 On 1 October 1974, he was appointed a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary ("Law Lord") and was raised to the Peerage as Baron Edmund-Davies, of Aberpennar in the County of Mid Glamorgan.To allow him to take this title, he changed his surname to "Edmund-Davies", so that his given name, which had formed part of his judicial title for more than 15 years, could be incorporated into his peerage.Following very severe problems with the recruitment and retention of police officers in England and Wales because of chronically low pay, which had by then fallen far behind the pay for comparable occupations, in August 1977 Edmund-Davies was appointed by Labour Home Secretary Merlyn Rees MP to chair a commission of inquiry into the negotiating machinery for police pay and conditions.