Judges
All judges sitting in the Old Bailey are addressed as "My Lord" or "My Lady" whether they are High Court, Circuit Judges or Recorders. The Lord Mayor of the City of London and Aldermen of the City of London are entitled to sit on the judges' bench during a hearing but do not participate in hearings. By tradition the judge sits slightly off-centre in case the Lord Mayor decides to come in; if he did he would take the centre chair.
The most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court has the title of Recorder of London, and his deputy has the title of Common Serjeant of London. The position of Recorder of London is distinct from that of recorder which is a part-time judicial office, holders of which sit part-time as judges of the Crown Court or the county courts. Some of the most senior criminal lawyers in the country sit as Recorders in the Central Criminal Court.
As of 2010 the Recorder of London is Judge Peter Beaumont QC, appointed in December 2004 following the death of his predecessor, Judge Michael Hyam. From 1975 to 1990 the very outspoken Sir James Miskin served as the Recorder of London with a number of controversial cases coming before him. The current Common Serjeant is Judge Brian Barker QC.
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Famous quotes containing the word judges:
“We do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but its fitting in is a test of its value—a test, it is true, which can only be slowly and cautiously applied, for we are none of us infallible judges of conformity.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“Science is the language of the temporal world; love is that of the spiritual world. Man, indeed, describes more than he explains; while the angelic spirit sees and understands. Science saddens man; love enraptures the angel; science is still seeking, love has found. Man judges of nature in relation to itself; the angelic spirit judges of it in relation to heaven. In short to the spirits everything speaks.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.”
—Bible: Hebrew Samson, in Judges 14:18.
To the men who had answered his riddle, “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.”