The EWI were extremely sad to hear of the death of Lord Kerr yesterday. Lord Kerr had served as the President of the Institute from 2014 and only stepped down from the role at the end of September 2020.
He most recently gave the keynote speech at the EWI Online Conference on the 18th September, offering his reflections on his career spanning 50 years in Law and offered his thoughts on current issues and the impact of Covid-19 on the Courts.
In 1993, Brian Kerr was appointed a Judge of the High Court and knighted, and in 2004 was appointed Lord Chief Justice and sworn of the Privy Council.
As is tradition for the Lord Chief Justice, he succeeded Lord Carswell as the Northern Irish Lord of Appeal in Ordinary upon the latter's retirement.
On 29 June 2009, he was created Baron Kerr of Tonaghmore, of Tonaghmore in the County of Down, and was introduced to the House of Lords the same day. He was the last person to be appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (and therefore the last to be given a law life peerage under the 1876 Act), and on 1 October 2009 he became one of the inaugural Justices of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He was also the youngest member, at age 61. He was succeeded as Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland on 3 July 2009 by Sir Declan Morgan.
Lord Kerr dissented from the controversial judgment of the Supreme Court in R v Gnango, in which the court held that a person could be an accessory to their own murder.
In 2014, Ulster University awarded Lord Kerr an honorary doctorate in law.
Simon Berney-Edwards, Chief Executive of the EWI, said Lord Kerr was a warm-hearted, generous indidividual who was extremely supportive of the Institute. Both the Board of Governors and the staff team were saddened to hear of his death and wish to offer their sincere condolences to his family.