Carswell was
called to the bar in 1957 and
took silk in 1971. Carswell was Counsel to the
Attorney General for Northern Ireland in the years 1969 and 1971, and Senior Crown Counsel in
Northern Ireland from 1979 to 1984. In 1984, he became Judge of the
High Court of Justice Northern Ireland, a post he held until 1992. He was
Lord Justice of Appeal at the
Supreme Court of Judicature in Northern Ireland from 1992 to 1997 and further
Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland from 1997 to 2004. Lord Carswell was made a
Queen's Counsel in 1971. Carswell was
knighted in 1988 and became a
Privy Counsellor in 1993. He was appointed a
Lord of Appeal in Ordinary as
Baron Carswell, of Killeen in the
County of Down on 12 January 2004. He sat in the
House of Lords as a
crossbencher until his retirement from the membership of the House on 29 October 2019. From 2009 to 2010, Lord Carswell chaired an inquiry into the roles of Jersey's Crown Officers (the
Bailiff, Deputy Bailiff, Attorney General and Solicitor General), presenting a report recommending reforms to the
States of Jersey on 6 December 2010. ==Marriage and children==