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31-674: The Vinerian Scholarship is the most prestigious law scholarship awarded by the University of Oxford. Past award holders have distinguished themselves in the judiciary, legal practice, academia, civil service and in other fields. The list of scholars includes four Law Lords ( Lord Uthwatt , Lord Hoffmann , Lord Edmund-Davies and Lord Saville ), and justices of the highest courts in Australia ( Dyson Heydon and Patrick Keane ), Canada ( Ronald Martland ) and South Africa ( Edwin Cameron ). Past winners of

62-424: A healthy democracy, what the judiciary provides is a vouching or checking mechanism for the validity [of] laws that parliament has enacted or the appropriate international treaties to which we have subscribed... the last thing we want is for government to have access to unbridled power. Kerr married Gillian Widdowson in 1970, and the couple had two sons. He was a Roman Catholic . Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore died in

93-641: A hereditary peerage on 23 July 1856. In 1873 William Ewart Gladstone 's government passed the Judicature Act 1873 , which reorganised the court system and abolished the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords in respect of English appeals. In February 1874, before the Act came into force, Gladstone's Liberal Government fell. The Conservative Benjamin Disraeli became prime minister. In 1874 and 1875 Acts were passed delaying

124-560: A member of the Bar of Ireland in 1990, and an Honorary Bencher of Gray's Inn in 1997 and the King's Inns in 2004. He served as Junior Crown Counsel (Common Law) from 1978 to 1983 and Senior Crown Counsel from 1988 to 1993. In 1993, Kerr was appointed a Judge of the High Court and knighted , and in 2004 was appointed Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland , only the second Roman Catholic to hold

155-609: The Court of Appeal , High Court or Court of Session —for a period of two years. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary were required to retire from judicial office at 70 or 75 years of age, though as barons they continued to serve as members of the House of Lords in its legislative capacity for life. While letters patent issued by the Monarch under the terms of the Life Peerages Act 1958 just name

186-624: The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission . The law prohibited abortion, even in cases of rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormality, and four of the seven justices, including Lord Kerr, ruled that this made the law in Northern Ireland incompatible with human rights legislation. "One only has to read the dreadful circumstances of the young women who were courageous enough to give … an account of their experiences in order to be struck how dreadful those experiences were... It

217-576: The Appellate Jurisdiction Act (e.g. life peers under the Life Peerages Act 1958 ). The Lords of Appeal continue to hold the style for life. The two most senior Lords of Appeal in Ordinary were designated the Senior and Second Senior Lords of Appeal in Ordinary respectively. The Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary historically was the Law Lord who was senior by virtue of having served in the House for

248-559: The Commonwealth Defender of the Faith / To whom these Presents shall come Greeting / Whereas Our [ name of retired Lord of Appeal in Ordinary ] has resigned his Office of a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and the same is now vacant Now Know Ye that We of Our especial grace have in pursuance of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 as amended by subsequent enactments nominated and appointed and by these Presents Do nominate and appoint Our [ name of

279-525: The House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of Lords , which included acting as the highest appellate court for most domestic matters. On 1 October 2009, the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 was repealed owing to the creation of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom . The House of Lords thus lost its judicial functions and the power to create law life peers lapsed, although

310-488: The Sovereign to make a statutory instrument , if each House of Parliament passed a resolution approving a draft of the same, increasing the maximum number of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary. Of all members of the House of Lords, only Lords of Appeal in Ordinary ever received state salaries by virtue of their position (other Lords have only ever received a daily allowance for attending sittings, plus expenses of attendance). In 2004,

341-631: The Supreme Court. The House of Lords historically had jurisdiction to hear appeals from the lower courts. Theoretically, the appeals were to the King (or Queen) in Parliament , but the House of Commons did not participate in judicial matters. The House of Lords did not necessarily include judges, but it was formerly attended by several judges who gave their opinions when the Lords desired. They did not, however, have

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372-426: The United Kingdom . As a result, the power to create life peers under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 lapsed, although the validity of peerages created thereunder remains intact. To be appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary under the 1876 Act, a person was required to have been a practising barrister for a period of fifteen years or to have held a high judicial office—as Lord Chancellor (before 2005) or judge of

403-600: The Vinerian Scholarship include: Suspended for World War I (1916 – 1920) Change in statute to award scholarship on the basis of BCL examinations (1928) Suspended for World War II (1940 – 1945) Law Lords Lords of Appeal in Ordinary , commonly known as Law Lords , were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords , as a committee of

434-497: The appointment of two Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, who would continue to serve while holding judicial office, though in 1887, they were permitted to continue to sit in the House of Lords for life, with the style and dignity of baron . The number of Lords of Appeal in Ordinary was increased incrementally over the years—to three in 1882, to four in 1891, to six in 1913, to seven in 1929, to nine in 1947, to eleven in 1968 and to twelve in 1994. The Administration of Justice Act 1968 allowed

465-530: The coming into force of the Judicature Act 1873. The Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 repealed the provisions rescinding the jurisdiction of the House of Lords. Additionally, the Act provided for the appointment of two persons to be Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, who were to sit in the House of Lords under the dignity of baron. Originally, though they held the rank of baron for life, they served in Parliament only while holding judicial office. In 1889, however, an Act

496-463: The controversial judgment of the Supreme Court in R v Gnango , in which the court held that a person could be an accessory to his own murder. In the 2016 Article 50 "Brexit" , and 2019 prorogation of Parliament , cases before the Supreme Court, Lord Kerr was a "close questioner of the government submissions". Asked to specify which had been his most important case, Kerr opted for the 2018 legal challenge to Northern Ireland abortion law brought by

527-492: The court's last original member. Kerr was born on 22 February 1948 to James William Kerr and Kathleen Rose Kerr ( née  Murray ) of Lurgan in County Armagh . He was educated at St Colman's College, Newry , and read law at Queen's University Belfast . He was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 1970, and to the Bar of England and Wales at Gray's Inn in 1975. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1983 and became

558-505: The longest period. With the appointment of Lord Bingham of Cornhill in 2000, however, it became an appointed position. The Second Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary became the peer who had served for the longest period. Lord Hope of Craighead succeeded to this position on Lord Hoffmann 's retirement on 20 April 2009. Brian Kerr, Baron Kerr of Tonaghmore Brian Francis Kerr, Baron Kerr of Tonaghmore , PC ( / k ɜːr / ; 22 February 1948 – 1 December 2020),

589-406: The new appointee ] to be a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary by the style of [ full peerage title of the new appointee ] to hold the said Office so long as he shall well behave himself therein subject to the provisions in the said Act mentioned with all wages profits privileges rank and precedence whatsoever to the said Office belonging or in anywise appertaining and to hold the said style of Baron unto him

620-571: The non-jury system (in which there was an automatic right of appeal) "was in some senses superior to the jury trial." As was usual for the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, he succeeded Lord Carswell as the Northern Irish Lord of Appeal in Ordinary upon the latter's retirement. On 29 June 2009, he was created Baron Kerr of Tonaghmore , of Tonaghmore in the County of Down , and

651-494: The position, and sworn of the Privy Council . Kerr regarded the introduction in 1971 of internment without trial in Northern Ireland as having been "calamitous for the rule of law". However, he assessed his Troubles -era experience of the non-jury Diplock courts , introduced to prevent intimidation by paramilitaries , as broadly positive. Citing the "distinguished civil libertarian", Sir Louis Blom-Cooper , he proposed that

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682-416: The power to vote in the House. In January 1856, to permit legally qualified members to exercise the House's appellate functions without allowing their heirs to swell the size of the House, Sir James Parke , a judge, was created a life peer as Baron Wensleydale . As the House of Lords eventually decided that a peerage "for the term of his natural life" did not allow him to sit and vote, Parke also received

713-500: The recipient of the life peerage, letters patent issued under the terms of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 also name the retired Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in whose stead the recipient is appointed. In the final form used in 2009, these read: Elizabeth the Second by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Our other Realms and Territories Queen Head of

744-438: The retirement age is 75 years of age; for those appointed on or after that date, retirement was at 70 years of age (though they were permitted to continue sitting in a part-time capacity as a "Lord of Appeal" until the age of 75 years). There have been recent suggestions that the retirement age for the United Kingdom's most senior judges should revert to 75 years of age. The Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 originally provided for

775-407: The said [ name of the new appointee ] during his life / In Witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent / Witness Ourself at Westminster the [ day ] day of [ month ] in the [ year ] Year of Our Reign. The statutory retirement age for Lords of Appeal in Ordinary depended on when they were first appointed to judicial office: for those who first became a judge before 31 March 1995,

806-453: The salary for the Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary was £185,705, and for other Lords of Appeal in Ordinary it was £179,431. In exercising the judicial functions of the House of Lords, Lords of Appeal in Ordinary were sometimes joined by other Lords of Appeal. Lords of Appeal included holders or former holders of high judicial office who were members of the House of Lords, but not by virtue of

837-417: The validity of extant life peerages created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 remains intact. Lords of Appeal in Ordinary who were in office on 1 October 2009 automatically became Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom . At the same time, those Supreme Court justices who already held seats in the House of Lords lost their right to speak and vote there until after retirement as Justices of

868-401: Was a Northern Irish barrister and a senior judge. He held office as Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and then as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom . In 2009, he was the last person to receive a law life peerage under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 . At the time of his retirement on 30 September 2020, he was the longest-serving justice of the Supreme Court , and

899-609: Was an extremely important case and one which I was very pleased to be part of." In 2014, Ulster University awarded Lord Kerr an honorary doctorate in law. In August 2020, it was announced that he would retire on 30 September 2020. Following his retirement Lord Kerr defended the practice of judicial review and the £56m cost of creating the Supreme Court in Parliament Square . He could understand that ministers might be "irritated by legal challenges which may appear to them to be frivolous or misconceived", but if we are operating

930-414: Was introduced to the House of Lords the same day. He was the last person to be appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary . On 1 October 2009, he became one of the inaugural Justices of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom . He was the youngest member, at age 61. He was succeeded as Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland on 3 July 2009 by Sir Declan Morgan . Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore dissented from

961-471: Was passed allowing Lords of Appeal to continue to sit and vote in Parliament even after retirement from office. The last person to be made a law lord under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 was Sir Brian Kerr on 29 June 2009. On 1 October 2009, the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 was repealed by Schedule 18 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 owing to the creation of the Supreme Court of

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