The later part of his term was marred by a succession of disputed convictions, though Lane remained highly regarded by his colleagues and the legal profession.

Lane's critics claimed that his refusal to believe that police evidence could be institutionally corrupt, and his reluctance to overturn the verdict of a jury, "represented a dangerous hindrance to justice".

On his death, the barrister Sir Louis Blom-Cooper declared that "by common consent of the legal profession, Lane was a very great Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales".

[3] While appearing for the defendant in the case of R v Morris,[4] he made a much-cited statement as to what constituted 'common purpose' for the criminal law, which Lord Parker of Waddington CJ adopted: He is also famous for his quote: "Loss of freedom seldom happens overnight.

Later in 1966, Lane was appointed a Justice of the High Court, assigned to the Queen's Bench Division, receiving the customary knighthood.

He delivered some notable judgments: in 1968, he awarded damages against a school for a pupil who had been injured in 'horseplay' between his peers, saying that the school had a responsibility to stop it getting out of hand; and while acting as an appeal judge, he found for the publishers of Last Exit to Brooklyn who had been convicted of publishing an obscene book, because of faults in the trial Judge's summing-up.

Lane's judgment was personally critical of Fred Mulley, the Secretary of State for Education and Science for being "far from frank" about his reason for intervening in Tameside.

In another high-profile case in 1977, Lane joined in dismissing an appeal against deportation from Mark Hosenball, an American journalist working for the Evening Standard.

Shortly after taking over as Lord Chief Justice, Lane attracted political controversy when he called for a general reduction in prison terms.

Lane had an early introduction to controversies and disputed convictions when, in 1962, he was the junior Crown counsel in the trial of James Hanratty for the A6 murder.

He also represented the Metropolitan Police at the Brabin inquiry into the conviction and subsequent hanging of Timothy Evans for the murders at 10 Rillington Place in 1950.

The judgment, given on 28 January 1988, adopted all the key parts of the Crown case, dismissed defence witnesses as unreliable, and upheld the convictions.

Lane initially refused leave to appeal to Winston Silcott, convicted of the murder of Keith Blakelock in the midst of a strong campaign of vilification from tabloid newspapers.

Their successful appeal led to calls for Lane to resign, including a hostile editorial in The Times and a motion in the House of Commons signed by 140 members of parliament.

He headed a commission in 1993 which recommended the end of the mandatory life sentence for murder, but otherwise kept a low profile (he never gave press interviews while in office and did not change that policy in his retirement).