Lord Justice Cobb appointed President of the Family Division
His Majesty The King has been pleased to approve the appointment of The Rt Hon Lord Justice Cobb as the President of the Family Division.
This appointment follows the retirement of Sir Andrew McFarlane.
The Lady Chief Justice said:
“I am delighted that His Majesty has announced the appointment of Lord Justice Cobb as President of the Family Division.
“His time as Chair of the former President of the Family Division’s Private Law Working Group and experience as Family Presiding Judge for the North Eastern Circuit, along with his leadership role during the HMCTS Reform Programme, make him ideally suited to this position.”
Biography
The Rt Hon Lord Justice Stephen Cobb was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1985 and took Silk in 2003. He started his judicial career as a Recorder in 2004 and was authorised to hear cases under section 9(1) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 in 2009.
He was appointed as a High Court Judge in 2013 and was assigned to the Family Division; he also sat in the Administrative Court of the Kings Bench Division and was a nominated judge of the Court of Protection.
He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in June 2024, and took his place in 2025. He served as a Family Presiding Judge (North Eastern Circuit) between 2015 and 2021.
The appointment
The appointment of the President of the Family Division was made by His Majesty The King on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor following the recommendation of an independent selection panel chaired by Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, the Lady Chief Justice. The other panel members were: Lord Lloyd-Jones (Justice of the Supreme Court), and three lay Judicial Appointments Commissioners namely, Professor Chris Bones (lay JAC Commissioner), Professor Clare McGlynn (lay JAC Commissioner) and Uche Igbokwe (non-legally qualified judicial JAC Commissioner).
The President is the Head of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice and may sit as of right in the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Family Court either alone or as part of a panel. He is also Head of Family Justice, Head of Probate, President of the Court of Protection and chairs both the Family Procedure Rule Committee and Family Justice Council.
Role of the President of the Family Division (PFD)
The Family Court exists to help families resolve disputes quickly, with the minimum of disruption to those involved, and in the least adversarial way.
As well as being Head of Family Justice, the PFD oversees the work of the 19 judges that make up the Family Division of the High Court. These judges determine cases relating to public law care proceedings, private law child arrangements, divorce, including disputes over children, property or money; and adoption, medical treatment, wardship, surrogacy and other matters. They also hear appeals from certain decisions made by Circuit Judges and Recorders in the Family Court.
The Family Division also deals with undisputed matters of probate – the legal recognition of the validity of a will – in the Probate Registry of the Family Division in London, and the 11 probate registries in England and Wales.
The PFD is also chair of both the Family Procedure Rule Committee and Family Justice Council.