United Kingdom Judiciary Speeches

VALEDICTORY

 

SIR GEOFFREY VOS:  It is wonderful to see such a large gathering to celebrate His Honour Judge Jan Luba KC's retirement from the bench.

I am always doubtful about whether one should really say you are "celebrating" someone's retirement - sounds as if we are pleased to see him go! I am sure though that Jan will not take the use of that word in the wrong way. 

It is a delight to see his wife Adriana and his daughters, Alicia and Isabella, in court today alongside Adriana's sister Mirella and other family members.  You are all welcome to the Royal Courts of Justice.

With me here on the Bench we have the Presiding Judge on the South Eastern Circuit, Mr Justice Joel Bennathan, and the Designated Civil Judge at the Central London County Court, Judge Marc Dight CBE, and of course the retiring judge himself.

Jan has been a judge since April 2000 when he became a Recorder, and in 2002, he became a Deputy Judge of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).  Up to 2015, he sat as a Recorder in the EAT, something that is not commonplace.  In December 2015, he became a Circuit Judge before being made Acting Designated Civil Judge for Outer London in 2018, and a Senior Circuit Judge and full DCJ (Designated Civil Judge), in August 2019.  With that, of course, he became a Section 9(1) Deputy High Court Judge as well. 

But Jan being Jan, he never actually used his authorisation to come and sit in these grand surroundings, thinking that it was more important to deliver timely justice to those that needed his extraordinary expertise in the County Courts.

Well, that is the career path. Now let me come briefly to the man. 

Jan is, and always has been a meticulous lawyer and a dedicated man.  After he was called to the Bar by Middle Temple in July 1980, he worked at a law centre in Stockwell and Clapham and then with the London Citizens Advice Bureau as a specialist welfare rights advisor.  Then he worked as legal officer at the Child Poverty Action Group.  He co-founded the National Housing Law Service which later became the legal department of Shelter. 

Jan served on the Lord Chancellor's Legal Aid Advisory Committee and on the Housing Cases Panel in Lord Woolf's Access to Justice Inquiry. He served as a trainer at the Judicial Studies Board, as we then called it, contributing sessions on Poverty and the Law to the induction courses for new civil judges.  He also chaired the Free Representation Unit (FRU) and later, the Legal Action Group. 

It was not until 1992 that he returned to private practice, joining Garden Court Chambers and specialising in housing and homelessness, taking Silk only eight years later in 2000.

Jan has been a prolific writer, publishing with his co-authors the first edition of Defending Procession Proceedings in 1987.  That work is now in its ninth edition.  I was amused when it came out because I had come to the Bar a bit before Jan, I will not tell you how big a bit, and had been doing numerous possession actions - but mostly for landlords - in the late seventies and early eighties, and at that time I had considered writing a book called Gaining Possession.  I had actually sent a synopsis to Sweet and Maxwell before deciding I did not have time to write it.  Two sides of the same coin.  His Honour Judge Neil Butter, then the Senior Judge at Central London County Court, told all newly-minted Recorders and Assistant Recorders, 'Before you start County Court sitting there is one book you must buy and have with you at all times', Jan's book on defending possession proceedings, and that is true by the way. 

Lord Neuberger tells me that as an advocate, Jan Luba's submissions in housing appeals managed to be persuasive and authoritative in content as well as elegant and seamless in delivery.  He seemed surprised!  Indeed, he was so seamless that he never appeared to need to draw breath, I think, which made it very difficult for Lord Neuberger to question him, even though Lord Neuberger's reputation as an inveterate judicial interrogator is certainly legendary.

Jan lectured regularly at Housing Law conferences and again, according to Lord Neuberger, despite the dry content of his subject matter he managed to make his lectures amusing and engaging, of course all the while being impressive in their legal analysis.

I knew Jan at the Bar, and when I was Chair of the Bar Council, and he was Chair of the Bar Council Civil Legal Aid Committee. Our paths have crossed more recently when he was instrumental in managing possession cases during Covid.

As the DCJ for Outer London,  Jan has been the best of DCJs.  He supports his district and deputy district judges in his 13 County Court centres through thick and thin, and his leadership skills have been hugely impressive.  We are incredibly grateful to him.

 

None of us has any idea what Jan is going to do in retirement, so we look forward to hearing what he has to say in a few minutes, later this afternoon.  All I can say is that I want to wish him and Adriana a fantastic and fulfilling retirement.  I want to thank him for the work he has done for the judiciary, and say that his huge housing expertise will be missed by the judiciary at all levels.  His contribution to housing law has been immense. 

 

MR JUSTICE BENNATHAN:  Ms Davies, it was only really in January last year - when I became Presiding Judge on the South Eastern Circuit, responsible for the London Civil Courts - that I got to know Jan who has performed an astonishing role as the Designated Civil Judge for the 13 London County Courts for which he and I are responsible.  Over the last 15 months, Jan and I have, by train, tube and bus toured all of our Courts, frequently, Ms Davies, going to huge lengths so the paper-free Master of the Rolls will never discover that teetering mounds of old paper files to be found at the courts along our route!!

I tried to share my gratitude to Jan, Ms Davies, by buying him lunch, which is not I fear a great act of generosity.  Most of the expensive West End sites have long since been sold off, but the Tesco meal deal in Bexley was both nutritious and I fear fabulous value.  When The Guardian newspaper - with apologies to one or two of those here tonight - very recently exposed various senior judges as being members of the all-male Garrick club, Jan said to me, 'Well, we belong to a club.' I had to say to Jan that having a Greggs loyalty card just doesn't cut it. 

Jan is also, of course, an expert lawyer in his day job in all our courts. The standard work on housing cases which My Lord, the Master of the Rolls, has referred to already is Luba on Defending Possession Proceedings.  It will be carping on my part, Ms Davis, to suggest that the backlog would have been greatly helped if he had instead written How to lose a possession case quickly. 

In all sincerity, Jan has a phenomenal knowledge of the staff, judges, buildings and endless problems of all our County Courts.  He is meticulous in looking after his judges and his staff.  It is a tribute to Jan that, with his departure, we are replacing his role with two new Designated Civil Judges. The new appointees will find that even filling one of Jan's shoes is a tough task.  I can completely sincerely say that one of the reasons our County Courts have not fallen over under all the stresses and strains they have faced is the industry, energy and sheer bloody‑minded determination of His Honour Judge Jan Luba.  So through you Ms Davies, I say to Jan - guide, cheap date, mentor, hero of the London Civil Justice system - Thank You and Farewell, but do not be a stranger. 

JUDGE DIGHT:  Ms Davies, the appointment to Jan Luba QC (as he then was) to the ranks of Central London County Court considerably enhanced its judicial fire power.  It was a real coup for us. He was the biggest star in the housing law word, and we were all very pleased and honoured that he was to join us.  You have already heard something - and I know you will hear more - about Jan's eminence in the field, but I just wanted to mention that I have been sent a copy of the glowing acknowledgement to his contribution which was published in the February issue of the Legal Action magazine. Titled 'Four Decades of Sharing Encyclopaedia Knowledge' it was penned I think by his co-author who sits at the back of the court today (Nic Madge).  I commend it to you, especially for the picture of a bushy-haired Jan taken forty years ago. My clerk's reaction, when he saw it was, 'Amazing, he looks like a popstar', before adding, 'Judge, was that the style back then?' 

In his own determined and focused way, Jan set about revolutionising the system which we use in Central London for managing and determining all the appeals under the housing legislation made by applicants for housing across the boroughs in the whole of greater London; the volume is tremendous.  It was a very impressive demonstration of Jan's drive and energy and his relentless approach to systemic reform, to say nothing of his use of a laminator.  He bought all of the Circuit Judges (CJs) in Central London into line, in their determination of Housing Act appeals, with his emails which brooked no disagreements.  These were addressed to his, 'Dear colleagues', a change from what I understood his mode of address to be when he was Vice-Chair of the Housing Law Practitioners' Association, and when, I am told, he used to start his emails with the salutation, 'Dear Comrades'.

Having been at Central London for only a short period of time, Jan was, as has already been mentioned, promoted as a Senior Circuit Judge to the role of Designated Civil Judge for the outer London County Courts.  I am DCJ only for Central London and Mayor's Court.  If London is a donut, Jan got the fluffy stuff, and I got the hole in the middle.  It was at this point in time that I learnt how I should be doing my job as DCJ, as Jan demonstrated in his usual indefatigable way.  He re-organised and re-managed everything.  I will miss the daily emails, which I would open when I get to my desk in the morning - Jan having worked some time well before me in the morning - which tended to begin, 'Marc, a hard copy of this email will follow with the file to which it relates.  You will see that...', and then he then sets out a problem for me to resolve.  The email will be followed soon afterwards by Jan's dedicated clerk Selwyn, more of him later, bearing the files which have been put back into strict chronological order by Jan in the wee hours of the night.  The other version of the early-morning email is something along the lines of, 'Marc, I am sure you will have noticed...', and I probably realised I had not noticed.

But it is not only in Central London where he made a difference. As has been already said by Joel, he has made a significant impact on the lives of the judges for whom he is their leadership judge. That has been made plain in some comments which I have received recently from the District Judges (DJs) of the other London Courts.  The London Association of District Judges has said:

 'On behalf of the officers and members of the LADJ, we wish to extend our sincerest gratitude and appreciation for your work as DCJ for London.  Your appointment to the post was met with universal approval among the District Bench.  Those of us who knew you from practice appreciated your encyclopaedic knowledge of housing law, your humanity and good humour.  In practising on the Bench your famous housing law case book was for me and many others an invaluable and comforting resource.  As DCJ you have been a scorch and unconditional supporter of the District Bench, approachable, empathetic, kind, fully cognitive and understanding of the enormous pressures and workloads that comprise a relentless diet of the County Court Judge.  Heaped on top of that, there has been the reform program which has presented additional challenges, foreseen and unforeseen.  Throughout it all, we have appreciated your presence at every LADJ meeting during your tender.  Your prioritization of this, not forgetting your attendance at monthly HMCTS DJ meetings, is testament to your commitment to the role as Leadership Judge.  Approval of your appointment is matched in magnitude by our sorrow at your departure.  We thank you, and wish you the happiest of retirements.' 

And there have been similar comments from others.

I personally have never seen a judge who works so hard, takes so much on willingly and often unbidden, and is so determined to make a difference to the litigant in front of him and those yet to come.  The volume of work he has ploughed through in Central London is tremendous.  I do not know where he finds the time.  He is a truly outward-facing public servant whose commitment and hard work deserves recognition.  But it is not only the public about whom cares, but all the staff who support us who in their turn have written to me expressing their views.

One person, whose name I am not going to release, said:

'The staff find Judge Luba extremely hard working; he produces masses of work for all.  They find him to have an encyclopaedic knowledge on all topics.  He pays close attention to detail and is happy to help with the staff Christmas party but has questionable dance moves'.

Despite, or perhaps reflecting, the old adage that no man is a hero to his valet, I have received some comments from Jan's current, dedicated and I would suggest devoted clerk who, with his eyes wide open said,

'Dear Judge Luba' this is a letter to you, using your infamous words, 'I will now give a short judgment, I consider it a privilege to have worked with you.  Having worked with you and witnessing what went on behind the scenes in the past five and a half years, I can vouch for your professionalism, your commitment and your dedication to civil justice and the legal profession.  Direct action, these are words that struck with me that epitomise the way you work, and your mind set, continuous improvement, mentoring and training.  I have learnt a lot from working with you, thank you.  P.S. your judgments were never short'.

Jan, you have been an inspiration to us all, we will all miss you and we wish you and Adriana a long, healthy and happy retirement.

 

MS DAVIES:  My Lord the Master of the Rolls, My Lords and My Ladies, Your Honour and in particular Your Honour Judge Luba KC, it is my privilege and great honour to give this address at His Honour Judge Luba's valedictory, and it is an equal privilege and honour to be instructed to do by the Housing Law Practitioners' Association (HLPA), of whom we have already heard mention.  Members of HLPA have had the double benefit of knowing His Honour, both as a colleague and, more recently, as a judge.  We know His Honour's attention to detail and to procedural rigour.  His Honour requires and appreciates the highest standards in advocacy, preparation, precision and above all pagination.

We know that when we appear before His Honour, if there are any errors in the bundle then His Honour will spot them.  As he did when I was appearing before him, and to my shame I had failed to notice that a Defence contained in a trial bundle was a double-sided document, but inevitably it had been photocopied only on the odd‑numbered pages.  His Honour gently pointed it out.  All I could do was apologise and move on as quickly as I could.  It will not surprise anyone in this courtroom to learn that it was His Honour then, at conclusion of the hearing, who took steps to track down the original document, ensure that it was correctly photocopied on both sides, and sent it to the parties, even though it was my responsibility to have done so.

My Lord, the knowledge that one might appear before His Honour means that we all up our game, we check our bundles, we prepare the best advocacy we can, and that makes us better lawyers.  We appreciate His Honour's deep knowledge of the law, of the law in general but particularly of Housing Law of which he knows every detail, and there are a lot of details in Housing Law.  As counsel, His Honour appeared in important cases, pushing the boundaries of the law as expert counsel do, but as happens to expert counsel, this led to many reported judgments containing the words, 'Mr Luba, elegant as his submissions were, My Lord, is wrong.' 

As a judge, the scrutiny is rather different, it takes place when his decisions are appealed, and a quick search of his name reveals that as a judge he is frequently right.  As a flavour, the Court of Appeal has said about him, 'The judge, whose expertise in Housing Law is well known ... I can find no fault with Judge Luba's assessment.'  In the High Court, although the appellate judge would himself have come to a different decision, he said 'I have concluded that His Honour Judge Luba QC was not wrong in the conclusion which he came to.'  "Not wrong" is something we really all aspire too.  Those reported cases also convey something of His Honour's high standards.  One Court of Appeal judgment reads, 'The judge dismissed the appeal despite describing parts of the review decision as leaving one scratching one's head, a muddle and confusing.'  And another judgment said, 'Judge Luba commented unfavourably on this notice to quit.  Indeed, he described it as written in gibberish'.

The third characteristic that everyone who has professional contact with His Honour appreciates, but members of HLPA appreciate most of all, is that he did not abandon his commitment to disseminating his knowledge and experience of housing law once he was appointed to the Bench.  He continued writing the monthly Recent Developments in Housing Law column for Legal Action magazine with another then Circuit Judge, His Honour Judge Nic Madge, who is here at the back of court today.  He continued his prolific output of housing law books, Defending Possession Proceedings, Housing Allocation and Homelessness, and Housing Conditions.  He attended and spoke at HLPA conferences, cascading his knowledge of housing law and ensuring that subsequent generations of lawyers can benefit from it and therefore that their clients benefit from it, matters to His Honour.

My Lord, it is already clear that the Bench, and particularly judges and practitioners at the London County Courts, will be poorer without his presence.  I can also submit on behalf of HLPA that the world of housing lawyers will be deeply diminished.  We are very grateful to him for his commitment to our area of expertise, and we wish him a long and very happy retirement which is immensely well deserved.  Thank you, My Lord.

 

MR GRUNDY:  My Lord the Master of the Rolls, My Ladies, My Lords, Your Honours, most significantly Your Honour Judge Luba KC, or "Jan" if I may be so bold.  The first email that Jan sent me was when we were opponents for the first time and it started, 'Nick, if I may be so bold...', which was very nice because he was a KC, and I was really somebody who was really just a bit uppity. It put us on the same footing, and it was very generous of him.

Jan has been giant of Residential Landlord & Tenant Law and Housing Law for over 30 years.  A search on Westlaw, using his name as a search term, brings up 154 reported cases between 1993 -  R v Hounslow and Pilling -  one which I had to rely on recently, and Hotak v Loudon Borough of Southwark in 2015.  That is seven reported cases every year over a period of 22 years.  His earliest reported case may in fact be in 1992, R v Doncaster Borough Council ex party Bolton, in which he represented a miner's widow in respect of a coal concession she received from the Coal Board and whether or not that was to be accounted for calculation of her income in relation to her benefits.  1992 or 1892, I wonder?

That was the first year that Jan had gone back into private practice, and he was already doing such significant cases.  However, the volume alone does not do credit to Jan's excellence.  He was involved in titanic legal struggles that have created our current legal landscape in so far as Housing Law and Residential Landlord and Tenant Law is concerned. 

The Article 8 struggle: eventually in 2010 in Pinnock v Manchester City Council, the Supreme Court accepted Jan's argument that rights under the European Convention of Human Rights Article 8 cut across domestic landlord and tenant law.  But that struggle had started in 2002 with Sheffield City Council v Smart, through 2004 Harrow London Borough Council v Qazi, Kay v Lambeth in 2006 and Doherty v Birmingham City Council in 2008.  Jan was lead counsel in all of those cases.  So, Jan is responsible for the proposition that an individual can raise Article 8 rights as a defence to a claim for possession, even where the landlord has an unimpeachable domestic law claim for possession.  A victory for compassion.  But it took a massive effort.  In Qazi for example, their Lordships, by a majority, held that an eviction of a person with no legal or equitable right to remain was not an interference with respect to their home. 

Disability rights, another struggle.  In Akerman-Livingstone v Aster Communities Ltd, Jan successfully persuaded the Supreme Court that disability discrimination could be relied on as a defence to a possession claim, and that the threshold of proportionality was lower than that for Article 8 defences; another victory for compassion.

I was Jan's opponent in a number of cases.  His knowledge and level of preparation was always impressive.  He set the standard to which I aspire.  He was a straight and charming opponent.  His delivery and submissions were always an absolute pleasure to listen to, as has been stated already.  Since he was appointed to the bench I have missed sparring with him. No other opponent required me to focus quite as hard as Jan did.  He was for me the Mohammed Ali of the Bar.  He floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.  It even scans, 'Jan Luba, Jan Luba KC, floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee.'  As will be clear from the cases I have referred to, Jan's career as a barrister was largely on behalf of the disadvantaged in society, in particular, in relation to their right to - and the quality of their - housing.  This is consistent with my Mohammad Ali comparison.  In 1968, the boxer said, 'In your struggle for freedom, justice and equality I am with you, I came to Louisville because I could not remain silent while my own people, many I grew up with, many I went to school with, many of my blood relatives were being beaten, stomped and kicked in the streets, simply because they want freedom and justice and equality in housing'.  So I wish Jan, a hero of mine, a contented retirement, while I find it hard to think of the world of social housing law without him in it.  He will be sorely missed.  Thank you. 

 

MR PEAKER:  My Lords, My Ladies, Your Honours, it is my privilege to be asked to speak on behalf of the Law Society.  When I first began in a housing law practice 19 years ago, it was an area of law largely defined by His Honour.  The foundational judgments of the field nearly all featured arguments by Jan Luba QC (as was), the key text books were co-authored by him, and his addresses to the HLPA conference each year set the frame for each year to come.  Indeed, there can be very few housing solicitors practising today whose first day was not marked by being handed a well‑thumbed copy of Defending Possession Proceedings and being told to read it.

Very early on, when I was still a paralegal, I had the good fortune of being sent to sit behind His Honour advocating for our client in the Court of Appeal.  Then some 10 years later, now as a partner, and acting for an intervener, I listened in the Supreme Court as His Honour, in one of his last appearances before being appointed full time to the Bench, argued for one of the appellants.  Each was a masterclass in advocacy and command of the law, deployed in the interests of his clients.

When he took his place on the Bench, he continued to shape housing law.  Indeed, he introduced a whole new category of judgment, the, 'it is a County Court judgment but an apex Jan Luba KC judgment'.  From a solicitor's viewpoint, knowing that your case was to be listed before, or case managed by, His Honour was both a pleasure and mildly terrifying.  A pleasure, because you could be wholly confident that the judge would be entirely on top of the relevant law, and mildly terrifying for exactly the same reason, because "what if you were not?".  And then there were the directions orders with the narrative drive and unexpected plot twists.

His Honour expected high standards from those acting for the parties before him because of his keen sense that this was what our clients deserved and should receive.  It was a continuation of his practice at the Bar; those whom he represented never had less than the best.

His commitment to the field of housing law extended to the education and encouragement of new entrants. The Recent Developments monthly column - as has already been mentioned - in Legal Action remains vital for all housing solicitors and was kept up over many, many years as a remarkable feat for disseminating knowledge.  The co-authored practice texts were, and are, absolutely central to what housing solicitors do.  Having been a junior co-author with His Honour on Housing Conditions, Tenant's Rights, an experience which was both a pleasure and mildly terrifying, I know that his twin goals were: (1) is it precisely right?  and (2) will people understand how to use it?

And if I might be permitted a personal thank you, His Honour's support and encouragement of my own efforts at spreading knowledge of housing law were very much appreciated and wholly in character.  His Honour's retirement is very well deserved, but his legacy is a whole field of law. As long as there are housing law practitioners there will be a Jan shaped presence in the law and our clients, and the law, are very much better for that. 

 

JUDGE LUBA:  This evening is not an occasion for me to reflect on my wonderful 35 years as an advocate at the Bar.  I am delighted to say that others have arranged for there to be other opportunities for me to share my thoughts about those many years.  Suffice this evening to say that, at the end of my career as an advocate, I was blessed to be able to appear regularly in the Court of Appeal and in the Supreme Court before the most exceptional judicial minds of our generation.  In the Court of Appeal, as Master of the Rolls, I had the huge privilege to appear before your predecessors, amongst whom was Lord Dyson, who I am delighted to see is here this evening.  The then Presidents of the Supreme Court before whom I argued cases were the first three. In turn, Lord Phillips, Lord Neuberger and Lady Hale.  Again, I am honoured that Lady Hale is here with us this evening.  I cannot thank those judges enough for the stimulating and challenging environment that they offered advocates like me in their courts. 

But, of course, most of my cases back then related to Housing.  A good housing case, as you all know, requires a good, specialist, housing opponent.  In that respect my thanks go to my regular sparring partner Andrew Arden KC, who also joins us here today. 

The time then came to move across to the Judiciary.  Lord Neuberger kindly agreed to act as referee for my application for the only salaried judicial post that I ever really wanted: full time Civil Circuit Judge.  His magic worked.

As with most other newly appointed judges, I depended hugely on my clerk.  I have had three wonderful clerks. in turn, Sabrina Porter, Nitin Rathod and, most recently, Selwyn Carrasco, who stands behind me today and of whom you have heard already tonight.  I am delighted that all three have been able to join us this evening.  I thank each of them for supporting me.  I am the first to acknowledge that I am, at times, a rather demanding task master.   They were perhaps quite unique amongst judicial clerks, in that the calls they took from the barrister chambers were not, 'Will my counsel need their robes?' but rather, 'Will my counsel need their armour?'.

I joined a great judicial team at Central London, and I am grateful to them all - many of them here this evening - for their support and encouragement throughout my time at that County Court.  Likewise, I am indebted to the many staff of the court who, against all odds, keep it running.  I thank so many of them for attending this event tonight.  It is my privilege to be able to host an informal event for all staff tomorrow.

Over the last four years, I have had the privilege of serving as Leadership Judge to a wonderful group of some 50 District Judges across 13 London County Court Centres.  I am honoured that so many of them have attended this evening.  I thank them for all the help and support they gave me.  The County Courts are, as you have heard, the beating heart of our civil justice system.  A Parliamentary Inquiry into their work is underway, and I am delighted that Sir Bob Neill MP, who leads that enquiry, is here with us today.

And now it is time to thank present company, on the Bench and at the Bar.  Liz Davies, Nicholas Grundy and Giles Peaker, have all spoken of me warmly and generously and I thank them for that.  Marc Dight has served as my Leadership Judge since my appointment.  I recognise that I am far from the easiest person to manage.  We have heard something of that.  His style of leadership and management could not be more different from my own. That I not only survived but thrived under his stewardship shows that his style is one that works.

Since becoming a DCJ for London, I have also had a leadership judge myself, in a succession of London Civil Presiders.  I cannot name each of them tonight. Many are here.  I thank you all. In particular, I thank my final leader, Joel Bennathan, for his words tonight.  Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of Roles is my ultimate boss as a Civil Judge. His leadership and work ethic have been a fabulous inspiration.  I could not be more honoured than by his agreement to preside this evening.  My many thanks for that, and for so much more. 

I bring my 'Thank You' round to an end by paying tribute to my own family, in particular my wife, Adriana, and my daughters Alicia and Isabella.  It will come as no surprise if I reveal that Adriana is the person without the support of whom none of what has been said about my work would have been possible.  All my family and friends know that, and now you do too! Although she would much rather I had not shared that with you.

Tonight marks the lifting of a great burden and the bringing of much relief, and that is not a reference to how I feel.  I have never seen so many court staff, so many members of the Bar ,and so many members of the Bench looking so happy and relaxed as they now realise that this troublemaker is, at last, moving on.  I know I have a reputation for being strict on advocates, but in actuality I could not have been more accommodating.  For example, in my own courtroom, I have moved the panic button from my own bench to theirs!

And what of my own future?  Many have asked, 'How will you adjust?  What are your plans?'  The answer is to be found in my discovery recently of a rather catchy phrase - 'work/life balance'.  I wish I had known about it earlier.  I feel that I have done the work, so now I am going to lead the life.  I hear tell that 'life' offers opportunities galore - fun, exercise, relaxation, adventure, and not only weekends without work but weekdays too!!  I genuinely cannot wait to try it. And, of course this is precisely the right court, is it not, in which to find that I now face Life?  I cannot wait to begin my sentence!  I will enter that next chapter with many great memories, but none greater than that of this evening's event.  Thank you, very much, for being part of it.

SIR GEOFFREY VOS:  Well, that concludes this evening's proceedings.  Many thanks to you all for coming.

End of valedictory.

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