CILEX lawyer appointed a recorder
Nick Hanning has become the first CILEX lawyer appointed to the post of recorder, meaning he can preside in the County, Family or Crown Court, with broadly the same jurisdiction as a circuit judge.
The Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, has deployed him to the South Eastern Circuit, where he will sit in Family.
It was only last year that the government updated the law so that suitably qualified CILEX lawyers could apply to become recorders and Upper Tribunal judges, where previously they were unable to apply for posts higher than district judge. Nick has been a deputy district judge since 2020.
He says: ‘A key part of being a judge is about listening to and evaluating evidence and applying the law to the facts as you find them to be; it is not about how you qualified. CILEX lawyers develop these skills as much as solicitors and barristers do, and I would strongly encourage others to look at how a judicial role can help advance them and their careers.’
CILEX chair Professor Chris Bones said: ‘We congratulate Nick on this major landmark, one achieved purely on merit. He has been a pioneer for the profession in many ways and has all the attributes needed for an appointment like this.
‘Increasing the diversity of professional background and perspective on the bench is one of the reasons the government changed the law last year. Nick’s appointment also demonstrates another important step forward for CILEX in achieving equality of opportunity for our members.’
Nick specialises in cases involving employment, discrimination and occupational health law. He has particular expertise in cases involving work-related psychiatric injury. He acted for the claimant in the seminal House of Lords case of Majrowski v Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Trust [2005] EWCA Civ 251, which established the principle of vicarious liability of employers under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
