[6] As a barrister he developed a specialist Chancery practice and appeared in a number of notable cases, including in particular (in the House of Lords) Street v Mountford.

[7] A member of the Social Democratic Party, Goodhart contested the safe Conservative constituency of Kensington in both the 1983 and 1987 general elections.

[9] In the 1992 general election he contested the winnable seat of Oxford West and Abingdon, now as a Liberal Democrats candidate.

[10] He was knighted on 14 February 1989[6][11] and was created a life peer as Baron Goodhart, of Youlbury in the County of Oxfordshire, on 23 October 1997.

[15] From 2007 to 2009, Goodhart was the Chairman of JUSTICE,[6] the UK section of the International Commission of Jurists, as well as serving as a Commissioner of the ICJ since 1993.