UNIVERSITY of Bolton's Chancellor, the Rt Hon Lord Justice Ryder, has been sworn in to the position of Senior President of Tribunals at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Her Majesty The Queen approved the appointment, and Sir Ernest was sworn in by the Lord Chief Justice in the presence of the Lord High Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice on Friday.

The ceremony took place at the Lord Chief Justice’s Court witnessed by an array of senior judicial figures including Appeal Court, High Court and District Judges. Sir Ernest's peers, the Presidents, joined the Lord Chief Justice on the Bench for this prestigious ceremony.

The Vice Chancellor, George Holmes the registrar and the diamond jubilee professor of law represented the University, mingling afterwards with invited guests including the President of the Law Society.

As one of the UK’s leading judges, Sir Ernest, Senior President, was born and raised locally and educated at Bolton School.

After studying at Peterhouse, Cambridge he was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1981 and was made a Bencher in 2004.

After taking silk, Ernest Ryder QC was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Justice, Family Division in May 2004 and was the Family Division Liaison Judge and then the Presiding Judge of the Northern Circuit.

He was the senior judicial figure responsible for the Modernisation of Family Justice, his work on which was praised highly by the Lord Chief Justice at today's ceremony. In 2011-12 Sir Ernest was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and Privy Counsellor in 2013.