Brian Langstaff
{{Short description|British judge (born 1948)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox Judge
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name = Sir Brian Langstaff
| honorific-suffix =
| image =
| caption =
| office1 = Justice of the High Court
| term_start1 = 3 October 2005
| term_end1 = 30 April 2018
| office2 = President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal
| term_start2 = 1 January 2012
| term_end2 = 31 December 2015
| predecessor2 = Mr Justice Underhill
| successor2 = Mrs Justice Simler
| birth_name = Brian Frederick James Langstaff
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|04|30|df=y}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| spouse = {{marriage|Deborah Weatherup|1975}}
| alma_mater = St Catharine's College, Cambridge
}}
Sir Brian Frederick James Langstaff (born 30 April 1948) is a British judge. Called to the Bar at the Middle Temple, he served as a High Court judge from 2005 to 2018 as Mr Justice Langstaff, and was the president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal from 2012 to 2015.
From 2018 to 2024, Langstaff chaired the Infected Blood Inquiry, which investigated the causes and effects of the contaminated blood scandal in the United Kingdom from the 1970s to the 1990s. In his seven-volume final report, Langstaff found that the scandal could "largely, though not entirely, have been avoided", and that successive governments and the National Health Service covered up the risk to patients who received infected blood products.
Early life and education
Langstaff was born on 30 April 1948 to Frederick and Muriel Langstaff ({{nee|Griffin}}). He was educated at George Heriot's School, Edinburgh, and then at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Before his legal career, he worked in Sri Lanka with VSO in 1966 and 1967.{{Who's Who |title=Langstaff, Hon. Sir Brian (Frederick James) |year=2023 |id=U23796 |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U23796}}
Legal career
In 1971, Langstaff was called to the Bar of England and Wales at the Middle Temple, where he received the Harmsworth Scholarship in 1975. He became a bencher of the Middle Temple in 2001. Langstaff was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1994,{{London Gazette |date=19 April 1994 |issue=53646 |page=5807}} and became a recorder for the South Eastern Circuit in 1995.{{London Gazette |date=1 February 1995 |issue=53942 |page=1439}}
Langstaff was appointed a justice of the High Court on 3 October 2005{{London Gazette |date=7 October 2005 |issue=57779 |page=12971}} and assigned to the Queen's Bench Division.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jaXOWG6yLwwC |title=Whitaker's Almanack 2012 |date=2011 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=318 |access-date=18 September 2021 |isbn=9781408130124 |quote=Law Courts and Offices: Hon. Sir Brian Langstaff, born 1948, apptd 2005.}} He became the president of the Employment Appeal Tribunal from 1 January 2012, succeeding Mr Justice Underhill,{{cite web |url=http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/media/media-releases/2011/new-president-employment-appeal-tribunal-appointed-30092011 |title=New President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal appointed |publisher=Courts and Tribunals Judiciary |date=30 September 2011 |access-date=2 December 2011 |archive-url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20111202163933/http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/media/media-releases/2011/new-president-employment-appeal-tribunal-appointed-30092011 |archive-date=2 December 2011 |url-status=dead}} and was succeeded by Mrs Justice Simler on 1 January 2016.{{cite web |url=https://employmentcasesupdate.co.uk/content/mrs-justice-simler-appointed-as-president-of-the-employment-appeal-tribunal.700e583cc79246d69a5516427afc0f62.htm |title=Mrs Justice Simler appointed as President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal |date=17 December 2015 |website=Employment Cases Update |access-date=24 May 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://www.judiciary.uk/courts-and-tribunals/tribunals/employment-appeal-tribunal/about-the-employment-appeal-tribunal/ |title=About the Employment Appeal Tribunal |publisher=Courts and Tribunals Judiciary |access-date=24 May 2024}}
Langstaff was appointed on 8 February 2018 to chair the Infected Blood Inquiry, which investigated the contaminated blood scandal in the United Kingdom during the 1970s to the 1990s. He retired from the High Court on 30 April 2018{{cite web |url=https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/senior-judiciary-list/ |title=Senior Judiciary |publisher=Courts and Tribunals Judiciary |access-date=18 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628184318/https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/senior-judiciary-list/ |archive-date=28 June 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/announcements/high-court-retirement-of-the-honourable-sir-brian-frederick-james-langstaff/ |title=High Court: Retirement of The Honourable Sir Brian Frederick James Langstaff |publisher=Courts and Tribunals Judiciary |date=1 May 2018 |access-date=1 June 2018 |archive-url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20180601154103/https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/announcements/high-court-retirement-of-the-honourable-sir-brian-frederick-james-langstaff/ |archive-date=1 June 2018 |url-status=dead}} to work full-time on the inquiry.{{cite web |title=The Chair |url=https://www.infectedbloodinquiry.org.uk/about/the-chair/ |publisher=Infected Blood Inquiry |access-date=24 May 2024}} In an interim report published in July 2022, Langstaff concluded that the 4,000 victims were provisionally entitled to £100,000 each and the payments ought to be made quickly.{{Cite news |date=29 July 2022 |title=Infected blood victims set for £400m in compensation |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/health-62341459 |access-date=2022-07-29}}{{cite news | author= |date=29 July 2022 |title=Infected blood victims 'should be paid £100,000 each without delay'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/07/29/infected-blood-scandal-victims-should-paid-least-100000/ |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=29 July 2022 |quote=In an interim report, Sir Brian Langstaff said payments should be made "without delay" to those infected or to their bereaved partners.}}
= Notable cases =
- Thompson v Arnold (2007) Legal case concerning damages already awarded where death ensued
- Van Wees v Karkour (2007) Road traffic accident personal injury case with significance for the assessment of damages
Personal life
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:People educated at George Heriot's School
Category:Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
Category:Members of the Middle Temple
Category:Queen's Bench Division judges
Category:British King's Counsel
Category:20th-century King's Counsel
Category:21st-century King's Counsel
Category:20th-century British judges
Category:21st-century British judges
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
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