Chairman and commissioners


Our 15 commissioners are drawn from the judiciary, the legal professions, tribunals, the lay magistracy and the lay public.

12 commissioners, including the Chairmain 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 - resulting in real breadth for the Commission as a whole.

The Chairman - Baroness Usha Prashar

Photo of Baroness Usha Prashar CBE Baroness Usha Prashar CBE
Usha Prashar has been Chairman of the JAC since October 2005. She was born in Kenya in 1948 and was educated at Wakefield Girls' High School, and the Universities of Leeds and Glasgow. She was awarded a CBE in 1994 and since 1999 has sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher.

The Baroness has a distinguished record of public service, having been the First Civil Service Commissioner between 2000 and 2005. Before taking on that post she was executive chairman of the Parole Board for England and Wales for three years.

Formerly she was director of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and director of the Runnymede Trust, and served as a member of the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice. She was also a member of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct.

The other commissioners

Photo of The Right Honourable Lady Justice Heather Hallett DBE The Right Honourable Lady Justice Heather Hallett DBE (judicial)
Heather Hallett has been a commissioner since January 2006 and was appointed Vice Chairman in October 2007. She was called to the Bar at Inner Temple in 1972 and began sitting as a part-time judge in 1985. She was chairman of the General Council of the Bar in 1998, and has been a High Court Judge and Presiding Judge on the Western Circuit. In 2005 she was appointed to the Court of Appeal.
 
Photo of Dame Lorna May Boreland-Kelly DBE JP FRSA Dame Lorna May Boreland-Kelly DBE JP FRSA (magistrate)
Lorna Boreland-Kelly has been a commissioner since January 2006. She is presiding magistrate at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, a position she has held since 1991. She is Chair of Governors at Lambeth College. Since March 2000 she has been employed by the London Borough of Croydon as group manager (children and families) at Mayday NHS Healthcare Trust Croydon.
Photo of Professor Hazel Gillian Genn CBE Professor Dame Hazel Gillian Genn DBE (lay)
Hazel Genn has been a commissioner since January 2006. She is professor of Socio-Legal Studies at University College London and a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. She is chair of the Public and Legal Education Task Force and was chair of the Advisory Panel for Research on family advice and information for the Legal Services Commission.
Photo of The Right Honourable Lady Justice Heather Hallett DBE Sir Geoffrey David Inkin OBE (lay)
Geoffrey Inkin has been a commissioner since January 2006. He was chairman of the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation from 1987 until 2000. He was chairman of the Land Authority of Wales between 1987 and 1998 and a former member of Gwent County Council and Gwent Police Authority.
 
Photo of Sir Geoffrey David Inkin OBE Her Honour Judge Frances Margaret Kirkham (judicial)
Frances Kirkham has been a commissioner since January 2006.  She became a solicitor in 1978. She is a chartered arbitrator.  In October 2000 she became a senior circuit judge and is the designated Technology and Construction Court judge in Birmingham.  She founded West Midlands Association of Women Solicitors and is a founder member of the UK Association of Women Judges.
 
Photo of Her Honour Judge Frances Margaret Kirkham Mr Edward Nally (professional)
Edward Nally has been a commissioner since January 2006. He was president of the Law Society between 2004 and 2005 and is a partner in Fieldings Porter Solicitors of Bolton. He is Governor of the College of Law and Chair of Governors at Pendleton Sixth Form College, Salford.
 
Photo of Mr Edward Nally Ms Sara Catherine Nathan (lay)
Sara Nathan has been a commissioner since January 2006. She is a board member of OFCOM, on the Regulatory Decision Committee of the Financial Services Authority and a commissioner for the Marshall Scholarships. She was a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Bar Council. Previously she was editor of the morning programme on the BBC's Radio 5 Live and is a former editor of Channel 4 News.
 
Photo of Ms Sara Catherine Nathan District Judge Charles William Frank Newman (judicial)
Charles Newman has been a commissioner since January 2006. He was admitted as a solicitor in 1972 and appointed registrar of the County Court in 1987. He has served as chair of the District Judges IT Working Group. He is currently a member of the Judicial Advisory Group for IT. Until January 2006 he was a member of the Deputy District Judge Selection Panel and chair of the Quality Review Group for that competition.
 
Photo of District Judge Charles William Frank Newman His Honour Judge David Stephen Pearl (tribunal)
David Pearl has been a commissioner since January 2006. He was called to the Bar in 1968 and lectured in Law at Cambridge and University of East Anglia. He became the Chief Adjudicator, Immigration Appeals, in 1994 and then president of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal in 1997. He was Director of Studies at the Judicial Studies Board between 1999 and 2002, and has been president of the Care Standards Tribunal since 2002.

 
Photo of His Honour Judge David Stephen Pearl Mr Francis John Plowden (lay)
Francis Plowden has been a commissioner since January 2006. He is chairman of the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College and chairman of the National Council for Palliative Care. He was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers until 2001, where he was responsible for public policy and management work world-wide.  He has previously held board positions in the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Photo of Mr Francis John Plowden Ms Harriet Greville Spicer (lay)
Harriet Spicer has been a commissioner since January 2006. She was a member and chair of the National Lottery Commission and has been chair of the Friendly Almshouses, Brixton.  She was a founder member and executive of Virago Press.
Ms Harriet Greville Spicer Mr Jonathan Philip Chadwick Sumption OBE QC (professional)
Jonathan Sumption has been a commissioner since January 2006. He is joint head of Brick Court Chambers. He is a Judge of the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey and a Deputy High Court Judge.  He is also Governor of the Royal Academy of Music.
Photo of Mr Jonathan Philip Chadwick Sumption OBE QC The Right Honourable Lord Justice Roger Toulson
Roger Toulson took up his new role as a Commissioner of the Judicial Appointments Commission on 1 October 2007. He was educated at Mill Hill School and Jesus College, Cambridge and was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1969, and elected a Bencher in 1995. He was appointed a QC in 1986 and served as a Recorder of the Crown Court from 1986 to 1996. He was appointed a Justice of the High Court, assigned to the Queen's Bench Division in 1996. He served as a Presiding Judge of the Western Circuit from 1997 to 2002. In January 2007 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal. He was Chairman of the Law Commission from 2002 to 2006.

 

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