Career
He was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1965. He developed a commercial and maritime law practice.
He became a Queen's Counsel in 1979,and was a Recorder sitting in both criminal and civil courts from 1985 to 1992. In 1993,Clarke became a High Court judge and,as is customary,was appointed a Knight Bachelor. He was allocated to the Queen's Bench Division and,in April 1993,he succeeded Mr Justice Sheen as the Admiralty Judge. He sat in the Admiralty Court,the Commercial Court and the Crown Court,trying commercial and criminal cases respectively.
Clarke was promoted to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in 1998 and sworn of the privy council. Shortly thereafter,he led the Thames Safety Inquiry [5] and in the following year the judicial inquiry into the Marchioness disaster. He was Master of the Rolls from 2005 until 2009.
On 15 April 2009,it was announced that he would be created a life peer, [6] was gazetted on 29 May 2009 [7] with the title of Baron Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony,of Stone-cum-Ebony,in the County of Kent, [8] and took his seat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords on 1 June 2009. [9] It was announced on 20 April 2009 that Clarke was to be appointed to the Supreme Court with effect from 1 October 2009. [10]
Clarke retired from the Supreme Court in September 2017. He sat in the House of Lords until his retirement from the House on 14 September 2020. [11]
A member of the Shipwrights' Company,Clarke was an Assistant from 2000 and Prime Warden for 2014–15.
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