Lord Dyson

Former Justice of the Supreme Court & Master of the Rolls (President of the Court of Appeal in England and Wales, and Head of Civil Justice)

Lord Dyson was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court in 2010 and Master of the Rolls (President of the Court of Appeal in England and Wales, and Head of Civil Justice) in 2012.  Since retiring from the Bench in 2016 he returned to 39 Essex Chambers, where he was Head of Chambers for many years, and is now appointed as an arbitrator, mediator, chair of inquiries and legal expert.

Lord Dyson has been appointed both as presider and co-arbitrator under a variety of rules, including ICC, LCIA, DIAC, UNCITRAL and ad-hoc across the spectrum of international commercial and construction disputes.

Some of Lord Dyson’s most high-profile work has included his appointment by the BBC to conduct the inquiry into Panorama’s interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, and as chair by the Financial Reporting Council in relation to Deloitte’s audit of Autonomy’s accounts.  He also led a group instructed to advise on the modernisation of the Civil Justice Procedure of Cyprus.

Lord Dyson has a particular interest in sport related disputes and is a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS); the Sport Resolutions Arbitration Panel; and the Football Association Judicial Panel.  He  was chair of panels including those which considered Saracens’ overspend under the Salary Cap Scheme and the appeal of South Shields Football Club following the Football Association’s decision to end the season early as a result of the pandemic.

He is the author of Justice, Continuity and Change (2018) and A Judge’s Journey (2019).  He is also a member of the Council of Justice.

He is an Honorary Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford; the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies; and the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He has honorary doctorates from University College, London and the Universities of Leeds and Essex.

Lord Dyson was awarded the ‘Chambers Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the Chambers UK Bar Awards 2021.