Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith

Quick Facts

Full Name	Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith
Occupation	British Barrister
Date Of Birth	Jan 5, 1950(1950-01-05)
Age	74
Birthplace	Liverpool
Country	United Kingdom
Birth City	England
Horoscope	Capricorn

Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith Biography

Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith is one of the most popular and richest British barrister who was born on January 5, 1950 in Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. Peter Henry Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith PC Baron Goldsmith PC (born 5 January , 1950) is a British barrister, and also an Attorney General in the past of England and Wales as well as for Northern Ireland. On June 22, 2007 Goldsmith declared his resignation, which was effective on the 27th of June 2007 the day the prime minister, Tony Blair, stepped off the throne. Goldsmith was the longest-serving Labour Attorney General. He is currently the head of the European litigation in the US legal company Debevoise & Plimpton and Vice Chairperson of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre.

The controversy was intensified due to an abrupt resignation by Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy legal advisor at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on the 20th of March, 2003. The full text of her resignation letter was made public in March of 2005. In it, Wilmshurst stated that the reason behind her resignation was because she did not believe regarding whether the force used in Iraq was lawful. She also claimed that Goldsmith to have changed his opinion regarding the issue. In her testimony before commission members on the Iraq Inquiry commission, Wilmshurst while acknowledging she was aware that “Goldsmith was put into an impossible position” she voiced her disapproval of how Goldsmith was able to formulate his ultimate decision. She also said that “the process that was followed in this case was lamentable,” noting that she felt “there should have been a greater transparency within [the British] government” regarding what she called the “evolving legal advice.” Regarding the efforts by the Attorney General in determining the extent of the alleged Iraqi violations, she expressed her displeasure with Goldsmith using, as a part, on his legal advice “on private conversations he had with British and US negotiators on what the French [negotiators] had said,” in addition to “of course, he hadn’t asked the French themselves.”

The Government turned down repeated calls to break with tradition and have the advice made public. Goldsmith’s original memo to the Prime Minister written on 30 January 2003 opined that UN Resolution 1441 did not sanction the use of force and that a further resolution would be required before military action. A subsequent memo written on 7 March 2003 was eventually leaked to the press, which led to its official publication on 28 April 2005. In the memo, Lord Goldsmith discussed whether the use of force in Iraq could legally be justified by Iraq’s ‘material breach’, as established in UN Security Council Resolution 1441, of its ceasefire obligations as imposed by Security Council Resolution 687 at the end of the First Gulf War. Goldsmith concluded that ‘a reasonable case can be made that resolution 1441 is capable in principle of reviving the authorisation [of the use of force] in Resolution 678 without a further resolution.’ However, Goldsmith did concede that ‘a court might well conclude that operative paragraphs 4 and 12 do require a further Council decision to revive the authorisation.’ In this Memo he also concluded “the argument that resolution 1441 alone has revived the authorisation to use force in resolution 678 will only be sustainable if there are strong factual grounds for concluding that Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity. In other words, we would need to be able to demonstrate hard evidence of non-compliance and non-cooperation.”

The nature of Goldsmith’s legal advice to the Government over the legality of the 2003 invasion of Iraq was a significant political issue at the time.

Goldsmith is also the holder of various positions in international legal organizations as a council member for the International Bar Association (IBA) as well as the Union Internationale des Avocats. From 1998 to the time of his appointment to Attorney General,, he was the co-chairman of International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. From 1997 to 2000, he was the Chairman of the Financial Reporting Review Panel, an unofficial public body with no departmental responsibility to enforce standards for financial reporting. In 1997, he was appointed to the American Law Institute and made an official part of the Paris Bar.

Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith Net Worth

Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith is one of the richest British Barrister from United Kingdom. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Goldsmith is a native of Liverpool, Merseyside, and is of Jewish origin. He attended Quarry Bank School, before studying laws at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and University College London. He was admitted by Gray’s Inn in 1972. He began his practice at Fountain Court Chambers in London. He joined silk in 1987, and was a deputy High Court Judge in 1994. He was elected the youngest chairperson of the Bar of England and Wales in 1995. He was elevated to peerage of an Labour peers in the year 1999 as Baron Goldsmith from Allerton within the County of Merseyside. He was appointed Attorney General at the beginning of June of 2001. His first tasks was to debate violations of the order against publicizing the location of perpetrators of the killing of James Bulger. He was elected to in the Privy Council in 2002.

In 1996, he created in 1996 the Bar Pro bono Unit of which he served as chairman from 1996 until 2000 and continues to be president. He was the Prime Minister’s Personal Representative to the Convention for the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

In his final advice to the Government, written on 17 March 2003, Goldsmith stated that the use of force in Iraq was lawful. This advice stated Goldsmith’s preferred view in more unequivocal terms than his earlier memo, without reference to the doubts expressed therein. This has led to allegations that Goldsmith succumbed to political pressure to find legal justification for the use of force against Iraq. Shortly after the leak Goldsmith released a statement in response to such allegations, saying that the two documents were consistent, pointing to the difference in the nature of the two documents and to the firm assurances he claims to have had received between 7 and 17 March that Iraq was indeed in breach of its obligations under Security Council resolutions.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

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Who is Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith Dating?

According to our records, Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith’s is not dating anyone.

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On 17 February 2007, the Mail on Sunday reported that Goldsmith, who is married, had been having an affair with Kim Hollis QC.

Facts & Trivia

Peter Ranked on the list of most popular British barrister. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United Kingdom. Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith celebrates birthday on January 5 of every year.

In November 2008, the former Lord Chief Justice and Senior Law Lord Lord Bingham of Cornhill stated that Goldsmith’s advice contained “no hard evidence” that Iraq had defied UN resolutions “in a manner justifying resort to force” and that the invasion was “a serious violation of international law and of the rule of law.”

Who was the uk Attorney General in 2003?

The Chilcot Inquiry report on the UK invasion of Iraq in 2003, published in July, dedicates an entire chapter to the legal advice given by the then Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith , on the legality of military action.

What happened to Lord Goldsmith?

Goldsmith was a lawyer of famous Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili who spent the final day in his office, before collapsing and dying of a heart attack at his Leatherhead mansion.

Is suella Braverman a lawyer?

In the 13 February 2020 reshuffle, Braverman was appointed as Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland, succeeding Geoffrey Cox who had been dismissed from government. She is the second female Attorney General and the first Conservative female Attorney General.

How many attorney generals are there UK?

There are three UK government law officers: the attorney general, the solicitor general and the advocate general. Suella Braverman QC MP is attorney general, Alex Chalk QC MP is the solicitor general and Lord Stewart of Dirleton QC is the advocate general for Scotland.

Why is Zac Goldsmith a lord?

After the election, Boris Johnson awarded Goldsmith with a life peerage, making him a member of the House of Lords and allowing him to retain his ministerial position.