HE remains, as is the case with most High Court judges, a some what remote figure as he presides over Court No 13.
But while it can be a complicated business ploughing through the minutiae of the fall of the last Irish government, not to mention grappling with the pronunciation of Tanaiste, Fine Gael or Teachta Dala, Mr Justice Christopher French has seemed less inclined to scribble on his note pad than listen to the fascinating events being played out before him.
French had already built up a reputation as a formidable presence on the High Court Circuit before he was appointed to the Albert Reynolds Sunday Times libel case. He has presided over many libel cases during his career, including the Ian Botham Imran Khan libel case earlier this year.
He also sat in judgment when the former England football manager, Terry Venables, settled his libel action against Alan Sugar, the owner of Tottenham Football Club.
In 1983 French came to the notice of the British press when he sentenced the IRA terrorist John McComb, to 17 years in prison for his part in a bombing campaign in 1978 and 1979. He was given police protection because they feared an IRA assassin "with a mission to kill" was operating undercover in the run up to the general election that year.
In court, the judge has been known to provide the odd giggle or two with his ability to enter into the spirit of a comical situation, but he can also show off the "dour and cheerless" side.
It is perhaps his honesty and sense of humour which had women "packing the gallery" during the Imran Khan Ian Botham libel case. "There is only one sex, symbol in the courtroom, one reporter wrote, "and he is not a cricketer. French has won female spectators over with wit, a roguish smile and a head boyish amusement at the nature of the proceedings".
Throughout his career French has been associated with a number of controversial episodes in the courtroom, not least his decision in 1988 to fine a woman £50 for careless driving in an incident which led to the death of a 13 year old boy.
Following the verdict the Conservative MP, Mr Harry Greenway, said it was another example of a judge "who is completely out of touch with public opinion".
Once again French faced rebuke in 1986 when he was criticised by women's groups for ruling that "despite many advances in wives' rights" over matrimonial property, a wife had no automatic right to a home, even if her husband had "set up a love nest" with his mistress.
He also has a reputation for stiff rebukes, infamously criticising two health authorities last year for exposing 100 women to "shock, fear and confusion" when they were informed, by letter, that they had been treated by a health worker who was diagnosed HIV positive.
French was born in October 1925, the second son of a respected Church of England family. His father was a parson and once held the position of Chaplain to the Queen. He married his wife Philippa in 1957, and they have one son and one daughter.
French was educated at Denstone College and Brasenose College, Oxford, and attained the rank in of captain in the Coldstream Guards in which he served during 1943 to 1948. Once he had decided on a legal career he moved swiftly through the ranks. He was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1950 and became a QC in 1966.
In 1982 he became a judge of the High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, having already earned his spurs in the Family Division and as a Judge of the Employment Appeals Tribunal, on which he has served since 1985.
Earlier in his career he was appointed as the Recorder of Coventry, 1971-1972, the Honourable Recorder of Coventry, 1972-1979 and as a member of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Touring Magistrates, 1974-1980.
Apart from fishing and painting, one of French's interests is walking, which it is said keeps him "lean and fit".
He is described by his colleagues as a quiet, courteous and hard working man. Allan Levy QC once said of him. "He is a very senior, well respected judge and was a very successful silk. As a person he is a very nice man. You would pick him out as a former guards officer he is very stiff backed."
Another said he was amply gifted to sift through the masses of evidence put before him, such as he has come across in libel, criminal and personal injuries cases. Mr Justice French, he said, "is always well prepared."
In High Court No 13 or indeed any court French is unlikely to look kindly on a newspaper flouting the rules of the court. In 1988 he called on the lawyer representing the Daily Mail to explain how an "inaccurate . . . as well as grossly improper" court report had appeared in the newspaper, creating the possibility of a mistrial in a rape case.
French rebuked the Mail firmly when he told them. "It would be wise if such impropriety was not repeated."