The roughly one thousand-member House of Lords is not only a legislative body. It is also a court. In fact it is the final court of appeal for most cases decided in the United Kingdom. These days cases are not heard by the main body of the House of Lords. They are decided by a committee of the House known as the Appellate Committee. There are twelve full-time members on that Committee. These are the Lords of Appeal in Ordinary. They are judges who have been appointed into the House of Lords specifically to hear appeals. Sometimes they are helped by the Lord Chancellor. Occasionally they are assisted by other peers who have had experience of high judicial office. The book is based, in part, on interviews conducted with past and present Appellate Committee members and is intended for anyone who is interested in discovering a little more about the personal and professional lives of the men who man the most eminent and powerful judicial body in the United Kingdom.

MAXWELL BARRETT holds a degree in law from Trinity College Dublin, a PhD in Law from the University of Salford and currently works for a firm of solicitors in the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin. Dr Barrett is the author of books on child law, criminal law, the law of evidence, family law, marriage breakdown law, road traffic law, and sentencing law. He has also contributed a number of articles to various periodicals.

List of Plates Acknowledgements Introduction The Origins of the Appellate Committee The Lords of Appeal in Ordinary The Lord Chancellor Life on the Appellate Committee The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Afterword Appendix Index