Julian Flaux

Sir Julian Martin Flaux (born 11 May 1955) was Chancellor of the High Court between 2021 and 2025.^[1][2]

Early life

Flaux was born on 11 May 1955 and was educated at the King's School, Worcester. He studied law at Worcester College, Oxford, graduating as an Oxford MA and a Bachelor of Civil Law. He became an Honorary Fellow of Worcester College in 2017.^[3]

Career

He was called to the bar by Inner Temple in 1978^[1] and appointed as King's Counsel in April 1994.^[4]

He was appointed a Recorder in 2000,^[5] a Deputy Judge of the High Court of Justice in 2002, and a Judge of the High Court sitting on the King's Bench in 2007.^[6] He was a Presiding Judge on the Midland Circuit from January 2010 to December 2013, later appointed as a Legal Member of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in 2013. Following a spell as Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court, he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in December 2016^[7] and sworn of the Privy Council. He was appointed Chancellor of the High Court on 3 February 2021.^[8][1][3]

In 2020, Flaux delivered the Court of Appeal's judgement in Begum v Home Secretary, granting Shamima Begum judicial review of the Home Secretary's decisions to revoke her British citizenship and to refuse her leave to enter the UK from Syria, where she had joined the Islamic State.^[9][10] The decision was reversed by the Supreme Court.^[11]

In December 2022, in a case brought by Alexander Darwall (owner of 4,000 acres (16 km²) of land in southern Dartmoor National Park), he controversially ruled that a previously assumed right to wild camp without landowners' permission was legally wrong and that permission was needed.^[12] This proved to be a flawed decision: it was overturned on appeal in July 2023 ^[13] and the appellate court judges' judgments made clear that they thought the initial ruling a peculiar one with Underhill LJ commenting that it is “a perfectly natural use of language to describe [camping] as a recreation, and also as occurring in the open air, notwithstanding that while the camper is actually in the tent the outside air will be to some extent excluded”.

He also led the panel that decided the extremely controversial "Freshwater Five" case, a judgment that met with widespread controversy.^[14]

References

1. ^ "Appointment of Chancellor of the High Court". gov.uk. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
2. ^ "Retirement of The Right Honourable Sir Julian Flaux, Chancellor of the High Court". Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 2025-11-01. Retrieved 2025-11-19.
3. ^ "Flaux, Rt Hon. Sir Julian Martin, (born 11 May 1955), Chancellor of the High Court, since 2021". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U15898. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
4. ^ "Page 5807 | Issue 53646, 19 April 1994 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
5. ^ "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
6. ^ "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
7. ^ "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
8. ^ "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
9. ^ "UK-born Islamic State recruit can return from Syria to challenge citizenship removal". Reuters. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
10. ^ 2020.
11. ^ 2021.
12. ^ "Historic wild camping tradition outlawed on part of Dartmoor". BBC News. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
13. ^ "Wild camping allowed on Dartmoor again after court appeal succeeds". The Guardian. 31 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
14. ^ "'Freshwater Five': Pair's drug smuggling convictions upheld". BBC News. 2021-03-25. Retrieved 2024-06-06.