After more than 30 years on the bench, culminating in his time as a widely admired lord chief justice of England and Wales (2008-13), Igor Judge, Lord Judge, was not the type to abandon public service. His subsequent career as an active parliamentarian and convenor of crossbench peers in the House of Lords saw him develop into an outspoken defender of democracy who warned of the dangers of an over-mighty executive.
Judge, who has died aged 82, gave lectures, published books and put down amendments at a time when the exercise of prime ministerial power threatened constitutional upheaval.
In debates last year on the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act, which restored the right of the prime minister to ask the monarch to dissolve parliament and seek a general election, Judge declared: “We have become habituated – have we not? – to the steady, apparently unstoppable accumulation of power in No 10 Downing Street, and we have done so while, simultaneously, the authority and weight of parliament itself, and the House of Commons in particular, have been diminishing.
“It is astonishing to think that we are now proposing to resurrect the medieval concept of the prerogative, the concept on which the divine right of kings was based. King James and King Charles, just across the road, will be laughing as they turn in their graves.”
Judge’s concerns were founded in his love of legal history. His 2014 book, Magna Carta Uncovered, written with Anthony Arlidge KC, stressed the significance of the medieval charter in establishing the precedent that a monarch is subject to law. An extraordinarily diligent and intellectually agile lawyer, Judge was a resolute defender of free speech and the independence of the judiciary.
Foremost among his worries was the increasing use of so-called “Henry VIII clauses”, or statutory instruments, in which powers are delegated to ministers to amend the law without a vote by MPs – thereby avoiding parliamentary scrutiny. “Government by proclamation has returned, insidiously, in disguise,” he feared, and could degenerate into a “constitutional catastrophe”.
Judge was born in Valletta, Malta, during a second world war bombing raid. His father, Raymond Judge, an engineer serving on the island with the Royal Air Force, defied a curfew to be present at the birth. His mother, Rosa (nee Micallef), was a Maltese musician who had studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London; her enthusiasm for the works of Stravinsky led to her son being baptised Igor. Dismissing notions of nominative determinism, Judge insisted his surname had not influenced his choice of career.
He was educated at St Edward’s college, Malta, then at the Oratory, a Catholic boarding school in Oxfordshire, where he captained the cricket team. After winning an exhibition to Magdalene College, Cambridge, he studied history and law.
In 1963 he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple and subsequently joined what is now 7BR Chambers. As a young barrister, often on the Midland Circuit, his work included crime and personal injury cases. He acted for mining unions against the National Coal Board, an experience that later resulted in his drafting the rule book for the breakaway Union of Democratic Mineworkers.
His ascent up the judicial ladder was rapid. He began sitting as a recorder, or part-time judge, in 1976, was appointed a QC in 1979, and a high court judge in 1988, joined the court of appeal in 1996, became the senior presiding judge for England and Wales in 1998, and eventually lord chief justice.
His personal charm and ability to enthuse colleagues helped smooth awkward negotiations with the government in 2012, when proposed cuts to judges’ pensions stoked judicial resentment. He also encouraged dialogue with the European court of human rights, helping persuade Strasbourg that British court rulings were not inconsistent with European convention rights.
His expertise in criminal case law meant that he was called to sit on several test cases in the supreme court. Vulnerable witnesses benefited from changes he introduced to the conduct of courtroom cross-examinations.
Among Judge’s more notable rulings were the quashing of the acquittal of Gary Dobson which allowed him to be retried and convicted of the murder of Stephen Lawrence; the jailing of a juror for carrying out online searches during a trial; and the upholding of lengthy prison sentences for rioters following the 2011 summer disturbances.
He inspired affection among colleagues, combining empathy with the ability to cut to the core issue of whatever was being discussed. Invariably eager to engage in conversation, he would talk to junior lawyers, office staff and others, irrespective of their seniority. He was renowned for sending generous notes in difficult-to-decipher, fountain-pen handwriting.
One barrister recalled a case where, at the end of an appeal court trial, Judge came down from the bench to shake his client’s hand and apologise for the fact that he had not previously been well treated by the legal profession.
As lord chief justice he supported solicitors applying for judicial posts and encouraged women and those from ethnic minorities to join the bench. He was in favour of open justice, permitting journalists and others to tweet from court, and was involved in discussions about how cameras could be brought into the courtroom.
His judgments sometimes had a moral dimension, being critical of the betrayal involved in many crimes. He dismissed the appeal against the sentence of John and Anne Darwin in 2009, for example, who had sought to collect life insurance by faking Mr Darwin’s death from a canoeing accident. For the fraud to work, Judge pointed out, their sons had to be deceived – that, he added, was the “grossest form of betrayal”.
After retiring, Judge served between 2015 and 2017 as chief surveillance commissioner, overseeing the ways in which covert surveillance is used by public authorities, and was a visiting professor at King’s College London.
Judge listed his recreations as “history, music and cricket” and followed Leicester City football club. He loved the works of Sibelius and would often quote TS Eliot and Shakespeare.
In 1965 he married Judith Robinson. His 2015 book of legal essays, The Safest Shield, was dedicated to her. He is survived by Judith and their three children, Alastair, Helen and Emma.
• Igor Judge, Lord Judge, barrister, judge and parliamentarian, born 19 May 1941; died 7 November 2023
