Colin Birss takes on further administrative duties

The Master of the Rolls presides over the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and serves as Head of Civil Justice. The role is second in judicial importance only to the Lady or Lord Chief Justice. The post holder is responsible for the deployment and organisation of judges within the division, oversees the work of judges in around 140 county courts and chairs the Civil Procedure Rule Committee, the Online Procedure Rule Committee and the Civil Justice Council.

The Master of the Rolls is so called as the post holder was originally responsible for the safe keeping of charters, patents and records of important court judgments, which were written on parchment rolls. Nowadays, the Master of the Rolls is still responsible for documents of national importance.

Colin Birss currently serves as Chancellor of the High Court of England and Wales, a position he took over in November 2025 after previously acting as Deputy Head of Civil Justice. In his role as chancellor, he continued to hear cases both as a senior judge in the Court of Appeal and at first instance in the Chancery Division of the High Court. In 2023, he additionally became Lead Judge for Artificial Intelligence.

The King appointed Birss as Master of the Rolls on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, following the recommendation of an independent selection panel. Birss will succeed judge Geoffrey Vos. Birss’ appointment will take effect following Vos’ retirement.

Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill said Birss’ “judicial and leadership experience, alongside his technological and digital expertise, make him ideally placed to take on this important role”.

From patent bar to global renown

Birss was called to the Bar in 1990 and, after practising as an intellectual property barrister, he took Silk in 2008. He began his judicial career as Deputy Chair of the Copyright Tribunal in 2009 and was appointed a Specialist Circuit Judge in 2010. In 2013, he was appointed a High Court judge assigned to the Chancery Division, before joining the Court of Appeal in 2021.

Throughout his career, Birss has been closely associated with intellectual property law and ranks among the most influential patent judges globally. He played a significant role in the preparations for the Unified Patent Court and had applied to become a UPC judge before Brexit prevented UK participation in the project.

Furthermore, Birss has gained recognition for significant rulings in patent disputes over standard essential patents. His most prominent contribution to patent law is his first-instance judgment in Unwired Planet vs Huawei in 2017, in which he became the first judge to calculate and set a global FRAND rate. More recently, the Court of Appeal under Birss as presiding judge awarded Optis a higher FRAND rate in its dispute against Apple than the first-instance court had previously determined.

Movement in UK judiciary

The senior ranks of the English judiciary are seeing many changes of late. In June, the UK government announced it had appointed one of the most prominent patent judges in England and Wales, Richard Meade, as a Lord Justice of Appeal. At the UK Court of Appeal, Meade will work alongside Richard Arnold and Birss in patent cases. Due to administrative tasks, Birss already hears fewer cases.

Richard Meade could now fill this gap, although Court of Appeal judges usually hear cases in a wide range of legal fields. The search for Meade’s successor at the UK High Court is already in full swing.