Rabinder Singh

Sir Rabinder Singh, PC (born 6 March 1964 ), styled '''The Rt.

Hon. Lord Justice Singh''', is a British Court of Appeal judge and President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, formerly a High Court judge of the Queen's Bench Division, a King's Counsel and barrister, formerly a founding member of Matrix Chambers and a legal academic.

Rabinder Singh was born in 1964 in Delhi to a Sikh family.

He grew up in a working-class part of Bristol and attended the private Bristol Grammar School.

From an early age Singh had an interest in law and liked the thought of one day becoming an advocate.

At Trinity College, Cambridge, he earned a double first in law in 1985.

Between 1985 and 1986 Singh spent a year as a Harkness Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley studying for his LL.M.

During his time at Berkeley he became interested in constitutional law, particularly misuse of power and how the law holds those in power to account.

This interest was partly fuelled by the late Professor Frank Newman at Berkeley, a pioneer in the field of human rights law and by his studies on the United States Constitution at Berkeley.

When Singh returned to England from California in 1986, he became a law lecturer at the University of Nottingham for 2 years.

In 1988 he attended the Inns of Court School of Law to undertake his final examinations, and he was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in July 1989.

Singh undertook pupillage at the barristers' chambers 4–5 Gray's Inn Square where he became a tenant in 1990.

He remained there for 10 years specialising in public and administrative law, employment law, European Community law, human rights law, commercial law and media law.

In the late 1990s Singh was a visiting fellow at Queen Mary University of London.

From 1992 to 2002 he was one of the Junior Counsel to the Crown (from 2000 on the A Panel).

From 1997 to 2002 Singh was Additional Junior Counsel to the Inland Revenue.

Singh, Booth and 5 other tenants from 4–5 Gray's Inn Square, together with 16 barristers from other chambers, set up Matrix Chambers in 2000.

With the formation of Matrix, none of the five silks signed up to Matrix at the time was estimated to earn much more than £200,000 a year, Singh however was believed to be the biggest earner of them all.

One senior clerk said: "The problem they will have is that Rabinder Singh is by far their biggest earner. He will be carrying the rent which could cause a lot of internal politics."

Singh has since gone on to be named the Barrister of the Year by the Lawyer Magazine in 2001 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2002.

Singh was appointed a deputy High Court judge in 2003.

Aged 39 when he was appointed, he was thought to be the youngest judge to sit in the High Court.

Singh was a visiting professor of law at the London School of Economics (LSE) from 2003 to 2009.

Singh was the Chair of the Bar Council Equality and Diversity Committee (Race and Religion) from 2004 to 2006, also, from 2006 to 2008 Singh was the Chair of the Constitutional and Administrative Law Bar Association.

In 2004 he became a Recorder (part-time judge) of the Crown Court.

In 2004 he was granted an honorary Doctorate of Laws by the London Metropolitan University.

He is acknowledged as a Leading Silk in Administrative and Public law; Singh is described by Chambers & Partners Legal 500 2006 as being "known for his expertise in cross-disciplinary work" and as "one of the most impressive younger silks" in the area of Administrative and Public laws.

In 2009 he was made a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn.

His appointment as a judge of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court was announced on 29 July 2011.

The appointment took effect on 3 October 2011, following the promotion of Mr Justice Kitchin to be a member of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.

He is the first Sikh to be made a High Court judge, and wears a turban rather than a wig while presiding.

Singh was sworn in as a High Court Judge at Royal Courts of Justice on Monday 10 October 2011.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said of Singh's appointment:

"The Government wants to create a society of aspiration, where people of ability feel free to aim to reach the highest offices of our country, regardless of their background, race or gender. The appointment of Mr Rabinder Singh QC, a talented and highly respected barrister, to the High Court, represents a real landmark in the drive to create a more diverse judiciary which continues to attract the highest quality candidates."

From 2013 to 2016 he was a Presiding Judge of the South Eastern Circuit and in 2017 he was the Administrative Court Liaison Judge for Wales and the Midlands & Western Circuits.

He was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in July 2017, the appointment taking effect on 2 October 2017.

He was sworn in on 5 October 2017.

He is the first person from any BAME community to be a member of the Court of Appeal.

As is customary for judges of the Court of Appeal he was appointed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the Privy Council.

In 2016, Singh joined the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, and he was appointed President on 27 September 2018.