Wyn Williams

Sir
Wyn Williams
FLSW
Williams in 2013
President of Welsh Tribunals
In office
December 2017 – March 2023
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded bySir Gary Hickinbottom
Justice of the High Court
In office
11 January 2007 – 10 February 2017
Personal details
Born (1951-03-31) 31 March 1951 (age 73)
Ferndale, Wales
Alma materCorpus Christi College, Oxford

Sir Wyn Lewis Williams FLSW (born 31 March 1951) is a British judge who served as President of Welsh Tribunals from 2017 to 2023. He had been a High Court judge from 2007 to 2017.[1]

Early life and education

Wyn Lewis Williams was born in Ferndale in the Rhondda to Ronald and Nellie Williams. Educated at Rhondda County Grammar school he matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, before entering the Inns of Court School of Law in London.[2]

Williams was called to the bar (Inner Temple) in 1974 and made a bencher in 2007. He practised in Cardiff from 1974 to 1988 and in London from 1988 to 2004. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1992, and served as a recorder until his appointment as a specialist Chancery judge for Wales in 2004. On 11 January 2007, Williams was appointed a High Court judge,[3] receiving the customary knighthood, and assigned to the Queen’s Bench Division. He served as a presiding judge for the Wales Circuit and as Deputy Chairman of the Boundary Commission for Wales.[4]

He was appointed president of Welsh tribunals in December 2017,[5] and retired from the post on 31 March 2023.[6]

In February 2022 he began the statutory inquiry into the British Post Office scandal, projected to continue into the middle of 2024.[7][8]

Other activities

He is active in several organisations, being president of Pendyrus Male Choir, and is closely associated with Tylorstown RFC, the rugby union club for which he played as a youth. His connection with rugby was furthered in 2012 when he was appointed as an unpaid independent chairman of the Professional Regional Game Board, an organisation set up by the Welsh Rugby Union to restructure the sport in Wales.[9]

He is an elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (FLSW).[10]

References

  1. ^ "High Court: Retirement of The Honourable Sir Wyn Lewis Williams". www.Judiciary.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  2. ^ Humphries, Bram (28 February 2008). "President sets bench mark". Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  3. ^ "No. 58222". The London Gazette. 17 January 2007. p. 601.
  4. ^ "Appointment – Mr Justice Wyn Williams" (Press release). 13 September 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  5. ^ "Welsh tribunals get their own senior judge". LawGazette.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  6. ^ "New President of Welsh tribunals sworn in". Announcements. Welsh Government. 2 May 2023. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Post Office scandal ruined lives, inquiry hears". BBC News. 14 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Public Hearings Timeline". Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Judge to chair new rugby board to run Welsh rugby". BBC Sport. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  10. ^ "Williams, Hon. Sir Wyn (Lewis), (born 31 March 1951), a Judge of the High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, 2007–17; President, Welsh Tribunals, since 2017; a Judge of the Courts of Appeal of Guernsey and Jersey, since 2018". Who's Who 2021. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
Legal offices
New title President of Welsh Tribunals
2017–2023 		Succeeded by