The Rt. Hon. The Lord Burnett of Maldon

The Rt. Hon. Lord Burnett of Maldon was the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2017 until 30 September 2023.  He studied law at Pembroke College, Oxford University, and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1980.  He practiced as a barrister and was head of a barrister chambers in London, UK, from 2003.  He was Junior Counsel to the UK Crown from 1992 and was appointed a Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 1998.  He had a wide common law practice at the Bar of England and Wales with a particular focus on public and administrative law including public inquiries and high profile inquests. His final case at the Bar was as counsel to the inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed.

He was appointed a Judge of the High Court of England and Wales in 2008, and was presiding Judge of the Western Circuit from 2011 until 2014. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in 2014.  He was Vice Chairman of the independent UK Judicial Appointments Commission from 2015 until 2017.  In July 2017, at the age of 59, he was the youngest Lord Chief Justice to be appointed since 1958.  As Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett was President of all the Courts of England and Wales.  He presided over civil and criminal appeals in the Court of Appeal, sat in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and continues to sit from time to time in the Supreme Court.