Shortly after he became Britain’s senior law lord in 1998 Nick Browne-Wilkinson found himself embroiled in the most controversial case of his long and distinguished career.
General Augusto Pinochet, the Chilean dictator, had been arrested in London on a warrant from a Spanish court citing historical charges of torture. In the initial hearing Browne-Wilkinson’s fellow law lords ruled that Pinochet could be extradited for trial. However, three weeks later Browne-Wilkinson made legal history when he presided over a second hearing that set aside the original judgment.
At issue was a conflict of interest. It had emerged that Lord Hoffmann, one of the lords who had heard the case, had failed to declare his links with Amnesty International, which had campaigned against Pinochet.
The reversal of