Justice Knowles CBE
High Court
Brief Introduction
Sir Robin Knowles CBE practiced at the Commercial and Chancery Bars for 30 years (15 of them as Queen’s Counsel) before his appointment as a High Court Judge in 2014.
At the Bar, his practice included a broad range of business, financial, insurance, insolvency and corporate law. He was involved in the preparation of the Commercial Court Guide as the Civil Procedure Rules were brought in, and was a member of the Aikens working party on “supercases”. With others, he worked to establish the new QC system, and the Rolls Building. He was Chairman of the Commercial Bar Association (2005-7) and a member of the Civil Justice Council (2009-14). He is a member of the Financial Markets Law Committee.
In the High Court, Sir Robin sits in the Commercial Court, the Administrative Court, the general Queen’s Bench Division, and the Court of Appeal Criminal Division. Before appointment to the High Court, Sir Robin sat as a Recorder in the Crown Court for 15 years, and as a Deputy High Court Judge in both the Commercial Court and in the Chancery Division. He is a qualified mediator and has sat as an arbitrator.
Sir Robin has a close interest in the fields of professionalism and ethics. He has a long standing involvement in the encouragement and coordination of legal pro bono work, nationally and internationally. He continues to chair the Civil Justice Council working group on Litigants in Person, and chair or support other initiatives. Outside the law, he has been closely involved with children’s hospices and children’s palliative care.