| Sir Nicholas Francis | |
| Office: | Justice of the High Court |
| Term Start: | 3 October 2016 |
| Term End: | 1 May 2024 |
| Birth Name: | Peter Nicholas Francis |
| Birth Date: | 22 April 1958 |
| Birth Place: | Glamorgan, Wales[1] |
| Nationality: | British |
| Alma Mater: | Downing College, Cambridge |
Sir Peter Nicholas Francis is a British retired High Court judge.
Francis was educated at Radley College and Downing College, Cambridge.[2]
Francis was called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 1981, and became a King's Counsel in 2002. He specialised in family law, and became head of chambers at 29 Bedford Row in 2002.[2]
He was appointed as an Assistant Recorder in 1999 and later a Recorder to sit on the South Eastern Circuit in July, 2000.[3] [4]
He would be appointed as a Deputy High Court judge in 2011. He would later be appointed as a High Court judge in 2016 and assigned to the Family Division by the Lord Chief Justice. He received the customary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II on16th of December 2016.[5]
On 22 April 2024, the Lady Chief Justice issued Francis with formal advice for misconduct related to having delayed the issuing of a judgement by 18 months after the hearing had taken place.[6] Francis retired nine days later.[7]
In 2017, he ruled on the controversial best interests case of Charlie Gard.[8]