David Neuberger
Encyclopedia
David Edmond Neuberger, Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury ˈnjuːbɜrɡər, PC (born 10 January 1948), is an English lawyer. He was formerly a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
, and since 2009 has been Master of the Rolls
, the second most senior judge in England and Wales. He also serves as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.
, Professor of Chemical Pathology
at St Mary's Hospital, University of London
, and his wife, Lilian. His uncle was the noted rabbi
, Herman N. Neuberger
. All three of his brothers are now professors: James
is Professor of Medicine at the University of Birmingham
, Michael
is Professor of Molecular Immunology at the University of Cambridge, while Anthony is Professor in Finance at Warwick Business School
, University of Warwick
. Anthony's wife is the rabbi, Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger
.
He was educated at the independent
Westminster School
in the precincts of Westminster Abbey
, and studied Chemistry
at Christ Church, Oxford
. Upon graduation, he worked at the merchant bank
, N M Rothschild & Sons
, from 1970-1973.
in 1974, where he became a Bencher
in 1993. He became a Queen's Counsel
in 1987. He was a Recorder
from 1990 to 1996, when he was appointed a High Court Judge
in the Chancery Division and received the customary knighthood
. In 2001, he was made Supervisory Chancery Judge of Midland
, Wales and Chester
, and of the Western Circuits, a post he held until 2004, when he was promoted to become a Lord Justice of Appeal
and a member of the Privy Council. Since 2005 he has been co-chair (with Richard Susskind
) of ITAC (Lord Chancellor’s Information Technology and Courts Committee).
On 11 January 2007, he succeeded Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and was made a life peer
as Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury, of Abbotsbury
, in the County of Dorset
, and introduced to the House on 15 January 2007 between Lord Bingham of Cornhill and his sister-in-law, Baroness Neuberger. His rise to the Court of Appeal and then to the House of Lords is one of the quickest in recent times. Although Lord Devlin
was, at 55, even younger on his own appointment to the House of Lords in 1960, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury was in turn the youngest current Law Lord. It was announced on 23 July 2009 that he would be appointed the next Master of the Rolls
, succeeding Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, who became one of the inaugural Justices
of the Supreme Court
on the retirement of Lord Scott of Foscote
. This appointment duly took effect on 1 October 2009.
Between 2006-2007, he led an investigation for the Bar Council into widening access to the Bar. He also served on the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions, led by former Health Secretary
Alan Milburn
, which reported in July 2009. Other Panel members included Trevor Phillips
, head of the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights
, Michael Grade
, Chairman of ITV
, and Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal
.
In May 2010, Lord Neuberger gave a controversial, minority, ex tempore dissenting judgment that the trade union Unite
had not complied with ballot rules under trade union legislation. In July 2010 Neuberger ruled that peace protesters in Parliament Square
who had camped out in Democracy Village should be evicted after the protesters lost an appeal.
In May 2011, while commenting on super injunctions
, he said that social media sites like Twitter
were "totally out of control" and society should consider ways to bring such websites under control.
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary
Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the House of Lords of the United Kingdom in order to exercise its judicial functions, which included acting as the highest court of appeal for most domestic matters...
, and since 2009 has been Master of the Rolls
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after the Lord Chief Justice. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal...
, the second most senior judge in England and Wales. He also serves as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.
Early life
Neuberger was born on 10 January 1948, the son of Professor Albert NeubergerAlbert Neuberger
Albert Neuberger CBE FRS FRCP was Professor of Chemical Pathology, St Mary's Hospital, University of London, 1955–1973, and later Emeritus Professor.-Education in Germany:...
, Professor of Chemical Pathology
Pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
at St Mary's Hospital, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, and his wife, Lilian. His uncle was the noted rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, Herman N. Neuberger
Herman N. Neuberger
Hermann Naftali Neuberger was an Orthodox rabbi and leader. He was the brother of Albert Neuberger CBE FRS FRCP.- Younger years :...
. All three of his brothers are now professors: James
James Neuberger
James Max Neuberger is a consultant physician, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, part of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, and professor of medicine at the University of Birmingham...
is Professor of Medicine at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
, Michael
Michael Neuberger
Michael Samuel Neuberger FRS is a British biochemist and immunologist.-Education:He was educated at Westminster School, and then read Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge as a scholar where he obtained a Master of Arts; he then obtained a PhD at Imperial College, London.-Career:He has...
is Professor of Molecular Immunology at the University of Cambridge, while Anthony is Professor in Finance at Warwick Business School
Warwick Business School
Warwick Business School, also known as WBS, was established in 1967 as the School of Industrial and Business Studies.It offers undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD degree programmes,as well as non-degree executive education for individuals and companies....
, University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
. Anthony's wife is the rabbi, Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger
Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger
Julia Babette Sarah Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger, DBE is a rabbi, social reformer and member of the House of Lords, where she takes the Liberal Democrat whip, although she will be resigning from the party and joining the Crossbenches from September 2011, once she becomes the full-time Senior...
.
He was educated at the independent
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...
Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
in the precincts of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, and studied Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
at Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
. Upon graduation, he worked at the merchant bank
Merchant bank
A merchant bank is a financial institution which provides capital to companies in the form of share ownership instead of loans. A merchant bank also provides advisory on corporate matters to the firms they lend to....
, N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons is a private investment banking company, belonging to the Rothschild family...
, from 1970-1973.
Legal career
Neuberger was called to the Bar at Lincoln's InnLincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
in 1974, where he became a Bencher
Bencher
A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can be elected while still a barrister , in recognition of the contribution that the barrister has made to the life of the Inn or to the law...
in 1993. He became a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1987. He was a Recorder
Recorder (judge)
A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...
from 1990 to 1996, when he was appointed a High Court Judge
High Court judge
A High Court judge is a judge of the High Court of Justice, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne judges...
in the Chancery Division and received the customary knighthood
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
. In 2001, he was made Supervisory Chancery Judge of Midland
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
, Wales and Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, and of the Western Circuits, a post he held until 2004, when he was promoted to become a Lord Justice of Appeal
Lord Justice of Appeal
A Lord Justice of Appeal is an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, and represents the second highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales-Appointment:...
and a member of the Privy Council. Since 2005 he has been co-chair (with Richard Susskind
Richard Susskind
Richard Susskind OBE is a British author, speaker, and independent adviser to international professional firms and national governments...
) of ITAC (Lord Chancellor’s Information Technology and Courts Committee).
On 11 January 2007, he succeeded Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and was made a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
as Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury, of Abbotsbury
Abbotsbury
Abbotsbury is a large village and civil parish in the West Dorset district of Dorset, England; situated north-west of Weymouth. It is located from Upwey railway station and from Bournemouth International Airport. The main road running through the village is the B3157, connecting Abbotsbury to...
, in the County of Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, and introduced to the House on 15 January 2007 between Lord Bingham of Cornhill and his sister-in-law, Baroness Neuberger. His rise to the Court of Appeal and then to the House of Lords is one of the quickest in recent times. Although Lord Devlin
Patrick Devlin, Baron Devlin
Patrick Arthur Devlin, Baron Devlin, PC was a British lawyer, judge and jurist. He wrote a report on Britain's involvement in Nyasaland in 1959...
was, at 55, even younger on his own appointment to the House of Lords in 1960, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury was in turn the youngest current Law Lord. It was announced on 23 July 2009 that he would be appointed the next Master of the Rolls
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after the Lord Chief Justice. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal...
, succeeding Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony, who became one of the inaugural Justices
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom are the judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom other than the President and Deputy President. The Supreme Court is the highest in the United Kingdom for civil matters, and for criminal matters from England and Wales and Northern Ireland...
of the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the supreme court in all matters under English law, Northern Ireland law and Scottish civil law. It is the court of last resort and highest appellate court in the United Kingdom; however the High Court of Justiciary remains the supreme court for criminal...
on the retirement of Lord Scott of Foscote
Richard Scott, Baron Scott of Foscote
Richard Rashleigh Folliott Scott, Baron Scott of Foscote PC, QC , is a British judge, who formerly held the office of Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.-Early life:...
. This appointment duly took effect on 1 October 2009.
Between 2006-2007, he led an investigation for the Bar Council into widening access to the Bar. He also served on the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions, led by former Health Secretary
Secretary of State for Health
Secretary of State for Health is a UK cabinet position responsible for the Department of Health.The first Boards of Health were created by Orders in Council dated 21 June, 14 November, and 21 November 1831. In 1848 a General Board of Health was created with the First Commissioner of Woods and...
Alan Milburn
Alan Milburn
Alan Milburn is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Darlington from 1992 until 2010...
, which reported in July 2009. Other Panel members included Trevor Phillips
Trevor Phillips
Trevor Phillips OBE chairs the Equality and Human Rights Commission and is a former television executive and presenter...
, head of the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights
Commission for Equalities and Human Rights
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain which was established by the Equality Act 2006 and came into being on 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of equality and non-discrimination laws in England,...
, Michael Grade
Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
, Chairman of ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, and Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the second is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834....
.
In May 2010, Lord Neuberger gave a controversial, minority, ex tempore dissenting judgment that the trade union Unite
Unite
- Labor unions :*Unite the Union, a British and Irish trade union, formed by the merger of Amicus and T&G*Unite Union, a trade union in New Zealand*Unite Union , a trade union in Australia...
had not complied with ballot rules under trade union legislation. In July 2010 Neuberger ruled that peace protesters in Parliament Square
Parliament Square
Parliament Square is a square outside the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in London. It features a large open green area in the middle, with a group of trees to its west. It contains statues of famous statesmen and is the scene of rallies and protests, as well as being a tourist...
who had camped out in Democracy Village should be evicted after the protesters lost an appeal.
In May 2011, while commenting on super injunctions
2011 British super-injunction controversy
The British privacy injunctions controversy began in early 2011, when London-based tabloid newspapers published stories about anonymous celebrities that were intended to flout what are commonly known in English law as super-injunctions, where the claimant could not be named, and carefully omitting...
, he said that social media sites like Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
were "totally out of control" and society should consider ways to bring such websites under control.
Personal life
In 1976, Neuberger married Angela Holdsworth, the TV producer and writer. They have three children, Jessica, Nicholas and Max, who are all solicitors. He has been Chairman of the Schizophrenia Trust since 2003. He was a Governor of the University of the Arts London between 2000-10.Cases
- In re Osiris Insurance Ltd [1991] 1 BCLC 182
- Re Park House Properties [1997] 2 BCLC 530
- Yuen v McDonald's Corp (Chancery Division, 27 November 2001) Daily Telegraph, 6 December 2001
- Re T&D Industries plcRe T&D Industries plcRe T&D Industries plc [2000] BCC 956 is a UK insolvency law case, concerning the policy of administration of a company in financial distress...
[2000] BCC 956 - Krasner v McMathKrasner v McMathKrasner v McMath [2005] is a UK labour and insolvency law case concerning the priority of payments to workers of an insolvent company in priority to other creditors.-Facts:...
[2005] EWCA Civ 1072 - St Helen’s MBC v Derbyshire [2007] UKHL 16, [2007] ICR 841
- Ladele v London Borough of IslingtonLadele v London Borough of IslingtonLadele v London Borough of Islington [2009] is a UK labour law case concerning discrimination against homosexual people by a person of Christian religious persuasion.-Facts:...
[2009] EWCA Civ 1357 - British Airways plc v Unite the Union [2010] EWCA Civ
- Manchester City Council v Pinnock [2010] UKSC 45, Lord Neuberger MR sitting in the Supreme Court along with 8 other Justices giving the only judgment, http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2010/45.html