Lord Dyson: A Judge’s Journey

Benjamin Bissett – Year 9 Student

On 16^th October 2019, Lord John Dyson made an appearance at GSAL as part of the Ilkley Literature Festival 2019. He was interviewed by a fellow lawyer, Cathy Baxandall, who used his recent autobiography to ask him questions about his early life and his career as a judge. This led to some interesting and lively debate.

One of the topics Lord Dyson spoke about was his views on whether the law should change according to developments in social attitudes, particularly in relation to gender equality and LGBT rights. He was very frank with his responses to questions on this subject and said that he very much agreed that the law should evolve over time. He even went as far as to admit that his own personal views on homosexuality etc. have also changed with time.

Another area that Lord Dyson spoke about was the supreme court and its recent ruling over the Prime Minister’s attempt to prorogue Parliament. Lord Dyson could not have been clearer that he thought that this was a fantastic decision and that he thought they had done exactly the right thing as the government must be held to account.

Overall, Lord Dyson delivered a very firm message that we should be very proud of the independence of our judiciary and its decisions in these increasingly uncertain times.

Benjamin Bissett (9SDR)