Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers

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The Right Honourable  The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers  PC, QC
President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Incumbent
Assumed office  1 October 2009
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	Lord Hope of Craighead
Preceded by	Office Created
Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
In office 1 October 2008 – 1 October 2009
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Lord Bingham of Cornhill
Succeeded by	Office Abolished
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
In office 3 October 2005 – 1 October 2008
Preceded by	Lord Woolf
Succeeded by	Lord Judge
Master of the Rolls
In office 6 June 2000 – 3 October 2005
Preceded by	Lord Woolf
Succeeded by	Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
In office 1999 – 2000
Preceded by	Lord Lloyd of Berwick
Succeeded by	Lord Scott of Foscote
Born	21 January 1938 (1938-01-21) (age 71)
Spouse(s)	Christylle Marie-Thérèse Rouffiac
Residence	Hampstead, London
Alma mater	King's College, Cambridge

Nicholas Addison Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers PC, QC (born 21 January 1938) is the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Before 1 October 2009 his title was Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He was Master of the Rolls from 2000 to 2005 and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2005 until 1 October 2008. He was the first Lord Chief Justice to be head of the English judiciary, when that function was transferred from the Lord Chancellor in April 2006.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Judicial career 3 Personal life 4 Styles 5 See also 6 External links 7 References

[edit] Early life

Phillips says that his mother's parents "were Sephardic Jews and had eloped to this country from Alexandria because they understood that England was a country in which they would enjoy freedom."^[1]

Phillips was educated at Bryanston School. He has been a Governor of the school since 1975 and has been Chairman of the Governors since 1981. He undertook his National Service with the Royal Navy and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, where he was a commissioned officer. After the two years' service he went to King's College, Cambridge where he read law. In 1962, he was called to the Bar (Middle Temple) where he was the Harmsworth Scholar. He went into practice as a barrister, specialising in maritime law matters. In 1973 he was appointed as Junior Counsel to the Ministry of Defence and to the Treasury in maritime and Admiralty matters. In 1978 he "took silk" and became a Queen's Counsel.

[edit] Judicial career

In 1982, Phillips was appointed a Recorder and from 1987 was a full-time High Court Judge on the Queen's Bench Division, with the customary knighthood. He took an interest in legal training, and was Chairman of the Council of Legal Education from 1992 to 1997. He presided over several complex fraud trials including those covering the Robert Maxwell pension fund fraud and Barlow Clowes. In 1995, he became a Lord Justice of Appeal and was appointed to the Privy Council. He was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, of Belsize Park in the London Borough of Camden, in 1998. In early 1999, he was made a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and in 2000 succeeded Lord Woolf as Master of the Rolls. He conducted an inquiry into the outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). He was also chosen Vice-President of the British Maritime Law Association and of the UCD Law Society. He served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2005 to 2008, when he was reappointed as a Law Lord. Since 2008, Lord Phillips was the Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary until he became the first President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on 1 October 2009.

[edit] Personal life

Phillips is married to Christylle Marie-Thérèse Rouffiac, with whom he has two daughters, and a stepson and stepdaughter, and lives in Hampstead, London. He is a member of Brooks's and the Garrick Club. He is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Drapers and of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, and an honorary fellow of the Society of Advanced Legal Studies and University College London. He has received honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from the Universities of Exeter (1998), Birmingham (2003) and London (2004) and the International Institute of Maritime Law, and of Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) from City University, London (2003).

[edit] Styles

• Nicholas Phillips, Esq. (birth–1978)
• Nicholas Phillips, Esq., QC (1978–1987)
• The Hon. Mr Justice Phillips (1987–1995)
• The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Phillips (1995–1999)
• The Rt Hon. The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, PC (1999–present)

[edit] See also

Decided cases

• Moore Stephens v Stone Rolls Ltd [2009] UKHL 39
• Great Peace Shipping Ltd v Tsavliris Salvage (International) Ltd (2002)
• Shogun Finance Ltd v Hudson [2004] UKHL

[edit] External links

• Dyer, Clare, He pointed a finger where it ought to be pointed. He didn't go over the top ... He has shown himself to be politic, The Guardian, 23 September 2005.
• BSE enquiry, UK government
• Ministry of Justice: President, Supreme Court

[edit] References

Legal offices
Preceded by The Lord Woolf	Master of the Rolls 2000 – 2005	Succeeded by Sir Anthony Clarke
	Lord Chief Justice 2005 – 2008	Succeeded by The Lord Judge
Preceded by The Lord Bingham of Cornhill	Senior Law Lord 2008 – 2009	Abolished
New creation	President of the Supreme Court 2009 – present	Incumbent

v • d • e Order of Precedence in England and Wales (Gentlemen) HRH The Duke of Edinburgh • HRH The Prince of Wales • HRH The Duke of York • HRH The Earl of Wessex • HRH Prince William of Wales • HRH Prince Henry of Wales • Viscount Severn • HRH The Duke of Gloucester • HRH The Duke of Kent • HRH Prince Michael of Kent • The Most Rev and Rt Hon Rowan Williams • The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP • The Most Rev and Rt Hon John Sentamu • The Rt Hon Dr Gordon Brown MP • The Rt Hon John Bercow MP • The Rt Hon The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers QC PC • The Rt Hon The Lord Judge QC PC • The Most Hon The Marquess of Cholmondeley KCVO • His Grace The Duke of Norfolk DL • His Grace The Duke of Abercorn KG • The Rt Hon The Earl Peel GCVO PC DL • The Rt Hon The Baron Vestey DL not including short-term appointments, visiting dignitaries and most peers

v • d • e Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Justices President: Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers Lord Hope of Craighead · Lord Saville of Newdigate · Lord Rodger of Earlsferry · Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe · Baroness Hale of Richmond · Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood · Lord Mance · Lord Collins of Mapesbury · Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore · Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony Chief Executive Jenny Rowe Premises Middlesex Guildhall