Wyn Williams Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Sir Wyn Williams
Office:President of Welsh Tribunals
Term Start:December 2017
Term End:March 2023
Predecessor:Position established
Successor:Sir Gary Hickinbottom
Office1:Justice of the High Court
Term Start1:11 January 2007
Term End1:10 February 2017
Birth Date:31 March 1951
Birth Place:Ferndale, Wales
Birthname:Wyn Lewis Williams
Alma Mater:Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Sir Wyn Lewis Williams (born 31 March 1951) is a Welsh 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]

Legal career

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, 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.[3]

He was appointed president of Welsh tribunals in December 2017,[4] and retired from the post on 31 March 2023.[5]

In February 2022 he began the statutory inquiry into the British Post Office scandal, projected to continue into the middle of 2024.[6] [7]

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.[8]

He is an elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (FLSW).[9]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: High Court: Retirement of The Honourable Sir Wyn Lewis Williams. www.Judiciary.gov.uk. 21 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170819145410/https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/announcements/high-court-retirement-of-the-honourable-sir-wyn-lewis-williams/. 19 August 2017.
  2. Web site: President sets bench mark . Bram . Humphries . 6 December 2012 . 28 February 2008.
  3. Appointment – Mr Justice Wyn Williams . 6 December 2012 . 13 September 2012.
  4. Web site: Welsh tribunals get their own senior judge. LawGazette.co.uk. 21 December 2017.
  5. Web site: New President of Welsh tribunals sworn in. 2 May 2023. Announcements. Welsh Government. 19 January 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240119171919/https://www.gov.wales/new-president-of-welsh-tribunals-sworn-in. 19 January 2024.
  6. Web site: Post Office scandal ruined lives, inquiry hears . 14 February 2022 . BBC News.
  7. Web site: Public Hearings Timeline . Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry . 2 January 2024.
  8. Web site: Judge to chair new rugby board to run Welsh rugby . BBC Sport . 5 December 2012 . 9 December 2012.
  9. Web site: 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 . . Oxford University Press . 2 April 2021 . en . 1 December 2020.