We are incredibly sad to hear that Sir Roy Goode, probably JUSTICE’s most committed and longstanding supporter since its inception in 1957, has died at the age of 93.  

He joined as a member of JUSTICE on the 1^st June, 1958.  He went on to become long-term Vice-Chair of our Executive Committee from 1987 to 1997 under the chairmanship of Sir William Goodhart QC. This directly preceded his advancement to Chairman of the Executive Committee in 1997 which he held for three years.  

Despite being the pre-eminent commercial law scholar of his generation, his tenure coincided with hugely significant milestones in reform of the justice system as a whole. For example, the Criminal Cases Review Commission was set up in 1997, over 30 years after JUSTICE first called for an independent body to review alleged miscarriage of justice cases.

JUSTICE also sat on the Government task force for the Human Rights Act of 1998, ran extensive educational campaigns, published briefings, and provided training for the legal profession to prepare for the Act coming into full force in October 2000.  

Also at this time, JUSTICE actively advocated for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, leading up to and following the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998.

In addition, following the public inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the organisation strongly advocated for institutional police reform, race relations legislation changes, and updates to the criminal justice system regarding racially motivated crimes.

Roy was instrumental in the fundraising appeal of the 1990s to raise money for JUSTICE’s first premises, 59 Carter Street, which was to give unhitherto sustainability for the charity.  

Roy continued to be a very active supporter of JUSTICE right up until this year. His brilliant brain, and unbelievable memory, kept the history and achievements of JUSTICE alive but also relevant to the present day.  

We are enormously indebted to him as an organisation, much of our work would not have been achieved without his support, but we are also incredibly sad to lose a very dear friend, whose intellectual curiosity and company was always stimulating and entertaining.  

Our thoughts are with Catherine and his wider family at this time.