Appointment of new Senior Presiding Judge

Lord Justice Goldring has appointed as Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales, with effect from 1 January 2010.

Lord Justice (Sir John) Goldring is currently Deputy Senior Presiding Judge, and he will succeed Lord Justice Leveson, whose three year term of office comes to an end on 31 December 2009.

The role of Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ) is a wide-ranging one: as well as being a Board member of HM Courts Service, the SPJ oversees the work of Presiding Judges on each Circuit in England and Wales. This entails overall responsibility for the deployment of work in the courts, dealing with personnel issues for judges below High Court level, liaison with magistrates and providing a general point of liaison between the judiciary, the courts and Government departments.

Lord Justice Goldring was called to the Bar (Lincoln's Inn) in 1969 and took Silk in 1987. Following various judicial appointments, in 1999 he was appointed as High Court Judge, Queen's Bench Division, and served as Presiding Judge for the Midland Circuit 2002-05. He was appointed a Commissioner with the Judicial Appointments Commission in 2006, leaving in 2008 when he was appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal. He also became Deputy Senior Presiding Judge in 2008.