Sir Terence Etherton to become next Master of the Rolls

Sir Terence Etherton has been chosen as the next Master of the Rolls and will take up the position in October this year when Lord Dyson retires, it has been announced.

Sir Terence has been a High Court judge since January 2001, assigned to the Chancery Division.

Subsequent appointments saw him become Chairman of the Law Commission in 2006, a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2008, and Chancellor of the High Court, head of the Chancery Division, in 2013.

The Master of the Rolls is the Head of Civil Justice and the second most senior judge (after the Lord Chief Justice) in England and Wales.

In the role Sir Terence will also chair a range of bodies including the Civil Procedure Rule Committee, the Civil Justice Council, the Advisory Council on National records and Archives and the Magna Carta Trust.

The appointment of the Master of the Rolls was made by Her Majesty The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor following the recommendation of an independent selection panel chaired by Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, the Lord Chief Justice.

Lord Thomas said: "I am delighted to congratulate Sir Terence Etherton on his appointment as Master of the Rolls. Following his excellent work as Chancellor over the last three years, I look forward to continuing to work with him closely in the major reform of our system of justice.”