Year of birth:
1926

Year of call:
1952

Queen's Counsel:
1970

Education:
LLB (Hons), DR Jur Amsterdam)

Summary:
Sir Louis Blom-Cooper has been a leading silk in the public law field for many years and has been at the forefront of administrative law throughout its modern development. He held an academic appointment at the University of London from 1962 to 1984 and has written extensively on all areas of law. He was Chair of the Mental Health Act Commission from 1987-1994, a Judge in the Court of Appeal of Jersey and of Guernsey from 1988-1996, and has been a Bencher of the Middle Temple since 1978. He also chaired over twelve Inquiries over the last decade including the Jasmine Beckford and Ashworth Inquiries. He recently gave evidence on the nature of public enquiries to the High Court in R v Secretary of State for Health ex parte Wagstaff (the Dr. Shipmand Inquiry). Louis Blom-Cooper sat as a Deputy High Court Judge sitting on housing and judicial review cases until 1996. In December 1992 he was appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland as the first Independent Commissioner for the Holding Centres. He held this appointment until April 1999. He was recently called to the Bar of Northern Ireland and granted Silk in Northern Ireland.