Nominated by Chris Grayling Preceded by Sir Anthony May Appointed by Queen Elizabeth II Succeeded by Sir Brian Leveson | Preceded by The Lord Judge Name John Baron Deputy Dame Heather Hallett Role Justice | |
 | ||
Education Trinity Hall, Cambridge, University of Chicago | ||
Roger John Laugharne Thomas, Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd, (born Carmarthen, 22 October 1947) is the current Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. He is to retire on 1 October 2017 and will be succeeded by Sir Ian Burnett.
Contents
Early life and education
Thomas was born in 1947 to Roger Edward Laugharne Thomas and his wife Dinah Agnes Thomas, of Cwmgiedd.
Thomas was educated at Rugby School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in Law in 1966. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity Hall in 2004. He proceeded to the University of Chicago where he earned a J.D. degree and was a Commonwealth Fellow.
Thomas was an assistant teacher at Mayo College, Ajmer, India, from 1965–66.
Legal career
Thomas was called to the Bar in 1969 (Gray's Inn). He became a Queen's Counsel in 1984 and was appointed a Recorder in 1987. He practised as a member of the commercial chambers at 4 Essex Court in the Temple, which in 1994 moved to Lincoln's Inn Fields and has since then been known as Essex Court Chambers.
He was the Department of Trade and Industry Inspector into Mirror Group Newspapers plc in 1992.
On 11 January 1996, he was appointed a High Court judge, receiving the customary knighthood, and was assigned to the Queen's Bench Division, serving on the Commercial Court until his appointment to the Court of Appeal. On 14 July 2003, Thomas became a Lord Justice of Appeal and given the customary appointment to the Privy Council later that year. He served as the Senior Presiding Judge from 2003 to 2006, and President of the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary from 2008 to 2010.
In October 2008, Thomas was appointed Vice-President of the Queen's Bench Division and Deputy Head of Criminal Justice. On 3 October 2011, he succeeded Sir Anthony May as President of the Queen's Bench Division.
On 1 October 2013, Thomas was appointed to succeed Lord Judge as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. On 26 September 2013, it was announced Thomas would become a life peer upon taking office as Lord Chief Justice. He was created a Life Peer on 4 October 2013, taking the title Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd, of Cwmgiedd in the County of Powys. Following his introduction, as a serving member of the judiciary he was immediately disqualified from sitting in the House of Lords under section 137(3) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.
In October 2016 Thomas was one of the three judges forming the divisional court of the High Court in proceedings concerning the use of the royal prerogative for the issue of notification in accordance with Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (the Lisbon Treaty) (R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union).
Other affiliations
Thomas is one of the Founding Members of the European Law Institute, a non-profit organisation that conducts research, makes recommendations and provides practical guidance in the field of European legal development with a goal of enhancing the European legal integration.
He is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge and a Fellow of the Universities of Cardiff, Aberystwyth, Swansea and Bangor and an Honorary Doctor of Law of the Universities of Glamorgan, the West of England and Wales.
He is due to take up a position as Chancellor of Aberystwyth University in January 2018.
In September 2017 it was announced that he is to chair a new Commission on Justice in Wales.
Personal life
In 1973, he married Elizabeth Ann Buchanan, daughter of S J Buchanan of Ohio, US. They have one son and one daughter.
He lists his recreations in Who's Who as gardens, walking and travel.