Lord Dyson, right, with Professor Sir Nigel Rodley and Professor Anthony King

The head of the civil judiciary in England and Wales has received an honorary degree from the University of Essex for his highly distinguished career dedicated to public service and including significant work in support of human rights.

As Master of the Rolls, Lord Dyson holds the second most senior judicial position in England and Wales, after the Lord Chief Justice.

In his speech Lord Dyson said: “Recognition from an outstanding institution like this means a great deal. The School of Law and the Human Rights Centre has a well-deserved reputation for all round excellence.”

He also highlighted the importance of human rights and the value of the work undertaken at the University of Essex: “The protection of human rights should be at the heart of any democratic system that respects the rule of law.”

He added: “We should all be grateful for the high-quality research being done in the field of human rights at this University.”

He pointed out that this research was “particularly valuable” to judges having to take decisions on individual cases.

Lord Dyson was educated at Leeds Grammar School and Wadham College, Oxford, He was called to the bar (Middle Temple) in 1968. He was made a bencher for Middle Temple in 1990. He was appointed as a Queen’s Counsel in 1980, and his first judicial appointment was as a Recorder from 1986 and 1993.

He was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Justice for 1993-2001.

In 2001 he was appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal and was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court in April 2010. He succeeded Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury as Master of the Rolls in October 2012.

Since 1998 he has been a Fellow of the Society of Advanced Legal Studies and in 2004 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2004.