Northern Circuit

The Northern Circuit is a circuit of the General Council of the Bar and English judiciary.

The Northern Circuit stretches from Carlisle in Cumberland at its northernmost point, running through Lakeland to the port of Whitehaven in the West, on through Preston and Burnley in Lancashire to Manchester, Liverpool and Chester.

It has chambers in Cheshire, Liverpool, Manchester, and Preston.

History 
It dates from 1176 when Henry II sent his judges on circuit to do justice in his name. The Circuit originally encompassed the whole of the North of England. In 1863, Yorkshire was transferred to the Midland Circuit. In 1873, Durham and Lancashire were added, following the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873. In 1876, the Circuit was divided in two. That part to the west of the Pennines (Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire) retained the old name. The land to the east (Northumberland, Yorkshire and Durham) became the territory of the newly formed North-Eastern Circuit. The two circuits have maintained strong links.

In 1876, 62 members of the Bar had chambers on the circuit. There were 29 in Liverpool, 32 in Manchester and 1 solitary practitioner in Preston.  Today the circuit has a membership of some 1100 barristers of whom about 77 are Queen's Counsel, practising from chambers in Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and Chester.

Leadership 
The current circuit leader is Jaime Hamilton KC, elected in 2022.  Other members with leadership roles include:

 Mark Harper KC - treasurer
 Jennifer Devans Tamakloe - circuit junior
 Samantha Hillas KC - attorney general
 Virginia Hayton - solicitor general
 Andrew Howe - secretary

Notable members 
There have been a number of famous members, such as F. E. Smith (later to become Lord Birkenhead), Lord Shawcross QC (Leading Counsel at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II) and George Carman QC.

Since 1876 the Circuit which presently comprises 10 per cent of the Bar has produced the following judges:

  President of the Supreme Court  1
Lord Chancellors  3 
Law Lords 7 
Lord Chief Justices 3 
 President of Queen's Bench Division 1
Master of the Rolls 3 
Presidents, Probate, Divorce & Admiralty 5 
 Senior President of Tribunals  1
Lords Justice of Appeal 28 
Lady Justice of Appeal 2 
High Court Judges 92

In 2001, one Law Lord, three Lord Justices of Appeal (including the Vice President of the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division), one Lady Justice of Appeal and 12 High Court Judges were members of the Northern Circuit. In 1994, of the five female High Court Judges, four were Northern Circuiteers. Rose Heilbron QC was the first female High Court judge from the Circuit, 20 years earlier.

There have been other members who have attained fame outside the law – the author John Buchan, W. S. Gilbert and James Boswell, the biographer of Dr. Samuel Johnson. Boswell was Junior of the Circuit.

See also
Circuits of England and Wales
Assizes#Circuits
Circuit court#England and Wales

References

"The Northern Circuit" (1915) 138 The Law Times 301 (30 January 1915)
J S Cockburn, "The Northern Assize Circuit" (1968) 3 Northern History 118 Taylor and Francis
Northern Circuit Directory 1876–2004 with supplement to mid 2016 by His Honour Dr David Lynch
Lewin's Crown Cases on the Northern Circuit. (Gregory Alnutt Lewin. A Report of Cases Determined on the Crown Side on the Northern Circuit. S Sweet. Chancery Lane, London. 1834. Google Books.)
Observations on the Proposed Dismemberment of the Northern Circuit. Saunders and Benning. Fleet Street, London. 1843. Google Books.

English law
1176 establishments in England