Sydney Templeman, Baron Templeman

Templeman also handed down a number of judgments which were very socially conservative. In R v Brown [1993] UKHL 19 when considering whether injuries inflicted during sadomasochistic sex with the consent of all parties was legal, he said: "Society is entitled and bound to protect itself against a cult of violence. Pleasure derived from the infliction of pain is an evil thing. Cruelty is uncivilised." Templeman was also one of the dissenting judges in the famous case of Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech AHA [1986] AC 112, arguing, inter alia, that sub-16-year-old girls should not be having sex and, therefore, cannot legally consent to being prescribed contraceptives by a physician (thus necessitating parental consent to obtain prescription contraceptives).

When he expressed judicial opinions - either on legal or social issues - he often did so in strident tones. In A-G for Hong Kong v Reid [1993] UKPC 36, he referred to bribery as an "evil practice which threatens the foundations of any civilised society". In Hazell v Hammersmith and Fulham LBC [1992] 2 AC 1 when counsel tried to rely upon the decision in Sutton's Hospital Case (1612) 10 Co Rep 1 he said: "This argument strikes me as being not so much arcane as absurd."

Lord Templeman made significant contributions to English law during his time as a judge, both within and outside his specialist field of tax law and intellectual property law. He gave leading speeches upholding orthodox doctrine against calls for reform in the important land law cases of Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v London Residuary Body [1992] 2 AC 386 and Rhone v Stephens [1994] 2 AC 310. He also sponsored the Land Registration Act 1988, which led to the land register of England and Wales being open to the public for the first time in 1990.

On 30 September 1982, Templeman was made a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and created a life peer under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, taking the title Baron Templeman, of White Lackington in the County of Somerset.

Lord Templeman was also renowned for his colourful language. In Borden (UK) Ltd v Scottish Timber Products Ltd [1979] 3 WLR 672 at 686 he remarked:

Templeman was appointed to the High Court and assigned to the Chancery Division in 1972, and received the customary knighthood. He was subsequently appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1978, and was sworn into the Privy Council. Sitting at first instance in EMI Limited v Pandit [1975] 1 All ER 418, he granted the first Anton Piller order in English legal history.

Templeman became a member of the Bar Council in 1961, and was made a Queen's Counsel in 1964. He was elected a Bencher of the Middle Temple in 1969. He was Attorney-General of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1970 and 1972.

Sydney William Templeman, Baron Templeman, MBE, PC (3 March 1920 – 4 June 2014) was a British judge. He served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1982 to 1995.

Templeman was born on 3 March 1920, the son of Herbert William Templeman (a coal merchant) & his wife Lilian née Pheasant. He was educated at Southall Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge, where he was a scholar and read History. His studies were interrupted by World War II. In 1941, he was commissioned into the 4 Gorkha Rifles, and saw action on the Northwest Frontier, at Arakan, Imphal, and Burma. For his wartime service, he was mentioned in dispatches, and was demobilised as an honorary Major, and then later appointed an MBE for his war service.