Sir John Saunders was the judge in the high-profile phone hacking case involving News International.
He also sat during the trials and sentencing of former members of the Parliament accused of abusing their expense arrangements.
Sir John was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn, one of the four professional associations for barristers and judges in London, in 1972, and was appointed as a Queen’s Counsel in 1991. In 1990, he was appointed as a Recorder and became a Senior Circuit Judge and the Recorder of Birmingham in 2004.
In 2007, he was appointed as a High Court Judge in the Queen’s Bench Division. He was Presiding Judge on the South Eastern Circuit from 2009 to 2012.
His swearing-in in Jersey was delayed twice this year due to fog, prompting the ceremony to be held as a video conference yesterday, in presence of the Deputy Bailiff, Tim Le Cocq, the Attorney General, Robert MacRae, and Jurats Jane Ronge, Roxanne Thomas, Jerry Ramsden, Charles Blampied and Paul Nicolle.
Welcoming Sir John to Jersey’s Royal Court, the Deputy Bailiff said he had already made history. “This is the first time we are swearing-in an officer by video-link. You have been denied, or depending on your perspective, spared, a full ceremony and a long speech of welcome.”