Lord Dyson's appointment as MR leaves gap at Supreme Court

Lord Dyson will leave the Supreme Court and become Master of the Rolls on 1 October 2012, it was announced yesterday.

The current MR, Lord Neuberger, will become the new president of the Supreme Court on that day, replacing Lord Phillips, who is retiring.

This means that one of Lord Neuberger's first tasks is likely to be to lead the hunt for a new justice, as chairman of the selection panel.

A Supreme Court spokesman said that the number of justices would fall from 12 to 11 after Lord Phillips retired on 30 September.

He said this meant the Supreme Court may have to call in other senior judges, to take Lord Dyson's place in the cases he was due to hear.

Under the Constitutional Reform Act, the Supreme Court can call on the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, or any of the lord justices of appeal or their equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Retired justices, such as Lord Collins or Lord Phillips, could also be drafted in to help.

The announcement that the Queen had approved the appointment of Lord Dyson as Master of the Rolls was made by Downing Street.

Lord Dyson was called to the Bar in 1968, and took Silk in 1982. He was appointed to the High Court (Queen's Bench Division) in 1993 and was Presiding Judge of the Technology and Construction Court from 1998 to 2001.

After that he was appointed to the Court of Appeal and was Deputy Head of Civil Justice from 2003 to 2006. He was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court in April 2010.

The appointment was made by The Queen on the advice of the prime minister and the Lord Chancellor following the recommendation of an independent selection panel chaired by Lord Phillips.