Previously a High Court judge, Lord Justice Colton was sworn into his new office at a ceremony in the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast this morning.

A former chairman of the Bar Council, he was called to the bar in 1983 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2006.

In his practice at the bar, he specialised in high-value personal injury claims and a significant number of clinical negligence cases.

He was involved in many criminal trials including cases of murder, manslaughter, terrorist cases, significant fraud claims and cases of driving causing death.

From 2009 until 2011, he was chairman of the Bar Council of Northern Ireland, during which time he established its advocacy training board, mentored a significant number of pupil barristers, and made links with the International Bar Association (IBA), which he then co-chaired.

Lord Justice Colton was appointed as a High Court judge in Northern Ireland in 2015.

In 2016, he was appointed presiding coroner for Northern Ireland and a judge-in-residence at the University of Ulster. He was appointed senior criminal judge in 2017.

In 2019, Lord Justice Colton was appointed the first president of the redress board for the victims of historical Institutional abuse.

He was then appointed senior judicial review judge between 2020 and 2023; and in 2024, judge in charge of the King’s Bench civil list.