Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers

"Lord Phillips" redirects here. For the Liberal Democrat peer, see Andrew Phillips, Baron Phillips of Sudbury.

The Right Honourable The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers KG PC QC
President of the Supreme Court
In office 1 October 2009 – 30 September 2012
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	The Lord Hope of Craighead
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury
Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
In office 1 October 2008 – 30 September 2009
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	The Lord Hoffmann The Lord Hope of Craighead
Preceded by	The Lord Bingham of Cornhill
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
In office 3 October 2005 – 30 September 2008
Preceded by	The Lord Woolf
Succeeded by	The Lord Judge
Master of the Rolls
In office 6 June 2000 – 3 October 2005
Preceded by	The Lord Woolf
Succeeded by	The Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
In office 12 January 1999 – 6 June 2000
Preceded by	The Lord Lloyd of Berwick
Succeeded by	The Lord Scott of Foscote
Personal details
Born	(1938-01-21) 21 January 1938
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Christylle née Rouffiac (now The Lady Phillips of Worth Matravers)
Children	2
Residence	Hampstead, London
Alma mater	King's College, Cambridge

Nicholas Addison Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, KG PC QC (born 21 January 1938) is a British lawyer and former senior English law officer.

Lord Phillips served as the inaugural President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, holding office between October 2009 and October 2012. He is also the last Senior Law Lord and the first Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales to be head of the English judiciary when that function was transferred from the Lord Chancellor in April 2006. Before his chief justiceship, he was Master of the Rolls from 2000 to 2005.

Early life

Phillips was educated at Bryanston School; appointed a Governor of the school in 1975, he has been Chairman of its Governors since 1981. He undertook his National Service with the Royal Navy and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, being commissioned as an 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 at the Middle Temple, where he was the Harmsworth Scholar. He undertook pupillage at 2 Essex Court chambers (with the Anglo-American QC, Waldo Porges) and subsequently obtained a Tenancy there, later moving to 1 Brick Court (now Brick Court Chambers). In 1973 he was appointed as Junior Counsel to the Ministry of Defence and to the Treasury in Maritime and Admiralty matters. On 4 April 1978, he became a Queen's Counsel (QC). His maternal grandparents, two young immigrants to this country were Sephardic Jews and had eloped to this country from Alexandria.

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.

On 12 January 1999, he was appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and created a Life Peer under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 as Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, of Belsize Park in the London Borough of Camden. He then succeeded Lord Woolf as Master of the Rolls on 6 June 2000. He conducted an inquiry into the outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. He served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2005 to 2008, when he was reappointed as a Law Lord. Since 2008, 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. Elizabeth II advanced him as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter on 23 April 2011.

On 11 October 2011, Phillips announced his retirement on 30 September 2012, almost four months before the mandatory retirement age for British judges at turning 75 on 21 January 2013.

After retiring from the bench, Phillips followed Lord Woolf as President of the Qatar International Court at Doha. He also acts as an arbitrator.

In March 2012, the Government of Hong Kong SAR appointed Lord Phillips as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. He also serves as President of the British Maritime Law Association and Chairman of the European Maritime Law Organisation.

International legal distinction

Phillips was awarded the International Jurist Award at the International Conference of Jurists 2007: this award was presented by the President Smt. Pratibha Patil at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

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. His daughter Marie is a novelist. He is a member of Brooks's and the Garrick Clubs. He is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Drapers and a Past Prime Warden of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, as well as being an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Advanced Legal Studies, University College London, Hughes Hall, Cambridge, and of King's College, Cambridge.

Lord Phillips was also appointed the inaugural Distinguished Fellow and Visiting Professor of The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London. He has received honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws (Hon. LLD) from Exeter (1998), Birmingham (2003) and London (2004) and the International Institute of Maritime Law, and of Doctor of Civil Law (Hon. DCL) from City University, London (2003). He also currently serves as Chancellor of Bournemouth University.

Styles

• Nicholas Phillips Esq (birth–1978)
• Nicholas Phillips Esq QC (1978–1987)
• Mr Justice Phillips QC (1987–1995)
• Lord Justice Phillips PC QC (1995–1999)
• The Rt Hon. The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers PC QC (1999–2011)
• The Rt Hon. The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers KG PC QC (2011–present)

Arms

Arms of Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers

Coronet Coronet of a Baron Crest On a Rock of Fossil Limestone Proper a Leopard sejant Argent spotted Azure grasping with the dexter forepaw a Curtana Argent hilt pommel and quillons Azure. Escutcheon Azure a Fess Ermine between three Ammonites Argent ribbed Sable. Supporters On either side a Curlew Proper. Orders Garter circlet

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
• Regina v Armel Gnango [2011] UKSC 59 (14 December 2011)

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
• Lord Phillips interviewed by ReConstitution, sharing views on the new UK's Supreme Court and the role of the Judiciary.

Legal offices
Preceded by The Lord Woolf	Master of the Rolls 6 June 2000 – 3 October 2005	Succeeded by Sir Anthony Clarke
	Lord Chief Justice 3 October 2005 – 30 September 2008	Succeeded by The Lord Judge
Preceded by The Lord Bingham of Cornhill	Senior Law Lord 1 October 2008 – 30 September 2009	Abolished
New creation	President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom 1 October 2009 – 30 September 2012	Succeeded by The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury
Academic offices
Preceded by The Lady Digby	Chancellor of the University of Bournemouth 2009–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Order of precedence
Preceded by The Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal	Hong Kong Order of Precedence Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal	Succeeded by James Spigelman Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal