Sir Geoffrey Vos retired from the judiciary on Friday after five years as Master of the Rolls, with the King having approved Sir Colin Birss, currently Chancellor of the High Court, to succeed him.
The judiciary said Vos took office in 2021 as Head of Civil Justice and the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after serving as Chancellor of the High Court from 2016. The role dates back to at least the 13th century.
As Master of the Rolls he was also President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal, responsible for the deployment and organisation of judges’ work within it.
The judiciary described his decade in senior judicial leadership as one of advocacy for the modernisation and digitalisation of civil justice. He was regularly consulted on emerging technologies, including blockchain, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, and visited more than 100 courts across England and Wales as Head of Civil Justice.
His judicial career began with appointment as a Deputy High Court Judge in 1999. He sat in the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey for four years from 2005, became a High Court Judge in October 2009 and a Lord JustOf Appeal in 2013.
In the Court of Appeal he delivered the judgment in Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council [2023] EWCA Civ 1416, which confirms that in certain circumstances the court can order parties to engage in a non-court-based dispute resolution process.
He was instrumental in establishing the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce in 2018 and the International Jurisdiction Taskforce in 2025.
In a speech on 6 November 2025 at Queen Mary University of London, Vos said the UK taskforce’s statement on cryptoassets and smart contracts, published in November 2019, expressed the view that cryptoassets were capable of being regarded in English law as property.
Vos said in his departing statement:
“I am proud of the advances we have made over the years in digitalisation, reducing paper-dependency in civil justice and improving access to justice for all.”
He will chair the steering group of the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts and continue work with the European Law Institute and both taskforces.
Birss was called to the Bar in 1990 and took silk in 2008. He began his judicial career as a Deputy Chair of the Copyright Tribunal in 2009, became a Specialist Circuit Judge in 2010 and a High Court Judge assigned to the Chancery Division in 2013.
In 2021 he was appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal and Deputy Head of Civil Justice, and in 2023 he became Lead Judge for Artificial Intelligence.
The Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, said: “His judicial and leadership experience, alongside his technological and digital expertise, make him ideally placed to take on this important role.”
The appointment was made by the King on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, following the recommendation of an independent selection panel chaired by Carr. The other members were Lord Sales, Deputy President of the Supreme Court, and Judicial Appointments Commission members Professor Clare McGlynn, Siwan Davies and Tom Cross KC.
The post holder chairs the Civil Procedure Rule Committee, which develops the court rules for the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the County Court, and the Civil Justice Council. As Head of Civil Justice, the Master of the Rolls oversees the work of judges in around 140 county courts.