Robert Walker, Baron Walker of Gestingthorpe

Robert Walker, Baron Walker of Gestingthorpe Kt PC QC (* 17th March 1938 ) is a British lawyer , since 2002 a member of the House of Lords and 2009-2013 Judge at the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was.

Life

Lawyer and promotion to Lord Justice of Appeal

After visiting the Downside School Walker began studying subjects Classical Studies and Law at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge and completed these studies in 1959, each with a Bachelor of Arts (BA Classics and BA Laws) from. After his legal approval to the 1960 Bar Association of Lincoln's Inn had received, he was a barrister working. Due to its long-standing legal merits the title of it was in 1982 Kronanwalts ( Queen's Counsel ) awarded.

After almost 35 years as a lawyer , Walker was appointed a judge at the High Court of Justice in 1994 and worked there until 1997 as a judge in the Chancery Division responsible for commercial law, antitrust law, will law, real estate law, corporate law and intellectual property law . With his appointment as a judge, the usual award of the title of Knight Bachelor was connected at the time. After termination of this activity, he was appointed Lord Justice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal in 1997, the court of appeal responsible for England and Wales , where he served until 2002.

Member of the House of Lords and Supreme Court Justice

He was subsequently raised to the nobility in 2002 as a life peer with the title Baron Walker of Gestingthorpe , of Gestingthorpe in the County of Essex . On 8 October 2002 took place its introduction ( Introduction ) as a member of the House of Lords .

In this capacity he was previously on October 1, 2002 as the successor to the sick Lord Slynn of Hadley Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and was thus until September 30, 2009 to the Lord Judges ( Law Lords ) of the House of Lords.

On October 1, 2009, Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe was appointed one of the first judges to the newly established United Kingdom Supreme Court. Due to this activity, however, his participation in the meetings of the House of Lords was suspended. On March 17, 2013, Walker was ruled out as a Supreme Court Justice. In 2010 he was also Treasurer of the Lincoln's Inn Bar Association and is also a non-permanent judge on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal .

Major court decisions

During his judicial activity, he participated in numerous important decisions, such as in the proceedings:

• Re A (Children) (Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation) (2001): In this case, the Court of Appeal had to rule on the medical separation of Jodie and Mary, newborn Siamese twins Rose and Grace Attard. The case created several legal, ethical and religious quandaries such as whether it is permissible to kill one child to save the other and whether it is permissible to act against the wishes of the children's parents.

In the proceedings, the three judges involved gave very different reasons for judgment. Judge Alan Ward referred to the concept of self-defense and suggested that "if Jodie could speak she would surely protest: Stop it Mary, you are killing me". Judge Henry Brooke referred to the ruling in R v Dudley and Stephens and noted the need for a defense. Judge Robert Walker eventually turned his attention to the doctors' intention, with the result that the operation should continue.

The operation on children born on August 8, 2000 took place on November 7, 2000. As expected by the doctors, Jodie survived while Mary passed away.

• Gillett v Holt (2001): In this case, the Court of Appeal had to deal with the proprietary foreclosure in English land law. Judge Walker ruled that the defendant had a partial right to the property and could not easily lose it.
• Moore Stephens v Stone Rolls Ltd (2009): This was a fundamental decision by the House of Lords in relation to British company law , fraud and ex turpi causa non oritur actio. The House of Lords had decided by a majority of three to two judges' votes that if the directors and sole shareholders of a closely privately held company deceived the auditors by fraudulent against all creditors, the creditors of the subsequently insolvent company were excluded from legal action against the auditor are due to this negligence committed by the company.
• HJ (Iran) and HT (Cameroon) v Home Secretary (2010): In these proceedings, the Supreme Court had to deal with the lawsuit of an Iranian and a Cameroonian against the Minister of the Interior for being recognized as being entitled to asylum on the basis of their homosexuality . The lawsuit related in particular to the so-called "discretion or reasonable compatibility test" used by the asylum authorities, which assumed that the plaintiffs would not be at risk in their home countries if they did not reveal their sexual inclinations. Previously, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had intervened against this legal opinion of the Asylum Authority, which is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior.

On July 7, 2010, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the plaintiffs should not be expected to behave in this way in their home country in the form of denying or hiding their own homosexuality.

Web links

• Entry on Parliament's homepage (accessed on 7 July 2012)
• Biography on the UK Supreme Court homepage
• Entry in They Work For You (accessed July 7, 2012)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Introduction of Baron Walker of Gestingthorpe, of Gestingthorpe in the County of Essex ( Hansard , October 8, 2002)
2. ↑ Re A (Children) (Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation) (2001) (PDF; 810 kB)
3. ^ Moore Stephens v Stone Rolls Ltd (2009)
4. ↑ HJ (Iran) and HT (Cameroon) v Home Secretary (2010) ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 199 kB)