Terence Etherton - Biography

Sir Terence Michael Elkan Barnet Etherton (born 1951), styled The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Etherton, is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.

Early life

Etherton was educated at St Paul's School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1974 and took silk in 1990. He was in the British Sabre team from 1977 to 1980 and qualified for the Moscow Olympics.

Career

Etherton was appointed a High Court judge in 2001, assigned to the Chancery Division, and was kinghted shortly after. In August 2006, he was appointed Chairman of the Law Commission, the statutory independent body created by the Law Commissions Act 1965 to keep the law under review and to recommend reform where needed.

In 2008, following the expansion of the Court of Appeal from thirty-seven to thirty-eight judges, it was announced that Sir Terence Etherton was to take the post of Lord Justice of Appeal. He was sworn into office on 29 September 2008, and was subsequently sworn a Privy Counsellor.

Whilst practising at the Bar he was, in a volunteer capacity, a Non Executive Director Riverside Mental Health Trust (1992-1999), Chairman of Broadmoor Hospital (1999-2001) and Chairman West London Mental Health NHS Trust (2000-2001)

In 2005, Etherton was installed as an honorary fellow of Royal Holloway College, University of London and in 2007 he was made an honorary fellow of his former college, Corpus Christi, Cambridge. He occupies the honorary position of President of the Nicholas Bacon Society, Corpus Christi's law society.

January 2009 saw him awarded an honorary doctorate in law by City University, London. In 2009 he was appointed President of the Council of the four Inns of Court (COIC) for a three year term.

He was appointed Visiting Professor at Birkbeck London University in 2010 and an Honorary Professor at Kent University in 2011.

Personal life

Etherton is openly gay, and celebrated his civil partnership in 2006.

Notes and references