Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith

Peter Henry Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, (PC, QC) ( born January 5, 1950 in Liverpool) is a British lawyer and former Attorney General of England and Wales and Northern Ireland.

Life

Goldsmith studied law at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and University College London. A license to practice law as a barrister - at-law, he received in 1972 by the Bar Gray's Inn, from then on he practiced until 2001 for Fountain Court Chambers. In 1987, the title of Queen's Counsel, he was awarded, in 1995, he was appointed Deputy High Court Judge. He was elevated to the status of a Life Peer in 1999 and since then bears the title of Baron Goldsmith of Allerton in the County of Merseyside. The appeal to the Attorney General took place in 2001, the year after he was Privy Counsellor.

In connection with the Iraq war Goldsmith came under criticism after letters were public, those according to which he initially doubted the legality of an invasion, but later regarded as given.

From the Office of the Attorney General, he resigned on 27 June 2007, on the same day that Tony Blair gave up his post as prime minister. Among all Attorneys General, who belonged to the Labour Party, he is the one with the longest tenure. He is currently working in the U.S. law firm Debevoise & Plimpton.