The permanent Judges of the Commercial Court are members of the King's Bench Division of the High Court who have been specially selected for their experience and expertise in commercial litigation. They are assigned to the Commercial Court under Section 6(2) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, which authorises the Lord Chief Justice to nominate members of the High Court to sit as Commercial Judges. (The same Section also authorises the Lord Chief Justice to nominate the Admiralty Judge, who is normally one of the Commercial Judges.) There are usually around fifteen nominated Judges at any time. Periodically, one of them is chosen to act as Judge In Charge, with overall responsibility for the running of the Court. The Judge In Charge sits in the Commercial Court throughout the legal year. Most of the other nominated Judges spend about half of each year in the Commercial Court, and deal with other types of King’s Bench business, such as criminal trials and cases in the Technology & Construction Court and the Administrative Court, for the rest of the year. This means that there are normally about eight or nine permanent Commercial Judges sitting in the Court at any one time. The Judge In Charge of the London Circuit Commercial Court (currently his Honour Judge Pelling QC) regularly sits as an additional Commercial Judge.

The Commercial Judges are supported by Deputy Judges, who sit on a part-time basis when the Court is particularly busy, and who are appointed by the Lord Chief Justice under Section 6(4) of the Senior Courts Act 1981. Deputy Judges are usually senior and experienced legal practitioners, and the Deputy Judges who are selected to sit in the Commercial Court are specialists in commercial litigation.

Retired Commercial Judges are authorised to sit as additional Judges until they reach the age of seventy-five.

Mr Justice Foxton is the current Judge In Charge of the Commercial Court.

Sir Andrew Baker went to school in Central Scotland, before studying mathematics at Merton College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar in 1988, and practised for twenty-seven years from 20 Essex Street. As a barrister, Sir Andrew was involved in a range of fields of commercial litigation, with particular expertise in shipping, insurance and reinsurance, international sale of goods, arbitration, conflicts of law, and international banking and derivatives trading. Sir Andrew was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2006. He was a Recorder and a Deputy High Court Judge before his appointment as a High Court Judge in 2016. Sir Andrew was appointed as the Admiralty Judge in 2020. He is formally known as “Mr Justice Andrew Baker”, to prevent confusion with other Judges with the same surname.

Sir Andrew Baker is one of the editors of ‘Time Charters’ (Informa). His recreational interests include music (both listening and playing) and high-performance cars.

After going to school in London, Sir Robert Bright went to St John’s College, Oxford, where he studied law both as an undergraduate and on the graduate and on the BCL graduate course. Called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1997, he joined 7 King’s Bench Walk and practised in a range of fields of commercial law and litigation, with particular prominence in shipping, commodities and sale of goods, and insurance and reinsurance. His international arbitration practice saw him appear as an advocate across Europe and in the Far East, and he frequently sat as an arbitrator himself in a variety of types of commercial dispute. Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2007, he became a Recorder in 2018 and a High Court Judge in 2023.

Sir Robert Bright is a keen gardener in his spare time.

Brought up in Lancashire, Sir Simon Bryan studied at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a first class degree in law. Sir Simon was called to the Bar in 1988, and became a member of Essex Court Chambers, where he specialised in particular in shipping, insurance and reinsurance, oil and gas litigation, and civil fraud. As a barrister, he was involved in a number of very large-scale cases, including the Lloyd’s Litigation and the public inquiry into the sinking of the bulk carrier ‘Derbyshire’. Sir Simon was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2006, as a Recorder in 2009, and as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2013. From 2015 to 2017, he was the Chief Justice of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the British Antarctic Territory, and the British Indian Ocean Territory. This made him responsible for the largest jurisdiction, in geographical terms, anywhere in the world. Sir Simon was appointed a High Court Judge in 2017, and became one of the Presiding Judges for the South Eastern Circuit in 2020.

Sir Simon Bryan enjoys outdoor activities, in particular winter sports and gardening.

Before he took to the law, Sir Christopher Butcher studied modern history at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was awarded a first class degree. In 1983, he was elected a Prize Fellow of All Soul’s College, Oxford. Sir Christopher was called to the Bar in 1986, and was awarded the University of Oxford’s prestigious Eldon Law Scholarship in 1987. He became a member of chambers at 7 King’s Bench Walk, where he specialised in particular in insurance and reinsurance, shipping, banking, and arbitration. Sir Christopher was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2001. He became a Recorder in 2009 and a Deputy High Court in 2013, and was appointed as a High Court Judge in 2018.

Sir Christopher Butcher retains a keen interest in history, and was awarded a PhD by the University of London in 2019. The subject of his thesis was Sir Thomas Talfourd, the early 19th Century English Radical politician, author, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas.

Sir Neil Calver was born in Dartford, Kent. After attending a local school, he studied law at Christ’s College Cambridge, and graduated with a first class degree. Sir Neil was called to the Bar in 1987. He practised from 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square and Brick Court Chambers, specialising in commercial law and arbitration. He also appeared in European/competition and public law cases, and practised in the British Virgin Islands and in Gibraltar as well as in England & Wales. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1996. Alongside his practice at the Bar, Sir Neil accepted appointments as an international arbitrator, and he served as a Recorder from 2009. He became a High Court Judge in 2020.

Sir Neil Calver was Kent County Chess Champion at several age levels during his schooldays. He enjoys opera, and supports Charlton Athletic.

Dame Sara Cockerill was born in Weston-Super-Mare, but grew up near London. After beginning her education at a local state primary school, she was awarded a local authority scholarship to attend the Lady Eleanor Holles School in Hampton. She then studied law at St Anne’s College, Oxford, where she obtained a first class degree and was awarded the University’s prestigious Eldon Law Scholarship. Dame Sara was called to the Bar in 1990, joined Essex Court Chambers in 1991, and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2011. During her career at the Bar, Dame Sara practised in a variety of areas of commercial law, including shipping, insurance and reinsurance, commodities and sale of goods, and conflicts of laws. She acquired a niche speciality in the law relating to compelled evidence in English proceedings, and is the author of the only text on that topic, ‘The Law & Practice of Compelled Evidence in Civil Proceedings’. Dame Sara sat as an arbitrator and as a Deputy High Court Judge before being appointed as a High Court Judge in 2017. As well as being a Commercial Judge, she is nominated to sit in the Technology & Construction Court

A published historian, Dame Sara Cockerill is the author of the only full account of the life of Edward I’s beloved Queen, Eleanor of Castile (Amberley, 2015). More recently, she published a thorough re-assessment of the rather more well-biographied Eleanor of Aquitaine (Amberley, 2019). 

Dame Julia Dias was born and grew up in Cambridge. After going to school in the city, she was awarded a scholarship to Trinity Hall, where she studied law and graduated with a first class degree. She was called to the Bar in 1982, and became the first female tenant at 7 King’s Bench Walk. At the Bar, Dame Julia practised in a range of commercial fields, with a particular focus on shipping, insurance and reinsurance, and professional negligence litigation involving legal and insurance professionals. She was also a member of the Gibraltar Bar, and practised internationally in commercial arbitration, both as an advocate and as an arbitrator. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2008. Dame Julia was appointed as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2018, and as Judge of the King’s Bench Division in 2023. She is one of the authors of ‘Carver On Charterparties’, the modern incarnation of one of the classic texts on English shipping law.

Dame Julia Dias’s indoors leisure activities include classical music and reading. In the open air, she enjoys walking, running, and gardening.

The current Judge In Charge of the Commercial Court, Sir David Foxton grew up in Somerset, and completed his education in Glasgow and at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied law and was awarded first class BA and BCL degrees and the University’s prestigious Eldon Law Scholarship. He was called to the Bar in 1989, and joined Essex Court Chambers in 1990. During his career at the commercial Bar, Sir David specialised in particular in shipping, international trade, banking, oil and gas, international commercial arbitration, and civil fraud. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2006, and became a Recorder in 2009 and a Deputy High Court Judge in 2016. Sir David was appointed as a High Court Judge in 2020. A devotee of the life and doings of one of his early Commercial Court predecessors, T.E. Scrutton, Sir David is both Scrutton’s biographer (‘The Life of Thomas E. Scrutton’, Cambridge, 2013) and the main editor of the modern version of ‘Scrutton on Charterparties & Bills of Lading’, which was first published under Scrutton’s own authorship in 1886.

Sir David Foxton is a student of history, particularly modern legal history. His PhD thesis presented a critical analysis of the work of the English judiciary during the Great War, while ‘Revolutionary Lawyers’ (Four Courts, 2008) explores the rather counter-intuitive relationship between Irish Republicanism and the British legal system in the early part of the 20th Century.

Sir Andrew Henshaw was born in Northamptonshire, and was educated in a local state school before studying law at Downing College, Cambridge. He began his career as a solicitor. He spent fourteen years as a litigation lawyer at Linklaters, where he was a partner from 1994-2000 and qualified as a solicitor advocate. Sir Andrew changed career paths in 2000, when he was called to the Bar. He joined Brick Court Chambers, practising in commercial law with a European law emphasis, and also in public law. Sir Andrew was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2013, and became a Deputy High Court Judge in 2017. He was appointed to the High Court in 2019.

Sir Andrew Henshaw enjoys both indoor and outdoor leisure pursuits, and in particular music, bridge, and skiing.

Growing up in London, Sir Richard Jacobs went to school in Highgate and then studied law at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1979, and became a member of Essex Court Chambers. Sir Richard practised in a range of fields of commercial law, including shipping, shipbuilding, international sale of goods, reinsurance and reinsurance, and oil and gas. He had a substantial practice in international commercial arbitration, including regularly sitting as an arbitrator. He also became an expert in litigation relating to the Bermuda Form, and is one of the authors of ‘Liability Insurance In International Arbitration: The Bermuda Form’. Sir Richard was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1998, as a Recorder in 2002, and as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2017. He became a High Court Judge in 2018.

Sir Richard Jacobs plays tennis and piano, and enjoys watching cricket and football: he is a member of the MCC, and supports Arsenal.

Sir Robin Knowles went to school in Kent and studied law at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1982, and joined South Square Chambers, where he had a commercial practice with an emphasis on banking and financial aspects. Sir Robin was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1999, and he became a Recorder in 2000 and a Deputy High Court Judge in 2006. An active member of the Commercial Bar Association, Sir Robin was Chairman of the Association from 2005 to 2007. He also participated in a number of initiatives relating to the justice system and the legal professions, including the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules, the Rolls Building project, and the reform of the Queen’s Counsel appointment system. Sir Robin was appointed as a High Court Judge in 2014. “Knowles” is a popular name for High Court Judges, and Sir Robin is formally known as “Mr Justice Robin Knowles” to prevent confusion.

Sir Robin Knowles is a long-standing champion of legal pro bono services, and was awarded the CBE in 2007 in recognition of his work in this area. He is a local history enthusiast, with a particular interest in the story of London’s East End.

His Honour Judge Mark Pelling KC went to both school and university in London, obtaining his degree from King’s College. He was called to the Bar in 1979 and specalised in commercial litigation and international commercial arbitration, latterly from 3 Verulam Buildings. Judge Pelling was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2003. He sat as an arbitrator, a mediator, and a Recorder, before he was appointed as a Specialist Senior Circuit Judge in 2006. In the first part of his judicial career, Judge Pelling was the specialist Judge responsible for Chancery cases in Birmingham, and also sat as an additional Judge of the Chancery Division in London. In 2019, he was appointed Judge in charge of the London Circuit Commercial Court. In addition to his responsibilities in the London Circuit Commercial Court, Judge Pelling frequently sits as an additional Judge of the Commercial Court.

His Honour Judge Mark Pelling is an outdoors enthusiast, and enjoys sailing, fishing, and shooting.

Sir Simon Picken went to school in Wales, and then studied law at University College, Cardiff, and at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1989. Sir Simon practised commercial law from 7 King’s Bench Walk. He specialised in particular in insurance and re-insurance, and is one of the authors of ‘Good Faith In Insurance Contracts’. He was also heavily involved in shipping, oil and gas, and professional negligence litigation. Sir Simon became a Recorder in 2005, and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2006. He became a Deputy High Court Judge in 2010, and was a Church Commissioner from 2013 to 2015, when he became a High Court Judge. Sir Simon has been one of the Presiding Judges for the Welsh Circuit since 2018.

Sir Simon Picken’s main leisure interests are Rugby Union and Italy.

Sir David Waksman went to school in Newcastle, then studied law at the University of Manchester and at St Catharine’s College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar in 1982, and practiced commercial law from Fountain Court Chambers. Sir David became a Recorder in 2001, and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2002. In 2007, he joined the Bench as a Specialist Senior Circuit Judge, and returned to Manchester as a Judge of the Manchester Circuit Commercial Court. Sir David then became the Judge in charge of the London Circuit Commercial Court in 2015, before appointment as a High Court Judge in 2018. In addition to his work in the Commercial Court, Sir David is a nominated Judge of the Technology & Construction Court, and he is a designated Planning Judge in the Administrative Court.