Justice of Appeal,serving as the Senior Presiding Judge having previously served as a High Court Judge.
Dame Julia Wendy Macur,DBE,known as The Rt Hon Lady Justice Macur,is a British judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. Between April 2017 and December 2019,she was the Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales.
Sir Brian Richard Keith is a former British judge of the High Court of England and Wales styled as The Honourable Mr Justice Keith. He was previously a judge of the Court of Appeal of Hong Kong.
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.
Sir James Michael Dingemans,styled The Rt Hon Lord Justice Dingemans,is a judge of the Court of Appeal,having previously served as a High Court judge.
Sir Mark David John Warby PC,styled The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Warby,is a Lord Justice of Appeal.
The British Post Office scandal or Horizon scandal involved faulty accounting software,provided by Fujitsu and known as Horizon,creating false shortfalls in the accounts of thousands of subpostmasters. The prime minister,Rishi Sunak,described it as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in the history of the United Kingdom. Between 1999 and 2015,over 900 subpostmasters were convicted of theft,fraud and false accounting based on faulty Horizon data,with about 700 of these prosecutions carried out by the Post Office. Other subpostmasters were prosecuted but not convicted,forced to cover Horizon shortfalls with their own money,or had their contracts terminated. The court cases,criminal convictions,imprisonments,loss of livelihoods and homes,debts and bankruptcies,took a heavy toll on the victims and their families,leading to stress,illness,divorce and,in at least four cases,suicide.
Sir Peter Donald Fraser,styled The Honourable Lord Justice Fraser,is a Judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.
Sir Neil Stephen Garnham is a British High Court judge.
Sir Simon James Bryan is a British High Court judge.
Dame Rowena Collins Rice,,the Honourable Mrs Justice Collins Rice,is a British High Court judge and former civil servant.
