In memoriam: The Right Honourable Lord Justice William Davis
Lord Justice William Davis passed away on Saturday 7 June 2025 at the age of 70. On behalf of the entire judiciary of England and Wales, I have offered our deepest condolences to Lady Davis and their children at this very sad time.
Lord Justice William Davis was called to the Bar in Birmingham in 1976, where his practice consisted primarily of criminal and personal injury work. He was appointed an Assistant Recorder in 1992, a Recorder in 1995 and QC in 1998. He was head of St Philips Chambers from 2004 to 2008.
He was appointed to the Circuit Bench in 2008. During 2009 he was appointed a Deputy High Court Judge, a Senior Circuit Judge and the Honorary Recorder of Birmingham. He was appointed to the High Court Bench in May 2014 and was a Presiding Judge of the Northern Circuit from 2016 to 2019.
He was the Judicial Lead on Youth Justice from June 2014 until November 2022 and was Director of Criminal Training for the Judicial College from 2014 to 2019. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in October 2021, where he specialised in criminal cases, delivering judgments of the highest quality, in particular in relation to sentencing. He was appointed Chair of the Sentencing Council in 2022, having been a judicial member between 2012 and 2015. He fully intended to carry on this role, demonstrating both his courage and sense of duty.
Lord Justice William Davis was a fearless judge with outstanding expertise in criminal law – always a valuable source of wisdom, experience and good sense – one of the very best criminal judges of his generation. He was also a much loved colleague and friend to the judges and so many others.
He was, as ever, hard at work right up until the day before his death, with his characteristic good humour and dry wit. He loved his work; he never had too much of it, and it was never an unwelcome burden for him. He will be greatly missed and we share in a collective mourning at the passing of a great judge and a good man.
The Rt Hon the Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill
June 2025