Supreme Court appointments follow raised retirement age
Lord Lloyd-Jones has been reappointed as a Justice of the UK Supreme Court, having had to step down just before the retiring age was raised from 70 to 75.
Sir David Richards, who also recently retired as a Lord Justice of Appeal after reaching the age of 70, has been appointed as a Justice to fill the vacancy created by Lady Arden’s retirement.
The Queen made both appointments on the advice of the Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor, following the recommendations of an independent selection commission.
A Welsh speaker, Lord Lloyd-Jones was appointed to the High Court in 2005. In 2012 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and from 2012 to 2015 he was chairman of the Law Commission. He was appointed as the inaugural President of the Law Council of Wales in October 2021. At the Bar his practice included international law, EU law and public law.
Lord Lloyd-Jones first served as a Justice of the Supreme Court between October 2017 and January 2022, the first to come from Wales. He stepped down as a Justice on 13 January 2022 after reaching the then mandatory retirement age of 70. On his retirement Lord Lloyd-Jones was appointed to the court's Supplementary Panel. Following the increase of the mandatory retirement age for judicial office holders from 70 to 75 in March 2022, he successfully applied to be reappointed as a Justice.
Sir David Richards practised principally in company law and corporate insolvency. He was appointed a deputy High Court Judge in 2001, a High Court Judge (Chancery Division) in 2003, a chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal in 2004 and chairman of the Insolvency Rules Committee from 2005 to 2015. He was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2015, retiring after reaching age 70 in June 2021. He has since practised as an arbitrator and legal expert, as well as continuing to sit in the Court of Appeal as a retired judge on a part time basis, and in appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. He was a director of the International Insolvency Institute from 2015 to 2019 and co-chair of its Judicial Committee from 2012 to 2019.
Lord Reed, President of the Supreme Court, commented: "We look forward to welcoming Lord Lloyd-Jones back to his position as a Justice. Following his retirement in January 2022, having reached the then mandatory retirement age of 70 shortly before it was increased by Parliament to 75, he has continued to hear cases as a member of the court’s Supplementary Panel. He will continue to make an enormously valuable contribution to the court on a wide range of cases, and especially in dealing with appeals in the field of international law and criminal law.
"We are also delighted that Sir David Richards will be joining us as a Justice of the court. His outstanding legal ability and breadth of experience, notably in company law and corporate insolvency, will maintain the court’s expertise in these areas following Lady Arden’s retirement, and will be invaluable in maintaining the high quality of our judgments and our reputation as an international centre of legal excellence."
Others including Dinah Rose QC have expressed disappointment at the lack of diversity in the appointments.