Lord Denning

Although he retired over a decade ago, Lord Denning remains Britain's best known and, to many, most controversial judge. As Master of the Rolls, a position he occupied for 20 years, he saw his job as the making of law, not merely the interpretation of it, and he gave judgments which placed the judiciary at the centre of political and social change. Naturally conservative, he still liberalized social policy and stood up consistently for individual rights. A firm believer in Christian marriage, he nevertheless eased divorce procedures and brought about the protection of women's property rights. His report on the Profumo Affair became one of the key documents of the 1960s. From the time he became a judge at 45, the youngest on the Bench, his independence of mind, passion for justice, wry humour and considerable flair for publicity brought him into a position occupied by only a few judges in the past - as one who spoke for the nation. This made the controversies of his final years in office particularly devastating. Iris Freeman has had access to Lord Denning and his family to prepare this biography.