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On Thursday 13 February this week, a special ceremony will be held for the swearing-in of the new Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court, Lord Hodge.

The ceremony will take place at 9.30am in Courtroom 1. During the ceremony, Lord Hodge will take the Judicial Oath and the Oath of Allegiance.

Lord Hodge’s appointment as Deputy President was announced by 10 Downing Street on 27 January 2020, replacing Lord Reed whose appointment as President of the Supreme Court was announced by 10 Downing Street on 24 July 2019.

Patrick Stewart Hodge, Lord Hodge, was originally appointed as a Justice on 1 October 2013.

Lord Hodge was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1983 and appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1996. From 1997 to 2003, he was a part time Law Commissioner at the Scottish Law Commission.

From 2000 to 2005 he was a Judge of the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey, and Procurator to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He was a Senator of the College of Justice between 2005 and 2013. In that role he was a Commercial Judge and the Scottish Judge in Exchequer Causes. He also served as one of the Scottish Intellectual Property Judges and as a Judge in the Lands Valuation Appeal Court. His appointment, together with that of Lord Reed as President, means that the two senior judicial posts in the Supreme Court are both held currently by Scots.

The Supreme Court building will remain open to the public whilst the ceremony takes place. Members of the public will be welcome to watch the ceremony live on a big screen at the Supreme Court.

The ceremony will be live streamed on the Supreme Court website and, a short time after the event, the video recording will be available to view ‘on demand’ via the Court’s YouTube channel.