The Honourable Mr Justice Hayden was appointed as a High Court Judge (Family Division) in 2013. In 2014, His Lordship chaired ‘The Vulnerable Witness and Children Working Group’, to consider the practical application of the principles within the Criminal Justice System for adaption to use in the Family Justice System and to respond to the call from the Minister and the Young People’s Family Justice Board for children and young people to ‘speak to the Judge’. This led to the ‘Vulnerable Witnesses and Parties in the Family Court, Toolkit 13, 8th November 2014’.

His Lordship was appointed Vice President of the Court of Protection in 2018. In the pandemic, His Lordship founded an emergency, multi-disciplinary group (‘The Hive’), comprising senior consultants, the Official Solicitor, Senior Judges and experienced Silks. The purpose of the group was to facilitate liaison and inform of the likely decisions that the Court would be required to take, given that the protected parties in applications under the Mental Capacity Act were in a highly vulnerable category. His Lordship published Guidance concerning access to care homes in the pandemic: Covid and Care Homes (Contact) 2021.

In 2023, His Lordship was appointed Jurisdictional Director of the Judicial College for Family Law and Court of Protection, marking the first time that the Court of Protection has had a High Court Jurisdictional Director. In 2024, His Lordship took over as lead Appeals Judge for the Family Division (Private Law).

His Lordship has an interest in international surrogacy cases. His Lordship has co-authored one of the leading texts: Children and Same Sex Families: A Legal Handbook; and represented the UK in updating the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Strasbourg). His Lordship was part of a ‘high-level delegation’ of British Judges meeting with the Judges of the European Court of Human Rights.