'This is a great honour for the Law School and the Law Club. It is hoped that every undergraduate and post-graduate student will attend the Patron's lecture. Alumni are also invited to attend.' Sam Unsworth, President of the University of Bristol Law Club (UBLC).
The lecture subject is extremely topical following the Supreme Court decision in R v Jogee in February 2016 which reversed over 30 years of case law on joint enterprise. Lord Toulson jointly delivered the lead judgment in this landmark case where the Supreme Court held that the law had taken a wrong turn since the decision in Chan Wing-Siu in 1985.
Lord Toulson was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1969 and became a bencher in 1995. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1986 and served as a Recorder of the Crown Court from 1987 to 1996. In 1996, he was appointed to the High Court (Queen's Bench Division). He sat in the Commercial Court and in the Administrative Court and was then Presiding Judge on the Western Circuit from 1997 to 2002.
Between 2002 and 2006, Lord Toulson was Chairman of the Law Commission of England and Wales, after which he was appointed to the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in 2007. He has also served on the Judicial Appointments Commission for England and Wales.
Lord Toulson was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court in April 2013.