Ernest Ryder

Insignia of a Knight Bachelor

Sir Ernest Nigel Ryder, TD, PC, DL (born 9 December 1957) became a Lord Justice of Appeal in April 2013 and was appointed Senior President of Tribunals in September 2015.

Education and family life

Ryder was educated at Bolton School and Peterhouse, Cambridge, and worked for the merchant bank, Grindley Brandt & Co 1979-81, before qualifying as a barrister.

He married Janette Martin in 1990, and they have one daughter.

In January 2014, he was installed as Chancellor of the University of Bolton.

Career

Ryder was called to the Bar in 1981 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1997. He became a Recorder in 2000, and a Deputy High Court Judge in 2001.^[1] Ryder was appointed a High Court Judge in 2004,^[2] receiving the customary knighthood, and was allocated to the Family Division. On 9 April 2013, he was promoted Lord Justice of Appeal,^[3] consequently being sworn of the Privy Council.

Ryder was appointed to the post of Judge in Charge of Modernisation of Family Justice in November 2011,^[4] and under his stewardship published the Judicial Proposals for the modernisation of family justice in July 2012.^[5] Many of the recommendations were implemented by the Children and Families Act 2014, key amongst which being the 26 week time limit on the determination of care and supervision proceedings.^[6]

In July 2015 it was announced that he had been appointed Senior President of Tribunals and that this appointment would take effect from 18 September 2015.^[7]

Lord Justice Ryder’s extensive knowledge and experience in the field of family justice, as well as other areas of law led to his appointment as a Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation in September 2014.^[8]

Military

Ryder has served as a Territorial Army officer in the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry (later Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry) and received the Territorial Decoration in 1996.

References