David Neuberger, Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury

[10] In 2001, he was made Supervisory Chancery Judge of Midland, Wales and Chester, and of the Western Circuits, a post he held until 12 January 2004, when he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and a member of the Privy Council.

He also served on the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions, led by former Health Secretary Alan Milburn, which reported in July 2009.

Other Panel members included Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights, Michael Grade, Chairman of ITV, and Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal.

He advised the Post Office in writing that there were reasonable grounds to apply for the judge in the group litigation to “recuse” himself (withdraw).

[29][30] Lord Neuberger was appointed a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in 2009 and continues in that role.

[32] On 6 January 2021 the Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, Geoffrey Ma Tao-Li, retired.

Lord Neuberger delivered (remotely) a farewell address in which he emphasised the demanding nature of the task of upholding and defending the independence of the judiciary in circumstances where media and public figures criticise the judiciary in “very blunt terms.”[33] In his valedictory Reply, Chief Justice Ma explained his understanding of judicial independence with an emphasis on the apolitical discharge of judicial duties.

He thanked the Non-Permanent Judges for their perspectives and contributions from other common law jurisdictions, and described their presence as “beneficial to the community.”[34] By the spring of 2022 serving members of the UK Supreme Court, Lord Hodge and Lord Reed, resigned from the Hong Kong judicial panel and criticised the state of civil liberty following the 2020 Hong Kong national security law.

In March 2024 further impending restrictions on the legal profession were the subject of an expression of serious concern by the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI).

Hong Kong Chief Executive, John Lee, regretted these resignations and emphasised the independence of the judges from interference.

[43] On Monday 12 August 2024, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal upheld the conviction and imprisonment of 76 year old British citizen and democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai, for taking part in an unauthorised procession in 2019.

This created a hostile uproar in the British press: the trial was described as an insult to justice[46] and Lord Neuberger's participation as giving the Hong Kong authorities "a veneer of legitimacy.

[49] In March 2021 Lord Neuberger was reported in the legal press as agreeing to a further three-year term expiring in February 2024.

He sat on the final appeal panel which unanimously dismissed a bid by pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai and six others to overturn all their various convictions for taking part in a peaceful protest in August 2019.

[56] Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in its post about it described the resignation as “necessary to protect the independence and integrity of the High Level Panel.”[57] Lord Neuberger as at 17 August 2024 was President of The Academy of Experts and of the British Institute of International & Comparative Law (BIICL).

He was trustee and director of associated companies for Prisoners Abroad, for the Thrombosis Research Institute and for The Westminster School Foundation (UK) Limited.

[63] On 24 February 2014, Lord Neuberger delivered at Cambridge University the Freshfields annual lecture, which he entitled "The British and Europe".

Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury speaking at a conference in Singapore in 2016