Name Kenneth Baron | Role Judge | |
Died October 14, 1985, London, United Kingdom Education University College, Oxford Books Judicial Control of Government | ||
William John Kenneth Diplock, Baron Diplock, QC (8 December 1907 – 14 October 1985) was a British judge and Law Lord.
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Early life
Born the son of an Irish solicitor, he attended Whitgift School and University College, Oxford, where he read chemistry and was later to become an Honorary Fellow. His father was Herbert Diplock and his mother was Christine Brooke.
Career
Diplock was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1932 and made a King's Counsel (KC) in 1948. In 1956, he was appointed to the High Court.
He became a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (Law Lord) in 1968 and was elevated as a life peer with the title Baron Diplock, of Wansford in the County of Huntingdonshire to the House of Lords.
As Lord Diplock, he chaired a commission set up in 1972 to consider legal measures against terrorism in Northern Ireland, which led to the establishment of the juryless Diplock courts with which his name is now associated.
At the time of his death, Lord Diplock was the longest serving Law Lord.
Contributions to legal thought
He made many contributions to legal thought and pushed the law in new and unique directions.
The current typology of grounds for judicial review is owing to Lord Diplock.