Tom Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill
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Thomas Henry Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill, KG PC (born October 13,1933), is one of the most senior judges in the United Kingdom.
As the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from from 1996 to 2000, Bingham was (for those regions of the UK) the highest-ranking judge in regular courtroom service; he was personally responsible for adding "of Wales" to the office's title.
In 2000 he moved to the House of Lords, the country's highest court of appeal, as the "Senior" Law Lord (although he had not been one before); he was succeeded as Lord Chief Justice by Lord Woolf, who had likewise succeeded him in 1996 as Master of the Rolls.
He is an advocate of reorganization of the British court system, and under present Government proposals his title would become President of the Supreme Court, a new high court divorced from the House of Lords. As the new system explicitly names the Lord Chief Justice as the head of the judiciary, it may be that Lord Bingham will once again find himself at least nominally subordinate to his former job.
In 2005, he was created a Knight of the Garter, an honour in the personal gift of the queen and one only rarely conferred on judges. He received the title along with Mary Soames, Baroness Soames and John Major.
External link
- His own unofficial website (http://www.tombingham.com/)