Commissioners

The members of the Commission come from a wide background and are drawn from the lay public, the legal professions, tribunals, the magistracy and the judiciary. The specific make up of the Commission means that it has a breadth of knowledge, expertise and independence.

12 commissioners, including the Chairman are appointed through open competition with the other three selected by the Judges' Council.

The Chairman of the Commission must always be a lay member. Of the 14 other Commissioners:

  • 5 must be judicial members
  • 2 must be professional members (1 barrister and 1 solicitor)
  • 5 must be lay members
  • 1 must be a tribunal member
  • 1 must be a lay justice member.

The Commissioners are appointed in their own right and are not representatives of the professions that they may come from. It is this diverse make up of the Commission which means that each member is able to bring knowledge, expertise and above all independence of mind.

The JAC Commissioners

Chris Stephens, Chairman
Christopher Stephens is a non-executive director of WSP, a global engineering consultancy and Holidaybreak plc. He was Chairman of the DHL (UK) Foundation, a charity committed to community development and education projects both in the UK and worldwide, until May 2011 and Chairman of Traidcraft plc until March 2011. Christopher was a member of the Senior Salaries Review Board and a Civil Service Commissioner. Until 2004, he was Group Human Resources Director of Exel (now DHL).

 

Mr Justice Bean (judicial)
David Bean was appointed a Justice of the High Court, assigned to The Queen's Bench Division, in 2004. He has been Chairman of the Bar Council (2002), and is a former member of the Civil Justice Council. He was a Presiding Judge of the South Eastern Circuit from 2007 to 2010.

District Judge Birchall (judicial)
Malcolm Birchall has been a District Judge since 1995. He is based in Norwich, takes civil and family cases, and is a nominated care judge. He obtained a Master's degree in Family Justice Studies at the University of East Anglia. He has acted as an appraisal judge for eleven years, including six years as Circuit Appraisal Judge for the southeast (north) circuit. He is also an associate lecturer/tutor with the Open University in the Law Faculty and a former Course Director at the Judicial College.

Lady Justice Black DBE (judicial)
Jill Black was educated at Penrhos College, Colwyn Bay and the University of Durham. She was called to the Bar at Inner Temple in 1976 and appointed a QC in 1994. In 1999 she was appointed a Recorder, and later that year a Justice of the High Court, assigned to the Family Division. She served as Family Division Liaison Judge for the Northern Circuit from 2000 to 2004. Jill Black was Chairman of the Family Committee of the Judicial Studies Board from 2004 until she joined the JAC in 2008

Martin Forde QC (professional - barrister)
Martin Forde QC took Silk in 2006 and became a Recorder in 2009. His early career on the Midland Circuit included crime, personal injuries, matrimonial and a variety of civil and criminal work, though latterly he has focused on medical negligence and regulatory work. He is the South Eastern Circuit Diversity Mentor and Chair of the South Eastern Circuit Minorities Committee. He is also the Chair of the Bar Council's Equality and Diversity Sub Group: Access to Appointments and Progression.

Ms Alexandra Marks (professional - solicitor)
Alexandra Marks has had a career as a partner at Linklaters, practising in commercial property. She became a Recorder in 2002, is a Deputy High Court Judge, an Adjudicator for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and Chair of the Architects Registration Board's Professional Conduct Committee. She is also a Past President of the City of London Law Society and a Board member of JUSTICE.
  Professor Noel Lloyd CBE (lay)
Noel Lloyd was Vice Chancellor of Aberystwyth University.  He is a member of the Devolution Commission (the Silk Commission), Chair of High Performance Computing Wales and also Chair of Fair Trade Wales. An academic mathematician, he has worked in Aberystwyth since 1974, after an early career in Cambridge, becoming Pro Vice-Chancellor in 1997. He has also been Chair of Higher Education Wales, Vice President of Universities UK and board member of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
Judge Alison McKenna (Tribunal)
Alison McKenna was a Fee paid Judge of the Mental Health Review Tribunal. In 2008 she was appointed to the salaried position of President of the Charity Tribunal (see page 28, JAC annual report 2007/8), and was transferred in to the reformed tribunal system as a Principal Judge in 2009. She is a member of the Tribunals Judiciary Executive Board and various sub-groups including Diversity. She originally trained as a barrister, worked within the Government Legal Service, and then converted to being a solicitor, specialising in charity law.

Mrs Stella Pantelides (lay)
Stella Pantelides runs her own consulting business specialising in the integration of business and people strategy. She is a non executive director on the Service Personnel Board at the Ministry of Defence and a member of the School Teachers Review Body. She has just come to the end of a five year term as a Civil Service Commissioner. She had previously held senior HR posts in professional services firms and City institutions, including Global Director, HR at Linklaters. 

Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Ridgway KBE CB (lay)
Andrew Ridgway served a five year term as Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey and has been Chief of Defence Intelligence and previously Director General, Defence Training and Education. He had operational deployments with NATO and UN in Kosovo, Kuwait, and Central Bosnia, and served as the first Director of Operational Capability at the Ministry of Defence. He is the Chair of British Bobsleigh and has been involved in a number of voluntary bodies adjacent to his military career such as the Tank Museum and various benevolent funds.

Ranjit Sondhi CBE (lay)
Ranjit Sondhi is a member of the Equality and Diversity Committee of the Bar Standards Board. He was Chair of the Heart of Birmingham NHS Teaching Primary Care Trust and has been involved with voluntary and community organisations including the Asian Resource Centre in Birmingham, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, the Commission for Racial Equality, the Ethnic Minorities Advisory Committee of the Judicial Studies Board and the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct. He has been a trustee of the National Gallery, a BBC Governor and a Civil Service Commissioner.

Dame Valerie Strachan DCB (lay)
Valerie Strachan is a former senior civil servant, who is currently Chair of the Council of the University of Southampton. She retired as Chair of HM Customs and Excise in 2000. She served as a Lay Assessor on the Leggatt enquiry in 2001-02 (which recommended the creation of the Tribunals Service). For the past six years she has been a panel member of the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry and been Vice Chair of the Big Lottery Fund and Chair of James Alleyn's Girls School.

Her Honour Judge Taylor (judicial)
Deborah Taylor has a background in both civil and criminal law. Having been a civil practitioner, she began as a Circuit Judge at Basildon Crown Court, presiding over criminal cases before moving to Inner London Crown Court, Blackfriars Crown Court and for the last four years, Southwark Crown Court. She also sits at the Mayor's and City of London County Court and covers a range of civil and criminal cases.

John Thornhill Esq JP FRSA (magistrate)
John Thornhill is a Liverpool based magistrate, who has been on the bench since 1982, and holds court chairman status for adult, youth and family courts. He was Chair of the National Magistrates' Association from 2008 - 2011 and has been very active with the National Council since 1994.  He was called to the Bar in 2002 and is currently a Member of the European Network for Councils of Judiciary, as an appointed representative of UK judges.  He is also Chairman of the European Network of Lay Judges.