The long anticipated appointment of Lord Neuberger to replace Lord Clarke as Master of the Rolls was finally announced today. This gives rise to the first vacancy in the Supreme Court.

The announcement was made on the 10 Downing Street website in the following terms:

“The Queen has been pleased to approve that The Right Honourable The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury be appointed as Master of the Rolls with effect from 1 October 2009, following the appointment of The Right Honourable The Lord Clarke  of Stone-cum-Ebony as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

Biographical Note

The Right Honourable The Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury (61) was called to the Bar, Lincoln’s Inn in 1974 and was made a Bencher in 1993. He took Silk in 1987, and was a Recorder from 1990 until 1996.  He was appointed a Judge of the High Court, Chancery Division in 1996, promoted to the Court of Appeal in 2004, and appointed as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in 2007.  Lord Neuberger was knighted in 1996 and created a Life Peer in 2007″.