Lord Justice Wilson presented with Honorary Doctorate from Oxford Brookes University

Nicholas Wilson, Lord Wilson of Culworth, has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by Oxford Brookes University, in recognition of his lengthy and distinguished service in the courts of the UK, particularly in the field of family law and human rights

Nicholas read law at Worcester College, Oxford, and was called to the Bar in 1967 where he specialised in family law.

In 1987 he was appointed Queen’s Counsel and as a part-time judge known as a Recorder.

In 1993 he became a judge of the High Court, Family Division, and so a knighthood was conferred on him. In 2005 he was promoted to the Court of Appeal, then in 2011 he became a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and was given the honorary title of Lord Wilson of Culworth.

In 2020, at the age of 75, Lord Wilson retired from the Supreme Court. He now acts as an arbitrator and mediator and teaches from time to time at the University of Oxford, where he is a visiting professor.

Lord Wilson has spoken passionately about the importance of the legal aid system, without which in his view grand legal principles are of little value. His involvement in the Supreme Court in many cases relating to the European Convention on Human Rights has made him an ardent defender of the Convention.

Lord Wilson is a keen follower of horseracing. When he was a barrister a grateful client named a racehorse after him. It was called Nick the Brief and twice won the Irish Gold Cup. He also does a great deal to help prospective lawyers pursue a legal career and he judged the Oxford Brookes School of Law Mooting Grand Final in the Supreme Court. He was hugely impressed with the calibre of the mooters.