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The “Twelfth Man” saga has finally been resolved.  Since Lord Neuberger was appointed as the Master of the Rolls in October last year, the position of the twelfth Supreme Court justice has been vacant.  The appointments process has been slow and punctuated by rumours judicial disagreements, as Frances Gibb has reported here.  First it seemed that Jonathan Sumption QC was a leading candidate but then withdrew his candidature, apparently in the face of opposition from senior judges.  It was reported that the appointments commission produced a shortlist of four names: Lady Justice Arden, and Lord Justices Maurice Kay, Wilson and Dyson.

A short notice today on Number 10’s website confirms that with effect from 13 April 2010 (the begining of the Easter court term) Lord Justice (John) Dyson will be appointed to the role with the approval of Her Majesty the Queen.  

As we reported on 19 March, over the past few weeks Lord Justice Dyson had emerged as the front runner, with Joshua Rozenberg and Frances Gibb backing him as the “hot tip”.

In the United States such an appointment would have generated huge media interest but, so far has attracted no comment from the mainstream media.

The Number 10 press release gives the following summary of Dyson LJ’s career: Lord Justice John Anthony Dyson (66) was called to the Bar (Middle Temple) in 1968, and took Silk in 1982. He was appointed as a Recorder in 1986 and was made a Bencher in 1990. He was appointed to the High Court (Queen’s Bench Division) in 1993 and was Presiding Judge of the Technology and Construction Court from 1998 to 2001.  Sir John Dyson was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2001 and was Deputy Head of Civil Justice from 2003 to 2006.  Lord Justice Dyson was knighted in 1993.

We will be posting a fuller pen portrait in due course.  In the meantime, the editors of UKSC Blog would like to congratulate Lord Justice Dyson on his new role.

Update: The Supreme Court has now issued a Press Notice (number 2 of 2010) to welcome the appointment of Lord Justice Dyson

Update 2: Short news stories about the announcement have now been published by the Times (on its Law Central blog) and the Lawyer.  In addition, the Supreme Court has added Sir John Dyson to its Biographies of Justices.