Personal profile

Roger Chapple was called to the Bar in 1974 and remained in a general common law practice from chambers at Francis Taylor Building for 19 years until his appointment as Assistant Judge Advocate General of Her Majesty’s Forces in 1994. He was, in that capacity, resident in Germany for 8 years, from 1997 to 2004, when he returned to the United Kingdom to take up an appointment to the Circuit Bench. He was appointed Resident Judge at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court from 2005 until its closure to make way for the new Supreme Court in 2007. Thereafter he sat at the Central Criminal Court until his appointment as a Senior Circuit Judge and Resident Judge at Inner London Crown Court at the end of 2007, where he remained until 2016 when he decided, after 22 years on the Bench, to take early retirement to pursue other interests. He was also, from 2007 to 2016, a Senior Judge of the Sovereign Base Areas Superior Court, Cyprus.

Since retirement, Roger Chapple continues to sit in the Crown Court as a Deputy Circuit Judge, as a judicial member of the Mental Health Tribunal, and as a Judge of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Additional roles and responsibilities:

  • Master of the Bench of Gray’s Inn
  • Member, Inns of Court Disciplinary Panel
  • Advocacy Trainer, Gray’s Inn
  • Patron, Southwark Young Pilgrims
  • Trustee, National Justice Museum