Senior judge Lord Sales to replace Lord Hodge as Supreme Court deputy president in January
The Supreme Court has announced that Lord Sales will become its new deputy president, succeeding Lord Hodge when he retires at the end of the year.
The appointment was confirmed on Thursday following approval by King Charles III, acting on the advice of the prime minister and the lord chancellor, and based on the recommendation of an independent selection commission. Lord Sales will take up his new post in January 2026.
Philip Sales, formally styled Lord Sales, has served as a justice of the Supreme Court since January 2019. He succeeds Lord Hodge, who has held the role of deputy president since 2020 and is due to retire after a distinguished judicial career spanning more than three decades.
Lord Sales began his legal career after being called to the Bar in 1985. He became a Queen’s Counsel, as the title then was, in 2006. Between 1999 and 2001, he sat as an assistant recorder before serving as a recorder from 2001 to 2008. During that same period, he was also appointed a deputy High Court judge, a position he held until his elevation to the High Court in 2008.
In his statement accepting the appointment, Lord Sales said: “It is a great honour to be appointed as the deputy president of the Supreme Court. The court has a reputation around the world as a source of leading judgments of the highest quality in all areas of law.
“As deputy president, I am looking forward to continuing to uphold the court’s traditions of integrity, impartiality and legal excellence. I am also looking forward to maintaining those same traditions in the work of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which is the other jurisdiction in which Supreme Court justices make a major contribution to the law.”
Lord Sales is widely regarded as one of the most intellectually accomplished members of the senior judiciary. Before joining the Supreme Court, he served as a Lord Justice of Appeal from 2014 to 2018. Earlier in his career, he was appointed to the Competition Appeal Tribunal, where he served between 2008 and 2015, and was vice president of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal between 2014 and 2015.
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His appointment follows the announcement of Lord Hodge’s retirement earlier this year. Lord Hodge has served as a justice of the Supreme Court since 2013 and as deputy president since 2020, during which time he also sat as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. His career has included key roles in the Scottish judiciary, including service as a Lord of Session and membership of the Commercial Court.
Supreme Court president Lord Reed praised his colleague’s appointment, describing Lord Sales as “recognised around the world as an outstanding judge”.
“As deputy president, he will make an even greater contribution to the work of the Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,” Lord Reed said. “I look forward to working with him in his new role.”
Lord Sales is expected to play a central role in the court’s ongoing efforts to enhance public understanding of its decisions and improve accessibility to justice. His background in complex commercial and public law cases is seen as a valuable asset to the leadership of the United Kingdom’s highest court.
The Supreme Court, established in 2009 to replace the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords, sits as the final court of appeal for civil cases across the United Kingdom and for criminal cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It also plays a constitutional role as the ultimate interpreter of UK law and a vital component of the separation of powers.
Lord Sales’s appointment ensures continuity at the top of the Supreme Court as it continues to handle some of the most significant legal and constitutional questions facing the country.