Tributes have been paid to Lord Bingham of Cornhill, the ‘most respected, distinguished and admired judge of our times’, who died at his home in Wales on 11 September, aged 76.

The former master of the rolls, lord chief justice and senior law lord was known for his modern and forward-thinking attitude to justice. He consistently spoke out in favour of legal reforms, and was the first senior judge to call for the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law. He was also determined that the new British supreme court should not follow the American model and have the power to strike down acts of parliament. Bingham’s legacy will continue through the recently established Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, a centre of excellence for promoting the rule of law and the policies needed to implement and secure it.

Immense contributionLaw Society president Linda Lee said: ‘Lord (Thomas Henry) Bingham was the embodiment of all that is best in the legal profession, and his death strikes a heavy blow. A lawyer with few equals, his contribution to our society through his judgments, writings and views championing individual rights and the rule of law, as well as the independence of the judiciary, has been immense.’

Lord Judge, the lord chief justice, said: ‘On behalf of the judiciary, I would like to express my sorrow at the death of Tom Bingham, the most respected, distinguished and admired judge of our times. His contributions to our understanding of the significance of the rule of law, and the principled development of the common law, have been unequalled in our generation. Judges throughout the world will recognise Tom Bingham as one of the great jurists of this generation, and one of the great common law judges.’

Bingham took silk in 1972, aged only 38, and the following year was appointed a recorder of the Supreme Court. In 1980, he became a high court judge in the Queen’s Bench division and a judge of the commercial court. He was promoted to the Court of Appeal in 1986 and three years later was the first judge to lend his support to lord chancellor Lord Mackay’s reforming proposal to allow solicitors, as well as barristers, rights of audience in the high court.

He was appointed master of the rolls in 1992, and during his four-year tenure argued in favour of Lord Woolf’s overhaul of the civil justice system. He also advocated the use of plain English in the law, urged that judges should stop wearing wigs in court and became the first senior member of the judiciary to support the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law.

Most remarkable judgeIn 1996, Bingham became lord chief justice and shortly afterwards criticised government plans to impose mandatory minimum sentences, arguing that judges were best placed to decide which sentences fitted which crimes. He also recommended a review of the drugs laws, and opposed government plans to dismantle the legal aid system.

From 2000 until his retirement in 2008, Bingham was a senior law lord. He was made a knight of the garter in 2005 and his last book, The Rule of Law (2010), is expected – like his previous books – to become a seminal text.

Roger Smith, director of human rights group Justice, said Bingham had ‘helped stitch’ the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law. He added: ‘He was supremely literate, fascinated by history and committed to parliamentary sovereignty. He was thoughtful about the constitution, learned about the law and an incredibly nice man. He was absolutely the most remarkable judge I have ever known.’

Defender of rightsShami Chakrabarti, director of civil liberties group Liberty, said: ‘Lord Bingham will be remembered for as long as people anywhere fight torture and slavery, treasure free speech, fair trials, personal privacy and liberty itself. He was the perfect combination of intellect, integrity, humanity and humility – a very private man who became a towering figure in legal and public life. His achievements are numerous, but I will never forget his 2009 speech to Liberty’s conference in defence of the Human Rights Act, when he said: "Which of these rights, I ask, would we wish to discard? Are any of them trivial, superfluous, unnecessary? Are any of them un-British? There may be those who would like to live in a country where these rights are not protected, but I am not of their number."’