Peter Openshaw

For the physician, see Peter Openshaw (physician).

Sir Charles Peter Lawford Openshaw, DL (born 1947), styled The Hon. Mr Justice Openshaw, is an English judge of the High Court, Queen's Bench Division.[1]

Early life

Openshaw was educated at Harrow School, an all-boys public school in Harrow, London. He studied at St Catharine's College, Cambridge.[2]

Legal career

Openshaw was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1970. From 1988 to 1999, he served as a Recorder (a part-time judge) at Preston.[3] On 9 April 1991, he was appointed a Queen's Counsel (QC).[4]

On 16 March 1999, Openshaw was appointed a Circuit Judge.[5] In September 2005, he was appointed as a High Court Judge and sits in the Queen's Bench Division.[2] Since 2005, he has been a member of the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee.[2][6] Between 2008 and 2012, he was a presiding judge of the North Eastern Circuit.[6]

He was made a Bencher of the Inner Temple in 2003.[6]

Openshaw Internet statements

Openshaw attracted international media attention, when he stated in open court at Woolwich Crown Court, east London on 16 May 2007, "The trouble is I don't understand the language. I don't really understand what a Web site is." Court officials later said his statement was an attempt to clarify issues for the benefit of the court, not for himself, as is the role of the judiciary.[7]

Personal life

Openshaw is married to Dame Caroline Swift. They were sworn in as High Court judges on the same day in October 2005, which was thought at the time to be a first.[8]

Honours

On 10 May 2000, Openshaw was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) for Lancashire.[9] In 2008, he was appointed a lay canon of Blackburn Cathedral.[10]

He was knighted upon being appointed as a high court judge.

References

  1. ↑ Appointments at the Wayback Machine (archived July 22, 2004)
  2. 1 2 3 "Biographies". The Review of Efficiency in Criminal Proceedings. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Preston welcomes new Honorary Recorder
  4. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 52502. pp. 5717–5718. 12 April 1991. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "Crown Office". The London Gazette (55437). 23 March 1999. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "(Charles) Peter Lawford Openshaw OPENSHAW". People of Today. Debrett's. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Statement from the Judicial Communications Office: Mr Justice Openshaw". Judicial Communications Office. 17 May 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  8. ↑ "Married judges make legal history", BBC News Online, September 30, 2005. Accessed June 6, 2007.
  9. ↑ "Deputy Lieutenant Commissions". The London Gazette (55846). 12 May 2000. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "The College of Canons". Blackburn Cathedral. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
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