News: President of the Family Division set to retire
Sir Nicholas Wall has announced plans to retire as President of the Family Division from December 1 due to ill health.
The Family Division is part of the High Court of Justice in England and Wales. The President is the most senior family law judge in the two countries.
Sir Nicholas Peter Rathbone Wall PC, now 67, was appointed to the role in April 2010. Educated at Cambridge, he was called to the Bar in 1969. Amongst other achievements, he became a Queen’s Counsel in 1988, joined the Family Division in 1993, and later became a member of the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Board on Family Law. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal and Privy Council in 2004.
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7 Comments
ObiterJ on October 2, 2012 at 3:51 pm
I am immensely saddened to have seen this. He has done sterling work in the Family Division and will be sorely missed. A judge who has immense common sense and decency.
Observer on October 2, 2012 at 10:10 pm
Can you cite some of his sterling work?
I think most of us will remember him as having legalized child abduction (a form of child abuse in anyone’s books) by not coming down on one side of the fence regarding LTR.
Theukhasbecomeajoke on October 5, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Marilyn, is there any chance of you allowing my previous comment? All stated were true and can very easily be substantiated…
Or is the whole purpose of you blog / existence is to curry favours as opposed to actual journalistic achievements?
Marilyn Stowe on October 5, 2012 at 6:02 pm
There was nothing of journalistic merit in your offensive rant which I trashed.
Also for the record I don’t move in influential circles and don’t curry favour with anyone. It’s not my style, never has been and never will be.
Marilyn
Bruno D'Itri on December 7, 2012 at 7:42 am
We must, of course, wish Nicholas Wall well in his retirement. Perhaps he might follow the lead of retired politicians and publish his memoirs. This would assist the legal community in better understanding the reasons behind his decisions, views and judgments. I see no good argument against such transparency and opportunity for learning. For example, he might like to fully explain the stance he took on relocation law, which many people see as having been inconsistent (pro-reform in Re D: anti-reform in Re W).
Bruno D’Itri
Dai on January 26, 2013 at 3:50 pm
Turns out he was in the end just a legal aid campaigner, campaigning for lawyers to get more public money – see his letter to the LSC.
http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/3274
Some of the judgements he gave must now be viewed against that background
Kimberly on May 31, 2013 at 1:24 am
Haha, it looks like the “curry favor” may have touched on a raw nerve. The princess Diana eyed performances on Daybreak does support theukhasbecomeajoke’s points.
Also, why not let us all see the comment and then have it removed if complaints are received. Maybe the assumption that it is all untrue and offensive a bit odd to say the lease.
Poor show Marilyn, instead of responding with a torrent of rage, maybe you should articulated a just kept quiet and allow an open debate? But I guess it is your website, therefore only your currying comments are allowed?