John Dyson, Lord Dyson

Dyson has an East European Jewish heritage. His mother was Bulgarian and his paternal grandparents Lithuanian. He was born in Yorkshire and educated at Leeds Grammar School. He studied the piano with Dame Fanny Waterman. He then studied classics at Wadham College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1968.

Dyson took silk in 1982 and was appointed a Recorder in 1986. He became a bencher of Middle Temple Inn in 1990. He was the head of 39 Essex Chambers from 1986 to 1993.

He was appointed to the Bench of the High Court on 30 March 1993,{{London Gazette |issue=53265 |date=2 April 1993 |page=5975}} sitting in the Queen's Bench Division, and received a knighthood. In 1994, he was appointed chairman of the Equal Treatment Advisory Committee of the Judicial College. In 1998, he became presiding judge of the Technology and Construction Court, a specialist part of the Queen's Bench Division.

On 11 January 2001, Dyson was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal, a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, in succession to Lord Justice Nourse,{{London Gazette |page=535 |issue=56092 |date=16 January 2001}} and was appointed to the Privy Council.{{cite web |url=http://www.privy-council.org.uk/files/pdf/010314_orders_in_council.pdf |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101103140224/http://www.privy-council.org.uk/files/pdf/010314_orders_in_council.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2010-11-03 |publisher=Privy Council Office |title=Orders for 14 March 2001}} In 2003, he was promoted to Deputy Head of Civil Justice.

Dyson was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom with effect from 12 April 2010,{{London Gazette |page=6839 |issue=59394 |date=19 April 2010}} and was sworn in on 19 April.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/apr/19/supreme-court-12th-justice |work=The Guardian |title=Sir John Dyson sworn in as 12th supreme court justice |first=Afua |last=Hirsch |date=19 April 2010 |access-date=19 April 2010}} His appointment brought the Supreme Court up to full strength by filling a vacancy that had existed since the court began work in October 2009. On appointment, he became the fourth Jewish judge of the 12 Supreme Court justices, alongside Lord Brown, Lord Collins and Lord Phillips.{{cite news|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/new-supreme-court-justice-lord-dyson-1.14776|title=New Supreme Court Justice Lord Dyson|last=Elgot|first=Jessica|date=26 March 2010|access-date=21 August 2019|work=The Jewish Chronicle}}

It was announced in December 2010 that, by Royal Warrant, all members of the Supreme Court, even if they did not hold a peerage, were entitled to the judicial courtesy title of "Lord" for life.{{cite web|url=http://www.supremecourt.uk/docs/pr_1013.pdf|title=Courtesy titles for Justices of the Supreme Court|publisher=Supreme Court of the United Kingdom|date=13 December 2010|access-date=14 December 2010}}{{London Gazette |issue=59746 |date=1 April 2011 |pages=6177–6178 }} Dyson was the first Supreme Court Justice to whom this applied, and he gained the courtesy title Lord Dyson.

According to Standpoint, he was said to have come a "close second" to Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury to succeed Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-Ebony as Master of the Rolls in 2009.{{cite web |title=New Master of the Rolls |url=http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/1909 |work=Standpoint |date=5 July 2009 |access-date=20 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323005659/http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/1909 |archive-date=23 March 2010 |url-status=dead }} In the event, Dyson was appointed Master of the Rolls with effect from 1 October 2012{{London Gazette |issue=60289 |page=19046 |date=4 October 2012}} as was widely expected following the announcement of Neuberger's appointment (also with effect from 1 October) as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in July 2012.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/jul/12/lord-neuberger-announced-supreme-court-president |title=Lord Neuberger to be announced as supreme court president |date=12 July 2012 |access-date=14 July 2012 |first=Joshua |last=Rozenberg |work=The Guardian}}{{cite web |url=http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/neuberger-gets-top-job-supreme-court |title=Neuberger gets top job at Supreme Court |work=Law Society Gazette |date=12 July 2012 |access-date=14 July 2012 |first=Catherine |last=Baksi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717004832/http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/neuberger-gets-top-job-supreme-court |archive-date=17 July 2012 |url-status=dead }} From 2012 to 2016, he was Chairman of the Magna Carta Trust and of the Advisory Council to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on National Records and Archives. He was chairman of the British Friends of the Hebrew University's legal group.{{cite news|url=https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/new-supreme-court-justice-lord-dyson-1.14776|title=New Supreme Court Justice Lord Dyson|last=Elgot|first=Jessica|date=26 March 2010|access-date=21 August 2019|work=The Jewish Chronicle}}

Dyson retired and was replaced by Sir Terence Etherton as Master of the Rolls on 3 October 2016. He was Treasurer of Middle Temple for 2017.[http://www.middletemple.org.uk/about-us/governance/officers-of-the-inn/past-treasurers-of-the-inn "Past Treasurers of the Inn"], Middle Temple website In September 2019 Lord Dyson published his autobiography, A Judge's Journey.Hart Publishing (5 Sept. 2019) {{ISBN|978-1509927845}} In a study published in 2024, he is recorded as openly critical of Lord Hope of Craighead in publishing Diaries revealing Lord Hope's account of judicial panel deliberations and confidential conversations between judges.Mallory, C. and Tyrrell, H., 2024. The Extrajudicial Voice. Legal Studies, 44(1), pp.1-20

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/3A343844D846982771084E4B4CA0850D/S0261387524000023a.pdf/the-extrajudicial-voice.pdf Retrieved 19 April 2024

He has returned to 39 Essex Chambers to practise as an arbitrator and mediator.

In 2013, Dyson was awarded honorary degrees of LLD by Essex University and University College, London. In 2014, he was awarded an honorary degree of LLD by Leeds University.

He is a visiting professor of law at Queen Mary, London and University College, London.

He is an honorary fellow of Wadham College, Oxford and the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

He has been married to Jacqueline Levy since 1970. They have a daughter and a son. He has said that being Jewish is a core part of his identity.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/aug/21/former-top-judge-lambasts-recent-ministers-in-memoir|title=Former top judge lambasts Grayling and Truss in memoir|last=Bowcott|first=Owen|date=21 August 2019|access-date=21 August 2019|work=The Guardian}}

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|image = Sir John Anthony Dyson Achievement.png

|notes = Displayed on a wall at the Middle Temple. Based on a sketch by his grandson Justin, involving "white roses of Yorkshire, stars of David, piano keys and mountains".{{cite book|title=A Judge's Journey |author=Lord Dyson |date=5 September 2019}}}}

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Category:1943 births

Category:Living people

Category:People educated at Leeds Grammar School

Category:Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford

Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

Category:Knights Bachelor

Category:Masters of the Rolls

Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom