Jonathan Sumption, Lord Sumption

Lord Sumption
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
In office
11 January 2012 – 9 December 2018
Nominated byKenneth Clarke
Appointed byElizabeth II
Preceded byThe Lord Collins of Mapesbury
Succeeded byLord Sales
Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong
In office
18 December 2019 – 4 June 2024
Appointed byCarrie Lam
Personal details
Born (1948-12-09) 9 December 1948 (age 75)
NationalityBritish
Spouse(s)Teresa Sumption, née Whelan
Children2 daughters; 1 son
Parent(s)Anthony Sumption
Hilda Hedigan
Residence(s)London, England
EducationEton College
Alma materMagdalen College, Oxford
OccupationBarrister; judge
ProfessionLaw
Chinese name
Chinese耀
Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationSàhm Yiuh Seun
JyutpingSam4 Jiu6 Seon3
OBE ribbon

Jonathan Philip Chadwick Sumption, Lord Sumption, OBE, PC, FSA, FRHistS, KC (born 9 December 1948), is a British author, medieval historian, barrister and former senior judge who sat on the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2018, and a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal from 2019 to 2024.

Sumption was sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court on 11 January 2012, succeeding Lawrence Collins, Baron Collins of Mapesbury.[1] Exceptionally, he was appointed to the Supreme Court directly from the practising bar, without having been a full-time judge. He retired from the Supreme Court on 9 December 2018 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Sumption is well known for his role as a barrister in many legal cases. They include appearances in the Hutton Inquiry on HM Government's behalf,[2] in the Three Rivers case,[3] his representation of former Cabinet Minister Stephen Byers and the Department for Transport in the Railtrack private shareholders' action against the British Government in 2005,[4] for defending HM Government in an appeal hearing brought by Binyam Mohamed,[5] and for successfully defending Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in a private lawsuit brought by Boris Berezovsky.[6]

A former academic, Sumption was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2003 New Year Honours[7] and is also known for writing a substantial narrative history of the Hundred Years' War in five volumes. Sumption has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS) and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sumption criticised lockdowns and associated British government policies as economically harmful.[8]

  1. ^ "Jonathan Sumption QC to be sworn in as Supreme Court Justice" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  2. ^ Dodd (2003).
  3. ^ Law Lords Department (2000).
  4. ^ Irvine (2011).
  5. ^ Leigh (2010).
  6. ^ Croft (2012).
  7. ^ "No. 56797". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2002. p. 24.
  8. ^ Toynbee, Polly (7 April 2020). "Your money or your life? Coronavirus has sparked the latest culture war". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 September 2020.