Three judges have been appointed Justices of Appeal to fill vacancies which have arisen in the Court of Appeal.
Mrs Justice Whipple has been appointed as a Lady Justice of Appeal and Mr Justice William Davis and Mr Justice Snowden as Lord Justices of Appeal.
Their backgrounds are as follows:
- Mr Justice William Davis: Called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1975 and took Silk in 1998. He was made a Bencher in 2007. He was appointed a Recorder in 1995, a Circuit Judge in 2008, a Senior Circuit Judge (Resident Judge) in 2009 and a High Court Judge in the Queen’s Bench Division in 2014. He was a Presiding Judge on the Northern Circuit between 2016-2019. He has been Judicial Lead for Youth Justice for England and Wales since 2014.
- Mr Justice Snowden: Called to the Bar (Lincoln’s Inn) in 1986 and took Silk in 2003. He was appointed a Recorder of the Crown Court in 2006, a Deputy High Court Judge in 2008 and a High Court Judge of the Chancery Division in 2015. He has been Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster and Supervising Judge of the Business and Property Courts for the Northern and North-Eastern Circuits since 2019. He was elected a Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn in 2010.
- Mrs Justice Whipple: Admitted to the Roll as a solicitor in 1991. She transferred to the Bar and was called in 1994. She took Silk in 2010. She was made a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2012. She was appointed a Recorder in 2005, a deputy High Court Judge in 2013 and appointed a High Court Judge in the Queen’s Bench Division in 2015. She was a Judicial Commissioner of the Judicial Appointments Commission from 2016-2019. She has been a Presiding Judge for the South Eastern Circuit since 2018 and is currently the lead Presider on that Circuit.
The appointment of Lord and Lady Justices of the Court of Appeal are made by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor following the recommendation of an independent selection panel.
The selection panel in this case was chaired by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Burnett of Maldon. The other panel members were Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls; Lord Kakkar, the Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission; and two lay Judicial Appointments Commissioners, Ms Sue Hoyle OBE and Ms Jane Furniss CBE.