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Dyson to fill Neuberger's shoes as Master of the Rolls

I've always wondered why do judges need to move like that between the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. It seems impossible that no other judge from the Court of Appeal was good enough to fill in the vacancy felt. Of course we don't have the names of the other candidates, but I am sure all of them would be able to do an excellent job had they been chosen to become Master of the Rolls. No doubt though Dyson will be a very good Master of the Rolls. I also have the same problem regarding the replacement of Lord Phillips by Lord Neuberger. Surely Lady Hale or Lord Mance would make good presidents so why choose someone who hasn't been a Supreme Court justice and presumably doesn't know much about the inner workings of the court? Neuberger left to become Master of the Rolls because he thought (as he reportedly has claimed) that the creation of the Supreme Court was a decision taken "during a glass of brandy"! What changed during these last two years and he decided that now it would be good to join the Supreme court bench again? Why was he chosen over Hale and Mance? It would really be interesting to know how these decisions are taken and why the lucky applicant is chosen over the others.

31-Aug-2012

2:43 pm