Lord Justice Edis appointed Deputy Head of Criminal Justice
Following consultation with the Lord Chancellor, the Lady Chief Justice has appointed Lord Justice Edis as the new Deputy Head of Criminal Justice, succeeding Dame Victoria Sharp.
His appointment will take effect from 1 October 2026 and will be for a term of four years.
Background
Lord Justice Edis was called to the Bar (Middle Temple) in 1980 and took Silk in 1997. He became a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2004. From 2000 to 2006, he served as Head of Chambers at Atlantic Chambers, Liverpool. He was appointed Senior Treasury Counsel at the Central Criminal Court (commonly known as the Old Bailey) from 2008 to 2014.
He was appointed an Assistant Recorder in 1994, a Recorder in 1999, a Deputy High Court Judge in 2001 and a High Court Judge in the then Queen’s Bench Division in 2014. He served as a Presiding Judge for the South Eastern Circuit from 2018 to 2020, acting as Lead Presiding Judge in 2020.
Lord Justice Edis was a member of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal from 2016 to 2023. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in January 2021. He served as Deputy Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales from 2021 to 2022, and subsequently as Senior Presiding Judge from 2022 to 2024. As Senior Presiding Judge, he chaired the Crown Court Improvement Group (later the Criminal Courts Improvement Group), supporting collaborative operational improvement across the criminal justice system and the courts.
He has served as the Vice-President of the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division and Vice Chair of the Sentencing Council since August 2025, and will continue in those roles alongside his appointment as Deputy Head of Criminal Justice.