Stephen Brown

Sir Stephen Brown (3 October 1924 – 1 October 2025) was a British judge. He was a Lord Justice of Appeal and the President of the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales.

Early life and education Brown was born in Staffordshire, England, on 3 October 1924 to Wilfrid Brown and Nora Elizabeth Brown of Longdon Green. He was educated at Malvern College and Queens' College, Cambridge.

Career From 1943 to 1946 Brown served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve as a lieutenant.

Brown became a barrister at the Inner Temple in 1949, became a bencher in 1974, and became Treasurer in 1994. He was Deputy Chairman of Staffordshire Quarter Sessions from 1963 to 1971, and Recorder of West Bromwich from 1965 to 1971. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1966. He was a Recorder, and Honorary Recorder of West Bromwich from 1972 to 1975, was a High Court judge, in the Family Division, from 1975 to 1977, and in the Queen's Bench Division from 1977 to 1983, and was Presiding Judge of the Midland and Oxford Circuit and was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal (1983–88)

He was a member of the Parole Board of England and Wales from 1967 to 1971, of the Butler Committee on mentally abnormal offenders from 1972 to 1975, and of the Advisory Council on Penal System in 1977. He was chairman of the Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors

As of 10 January 2009, he was also a member of the Advisory Committee of Children's Rights International.

Honours and decorations Brown was knighted in 1975. Brown was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 1999 Birthday Honours "for services to the Family Court System."

He received an honorary fellowship and several honorary degrees: Honorary Fellow: Queens' College, Cambridge, 1984 Honorary LLD: University of Birmingham, 1985 Honorary LLD: University of Leicester, 1997 Honorary LLD, Honorary FRC Psychology: University of the West of England, 2000.