What do judges do after they retire? What constraints have they traditionally been under, and do these constraints remain? Until recently, judges of the four UK jurisdictions were subject to a convention that governed their behaviour in retirement. This convention—the judicial retirement convention—had two parts. Firstly, it required former judges to be circumspect, especially about politics and their work on the bench. Secondly, it prohibited them from returning to practice at the bar, which included non-regulated activities such as paid legal opinions. Drawing on a database of all United Kingdom judges who retired at High Court (or equivalent) level and above between 1950 and 2020, and 21 interviews with judges, barristers and officials, we conclude that the retirement convention is now ineffective, if not completely dead. Judges in the UK now return to some form of legal practice in large numbers. There is now scepticism and confusion about the convention to such a degree that the convention exercises limited influence on post-bench behaviour. At the same time, the relevant professional or institutional regulators have all withdrawn from this aspect of legal and judicial practice. The result is that judicial retirement is now completely unregulated. Our view is that this is a retrograde development. We suggest revitalising the convention, and recommend a mixture of voluntary guidance and professional regulation.
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O'Brien, Patrick Yong, BenAnderson, Sam
School of Law and Social Sciences
Year of publication: 2024Date of RADAR deposit: 2024-09-06