Appointment of President of the Family Division
The Right Honourable Lord Justice Munby appointed as President of the Family Division
Her Majesty The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of The Right Honourable Lord Justice Munby as President of the Family Division with effect from 11 January 2013.
This appointment follows the retirement of Sir Nicholas Wall on 1 December 2012.
Notes to Editors
The Right Honourable Lord Justice Munby was called to the Bar in 1971, and is a former member of New Square Chambers. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1988 and then appointed as a High Court Judge on 23 May 2000, assigned to the Family Division. He was appointed as Chairman of the Law Commission on 1 August 2009. On 12 October 2009 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal, receiving the customary appointment to the Privy Council on 17 November. His term as Chairman of the Law Commission expired in August 2012.
The appointment of the President of the Family Division was made by Her Majesty The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor following the recommendation of an independent selection panel chaired by Lord Neuberger. The other panel members were: Lord Dyson, Master of the Rolls, Christopher Stephens, Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission, and Dame Valerie Strachan, Judicial Appointments Commissioner.
In accordance with section 70 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 the panel determined the selection process to be followed and applications were invited from Justices of the Supreme Court, members of the Court of Appeal, England and Wales, and relevant divisions of the High Court.