Sumption, Wilson confirmed as new Supreme Court justices
The Supreme Court has confirmed the appointment of Jonathan Sumption QC as one of two new justices for the UK’s highest court.
Jonathan Sumption QC
The Supreme Court has confirmed the appointment of Jonathan Sumption QC as one of two new justices for the UK’s highest court.
As previously reported by The Lawyer (6 April 2011), Sumption’s appointment has been widely rumoured for some time.
Today’s announcement, made by the court and also by 10 Downing Street, lays to rest those rumours. It also confirms that Sumption will take up his new post “as soon as his existing professional commitments are completed, on a date to be agreed”. The silk is instructed as lead counsel for Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich in his upcoming High Court dispute with rival Boris Berezovsky.
Sumption’s chambers Brick Court said he would not be accepting any new instructions.
Lord Justice Wilson, currently a Court of Appeal judge, is also appointed to the Supreme Court. Wilson LJ will take up his position on 26 May. He replaces Lord Saville of Newdigate, who retired in October 2010.
Sumption, meanwhile, will replace Lord Collins of Mapesbury, who is retiring later this month. Lord Collins will continue to sit as an additional Supreme Court judge when required.
In a statement Lord Phillips, president of the court, said: “Lord Justice Wilson will prove a valuable asset to this court as another judge with a family law background, whose skill and knowledge has shone through all his judgments at the Court of Appeal for England and Wales.
“Jonathan Sumption is widely acknowledged to be one of this country’s leading advocates. He has demonstrated incisive intellectual rigour throughout his years as a barrister.
“These appointments reflect the fact that the pool of legal talent from which the highest court in the land can draw was deliberately widened by Parliament when it created the Supreme Court. I am very much looking forward to working alongside two new Justices of such considerable calibre.”
Readers' comments (8)
Anonymous | 4-May-2011 12:34 pm
That is really poor timing. Surely Beresovsky can challenge the involvement of him as an advocate. This is no ordinary heavyweight QC. He has now been annouced as a Supreme Court Judge in waiting, two levels above the Judge before whom they are due to appear. And we mock the Russian version of justice !
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Anonymous | 4-May-2011 2:15 pm
Don't be daft. He wouldn't be able to sit on the appeal anyway. Moreoever, it will have been quite apparent to every judge that Sumption has ever apeared in front of that he might one day be promoted above them. He hasn't ever been an ordinary heavyweight QC (many of whom are indeed quite ordinary).
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Anonymous | 4-May-2011 5:33 pm
A big slap in the face for those who have given 15 years of public service on the bench earning in a year what Mr Sumption earns in just over a week.
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Anonymous | 4-May-2011 5:56 pm
Should our top judges not be brilliant minds at the top of their game rather than dutiful public servants who have simply put in their time?
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Anonymous | 4-May-2011 10:40 pm
The whole thing is a disgrace. Even Baroness Deech, the Head of the Bar Standards Board no less, has gone on record to say that it is entirely inappropriate for Sumption to act for Abramovich (see http://lordsoftheblog.net/2011/04/20/law-lords/), stating "how can such a case be heard without any appearance of conflict, if the judge hearing it knows that the barrister presenting arguments to him is soon to be in the Supreme Court, hearing appeals against those lower court hearings?" How indeed?! And that was before the appointment was formally announced. How much worse is the appearance of conflict now that the worst kept secret at the Bar is finally out? This is all particularly disappointing, as Sumption must have applied for the vacant position in the Supreme Court before accepting this most lucrative of briefs and then arranged for his appointment to be deferred. This sordid episode does our legal system no credit at all.
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Anonymous | 5-May-2011 7:02 am
at anon, is there no argument for the fact that he might be a lot better than the people who have given that service?
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Anonymous | 5-May-2011 4:48 pm
Obviously Lord Sumption will not hear any appeal in the Berezovsky case. But surely he is instructed in Berezovsky until all routes of appeal have been exhausted. If not (1) there is a danger that he could hear appeals in other matters which make law that the Court of Appeal would have to follow in considering an appeal in Berezovsky (2) it would seem his client is content to instruct him just for the trial then leave the appeals to an "ordinary heavyweight silk". Which would be odd.
Can we not assume that he might just have thought this through?...
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Anonymous | 9-May-2011 1:12 pm
His position is unusual but nothing that cannot be managed (as I am sure it will be). I for one am very grateful for the financial sacrifice he has made by taking the appointment and look forward to the impact he will inevitably bring.
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