David Neuberger, Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury

The Right Honourable The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury Kt PC
President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2012
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	The Lord Hope of Craighead The Baroness Hale of Richmond
Preceded by	The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers
Master of the Rolls
In office 1 October 2009 – 30 September 2012
Preceded by	The Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony
Succeeded by	Lord Dyson
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
In office 11 January 2007 – 30 September 2009
Preceded by	The Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead
Succeeded by	Lord Dyson (as Justice of the Supreme Court)
Lord Justice of Appeal
In office 12 January 2004 – 11 January 2007
Personal details
Born	10 January 1948
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Angela Holdsworth
Relations	Herman Neuberger (uncle) Julia Neuberger (sister-in-law)
Children	3
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Occupation	Judge
Profession	Barrister
Religion	Reform Judaism

David Edmond Neuberger, Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury Kt PC /ˈnjuːbɜːrɡər/ (born 10 January 1948), is an English judge. He is currently President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary until the House of Lords' judicial functions were transferred to the new Supreme Court in 2009, at which point he became Master of the Rolls, the second most senior judge in England and Wales. Neuberger was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2012. He also serves as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.^[1]

Early life

Neuberger was born on 10 January 1948, the son of Albert Neuberger,^[2] Professor of Chemical Pathology at St Mary's Hospital, University of London, and his wife, Lilian. His uncle was the noted rabbi Herman N. Neuberger. All three of his brothers are or were professors: James is Professor of Medicine at the University of Birmingham, Michael was Professor of Molecular Immunology at the University of Cambridge, while Anthony is Professor in Finance at Warwick Business School, University of Warwick.^[3]

He was educated at Westminster School, and studied chemistry at Christ Church, Oxford.^[2][4] Upon graduation, he worked at the merchant bank, N M Rothschild & Sons, from 1970 to 1973.^[2][5]

Legal career

Neuberger was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1974,^[2][6] where he became a Bencher in 1993. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1987. He was a Recorder from 1990 to 1 October 1996, when he was appointed a High Court Judge in the Chancery Division and received the customary knighthood.^[7] In 2001, he was made Supervisory Chancery Judge of Midland, Wales and Chester, and of the Western Circuits, a post he held until 12 January 2004, when he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and a member of the Privy Council.^[8][9] Since 2005 he has been co-chair (with Richard Susskind) of ITAC (Lord Chancellor's Information Technology and Courts Committee).

On 11 January 2007, he succeeded Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary^[6] and was made a life peer as Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury, of Abbotsbury, in the County of Dorset, and introduced in the House of Lords on 15 January 2007 between Lord Bingham of Cornhill and his sister-in-law, Baroness Neuberger.^[10]

His rise to the Court of Appeal and then to the House of Lords is one of the quickest in recent times. Although Lord Devlin was, at 55, even younger on his own appointment to the House of Lords in 1960, Neuberger was the youngest sitting Law Lord.^[11] It was announced on 23 July 2009 that he would be appointed the next Master of the Rolls, succeeding Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, who became one of the inaugural Justices of the Supreme Court on the retirement of Lord Scott of Foscote. This appointment took effect on 1 October 2009.

Between 2006 and 2007, he led an investigation for the Bar Council into widening access to the Bar. He also served on the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions, led by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, which reported in July 2009. Other Panel members included Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights, Michael Grade, Chairman of ITV, and Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal.^[12]

In May 2010, Neuberger gave a controversial, ex tempore dissenting judgment that the trade union Unite had not complied with ballot rules under trade union legislation.^[13] In July 2010 Neuberger ruled that peace protesters in Parliament Square who had camped out in Democracy Village should be evicted after the protesters lost an appeal.^[14]

In May 2011, while commenting on super injunctions, he said that social media sites like Twitter were "totally out of control" and society should consider ways to bring such websites under control.^[15]

In July 2012, it was announced that Neuberger would succeed Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers as President of the Supreme Court,^[16] which post he took up on 1 October 2012.^[17]

Personal life

In 1976, Neuberger married Angela Holdsworth, the TV producer and writer. They have three children, Jessica, Nicholas and Max, who are all solicitors.^[4] Neuberger's sister-in-law, through his brother Anthony, is Baroness Neuberger, DBE Senior Rabbi of the West London Synagogue.

Neuberger was Chairman of the Schizophrenia Trust from 2003-13, when it merged with and was subsumed by Mental Health Research UK: he is now a Trustee of MHRUK. He was a Governor of the University of the Arts London between 2000 and 2010. He has been President of the British Records Association since 2009.

Selected cases

• In re Osiris Insurance Ltd [1991] 1 BCLC 182
• Re Park House Properties [1997] 2 BCLC 530
• Yuen v McDonald's Corp (Chancery Division, 27 November 2001) Daily Telegraph, 6 December 2001
• Re T&D Industries plc [2000] BCC 956
• Krasner v McMath [2005] EWCA Civ 1072
• St Helen's MBC v Derbyshire [2007] UKHL 16, [2007] ICR 841
• Stack v Dowden [2007] 2 AC 432, Lord Neuberger gave a powerful dissenting speech in which he warned the majority of violating "principle", departing from established precedence and complicating judicial tasks.^[18]
• Ladele v London Borough of Islington [2009] EWCA Civ 1357
• British Airways plc v Unite the Union [2010] EWCA Civ
• Manchester City Council v Pinnock [2010] UKSC 45, Lord Neuberger MR sitting in the Supreme Court along with 8 other Justices giving the only judgment,
• The Public Prosecution Service v William Elliott and Robert McKee [2013] UKSC 32
• Jetivia SA v Bilta (UK) Limited (in liquidation) [2015] UKSC 23

Notes

1. List of Judges and Judicial Officers (Position as at 1 September 2010)
2. "Neuberger of Abbotsbury". Who's Who. Oxford University Press. December 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
3. "Anthony Neuberger". Retrieved 27 July 2009.
4. "The Panel on Fair Access to the Professions: David Neuberger". Cabinet Office. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
5. U.K.'s Youngest Law Lord David Neuberger Joins Court at Age 59, Bloomberg, 10 January 2007.
6. "Judicial Appointment for Sir David". 10 Downing Street. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
7. The London Gazette: no. 54543. p. 13211. 4 October 1996.
8. The London Gazette: no. 57179. p. 504. 15 January 2004.
9. "Orders for 11 February 2004". Privy Council Office.
10. Minutes of Proceedings of Monday 15 January 2007; retrieved 27 July 2009.
11. "Neuberger LJ in fast-track promotion to the Lords]". The Lawyer. 13 December 2006.
12. "Panel on Fair Access to the Professions". 27 July 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
13. "BA strike: Ban lifted by High Court". BBC News. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
14. "Parliament Square protesters lose eviction appeal". BBC News. 16 July 2010.
15. "Journalist's Twitter posts spark prosecution call". BBC News. 22 May 2011.
16. "New President of the Supreme Court". Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
17. Farmer, Brian (1 October 2012). "New Supreme Court chief Lord Neuberger sworn in". Independent (London, UK).
18. [2007] 2 AC 432 at [127]

External links

• Lord Neuberger's entry on Court of Appeal webpage