When Nicholas Phillips agreed in 1998 to chair the BSE inquiry he was immediately offered a plush set of offices at the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (Maff). The mammoth amount of paperwork involved in the two-year inquiry meant that a headquarters at the heart of the government department funding the investigation would have been very convenient for the judge. But the then Lord Justice Phillips politely declined the offer, informing ministers that such a location might give the impression of partiality.

After all it was the failings of ministers and civil servants which would be the focus of his inquiry. Instead, the judge settled for much more basic accommodation at another building, nearby, but demonstrably independent of Maff.

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, now the Master of the Rolls, knows only too well how important it is that justice is not only done but also seen to be done. Shortly before completing his report into BSE, Lord Phillips was appointed to the panel of judges hearing the second House of Lords case in the extradition of the former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet.

The first ruling had to be set aside after it emerged that one of the judges, Lord Hoffman, had links with Amnesty International, a party to the extradition hearings.

This strong sense of the perception of justice is one of the reasons Lord Phillips supports his fellow law lord, Lord Bingham of Cornhill, who has called for a Supreme Court to replace the House of Lords.

Lord Phillips explains: "I'm in favour of a separation of powers, especially as far as the judiciary is concerned. My view is that there is quite enough for the highest court of the land to do dealing with judicial work and I would prefer to see a separate Supreme Court in proper premises, properly staffed, devoting all their energies to what is a very important job." In the meantime his personal view is that judges should not take part in debates in the chamber.

As a strong advocate of a modern judiciary Lord Phillips, appointed Master of the Rolls two years ago this month, is keen that the public moves away from the idea of judges being out-of-touch. "I think the judiciary have always been caricatured. Newspaper pictures don't show them wearing suits, like I am wearing now, but wearing a full-bottomed wig, a headgear they don't wear except on ceremonial occasions. It serves to give a false impression to the public."

It is then of little surprise to know that the Master of the Rolls supports the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, and the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, in their move towards more informal court dress. Says Lord Phillips: "I think wigs are an anachronism. I would be in favour of abolishing wearing wigs and wing-collars and bands in civil cases."

The Master of the Rolls is one of the few British judges to have sat at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. "They have an extremely good gown which can be put on very quickly over your suit. It looks dignified, identifies the judge, but does not look like fancy dress."

Lord Phillips's distinctly modern views belie a very traditional background much more typical of the senior judiciary of the past. Born in 1938, he was evacuated to Canada during the Second World War before returning to study classics at Bryanston School, where he has been chairman of governors since 1981. During his spell of National Service he served as a Royal Navy midshipman before winning a place at King's College Cambridge, where he left with a first class degree in law.

Nicholas Phillips began his career at the Bar 40 years ago when he was called to Middle Temple. There he specialised in admiralty and commercial advocacy. In 1978, he was made a QC and 10 years later was appointed to the High Court where he won praise for his skilful handling of the Barlow Clowes and Maxwell cases. In 1995 he was further promoted to the Court of Appeal but interrupted his judicial career to chair the BSE inquiry.

Some of his colleagues privately expressed surprise that a Court of Appeal judge, who had only sat on a few dozen appeal cases, should be promoted over more experienced colleagues to the post of Master of the Rolls, a rank considered second only the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice. But Lord Phillips's assured stewardship of the BSE inquiry was seen as something that should count for him rather than against.

Lord Phillips has kept a relatively low profile, still finding his feet in his new role as head of civil justice in England and Wales. But two years after his appointment, and 18 months after he took up the post full-time, it is plain that Lord Phillips is keen to use his office to address a number of pressing issues affecting the courts.

The one that is perhaps causing him the most concern is that of costs. Asked if he thinks solicitors and barristers are paid too much money, he has no hesitation in saying he does: "Lawyers' fees have steadily, but incrementally, increased and it's very difficult to know what to do about it. I believe that the amounts some are earning, both in the solicitors' profession and at Bar, are extravagantly high." He says the civil justice reforms of his predecessor, Lord Woolf, have failed to fully tackle the problem of costs. And he now sees it as his task to make justice affordable to the litigant in the street. Speaking as the chairman of the Civil Justice Council, he says: "My aim is to see that civil justice is not only inclusive, but that citizens' rights to that justice are fully recognised, accepted and, where necessary, protected."

An area of costly litigation that has attracted growing criticism from both politicians and the courts is that of medical negligence. Liabilities facing the NHS are now in excess of £4bn. It is a figure that has also caught the eye of the Master of the Rolls. "It's manifestly unsatisfactory that such huge sums are having to be paid by the health service in litigation costs at the moment. Where there has been medical negligence it's unsatisfactory if the issues have to be litigated. Medical negligence usually involves considerable stress to the victims or the victims' relatives and for that reason alone it is an area that cries out for mediation rather than the adoption of an adversarial stance."

Instead, Lord Phillips favours a system of rehabilitation, as practised in the United States, where victims are given paid care as soon as it becomes clear the hospital may be at fault. "If one can get an atmosphere where the hospitals don't go on to the defensive but are immediately prepared to concede that something has gone wrong when it has, that's a very good start.

"The amount of the compensation that can be payable is an obvious barrier to the health service immediately admitting liability in serious cases. The delay which takes place in litigation adds enormously to the stress to those who are claiming and can leave them without financial resources."

Lord Phillips is keen to practice what he preaches and last month opened a new rehabilitation centre in London. Many judges carry out similar unpaid work, he says, which could be described as for the public good. "I think the image of the judiciary must depend upon the way we are doing our job. Thirty years ago, cases were very cumbersome, taking four or five days for a hearing, which we can now dispatch in a single day."