He may not have been as controversial as Lord Denning, but Lord Hoffmann certainly didn't shy away from controversy during his time in the House of Lords.

Ask a group of 20 English law students to vote on the most controversial judge in history and the winner, invariably and overwhelmingly, is Lord Denning. But ask those same students to name the most controversial living judge, and their answer is far from unanimous. My nomination would go to Lord Hoffmann, who retired earlier this year aged 74.

Lord Hoffmann's rise to the House of Lords was meteoric. He was appointed as a law lord a mere ten years after he first sat as a judge in the High Court, some three years faster than Lord Denning. As a law lord, he became embroiled in controversy for his part in the extradition proceedings of General Pinochet. The former Chilean dictator had appealed against plans to extradite him to Spain, where he faced several serious charges for human rights violations. Lord Hoffmann cast the 'swing vote' in a panel of five law lords that was otherwise split two-two. But he failed to declare his links to the human rights group Amnesty International, casting doubt on the propriety of the judgment. In an unprecedented move, a differently constituted panel of law lords heard the appeal afresh.

Renowned for his unique insight, the Pinochet case was neither Lord Hoffmann's first, nor last brush with controversy. In this year's Judicial Studies Board Annual Lecture, which he delivered only a month before his retirement, Lord Hoffmann criticised the European Court of Human Rights for lacking constitutional legitimacy. He described the procedure for appointment to the Court as "totally opaque" and accused it of "teaching grandmothers to suck eggs" in some of its judgments.

It is unusual to hear soundbites like these from Lord Hoffmann, such phrases being more typically associated with the likes of Lord Denning. But both judges have made valuable contributions to the law of contracts, company and trusts.

During his time as a law lord, Lord Hoffmann also established himself as the leading judge in the field of intellectual property. When Lord Hoffmann delivered a judgment in an IP case, the desks and diaries of IP practitioners up and down the country were cleared in order that they might read and digest it. His judgments in human rights cases were a beacon of lucidity. In the famous appeal of the Belmarsh detainees, he issued a lone and vigorous dissent. 'The real threat to the life of a nation,' he stated, 'comes not from terrorism but from laws such as these. That is the true measure of what terrorism may achieve.'

Lord Hoffmann completed his final act of judicial business on the 1 July 2009, when he handed down the leading judgment in Chartbrook v Persimmon Homes. The legal world has not, however, heard the last of him. He is now a door tenant at Brick Court Chambers, accepting appointments as an arbitrator and a mediator.

The vacancy left by Lord Hoffmann in the House of Lords is filled by Lord Collins. A former partner at Herbert Smith, Lord Collins is the first solicitor to have been appointed as a law lord. Despite this momentous achievement, Lord Collins has some giant judicial shoes to fill.

Karamvir Chadha recently graduated from the University of Manchester and begins the European Master in Law & Economics in September.

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