Sir Nicholas Wall to retire as president of Family Division

Sir Nicholas Wall will retire as president of the Family Division and head of family justice on 1 December 2012 on the grounds of ill health, the Ministry of Justice has announced.

One of the best known judges in the country, Sir Nicholas was responsible for many leading family judgments, among them Kernott v Jones in 2010, which was overturned by the Supreme Court the following year.

Sir Nicholas, who cut Ms Jones’ share in the disputed property from 90 to 50 per cent, warned afterwards that new laws on cohabitation were needed to prevent women from being disadvantaged. The Supreme Court restored the trial judge’s ruling in Ms Jones’ favour in November 2011.

At the end of last year Sir Nicholas made parental orders in favour of a couple who obtained two children by paying surrogate mothers in India, despite admitting that it was unclear how much money the surrogates received and what was covered.

The president of the Family Division was called to the Bar in 1969, took silk in 1988 and became a recorder in 1990.

He was appointed a High Court judge (Family Division) in 1993 and to the Court of Appeal in 2004.

He was also a judge of the Employment Appeal Tribunal from 2001 to 2003 and member of the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Board on Family Law from 1997 to 2001.

Sir Nicholas became president of the Family Division and head of family justice for England and Wales in April 2010.

A spokesman for the Judicial Office said the Lord Chancellor had recently written to the Judicial Appointments Commission to request that a panel is convened to identify the successor to Sir Andrew Morritt, who retires as Chancellor of the High Court in January.

“The Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge has written to the Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling to request that the process for identifying the next president of the Family Division takes place at the same time,” he said.