News story: Vice Chair appointment to the Judicial Appointments Commission

Lady Justice Rafferty has been appointed as a new senior judicial commissioner and Vice Chair to the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) from 14 November and will run until 26 July 2020.

JAC is an independent body that selects candidates for judicial office in courts and tribunals in England and Wales, and for some tribunals with UK-wide jurisdiction. Candidates are selected on merit, through fair and open competition.

JAC Commissioners are appointed by Her Majesty the Queen on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor.

Appointments and re-appointments to JAC are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. These appointments have been made in line with the Commissioner’s Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies.

Biography

Dame Anne Judith Rafferty was called to the Bar (Gray’s Inn) in 1973, and became Queen’s Counsel in 1990. She was appointed a Recorder in 1991, a Deputy High Court Judge in 1996, and was made a Bencher of Gray’s Inn in 1998. She was appointed to the High Court (Queen’s Bench Division) in 2000 and was a Presiding Judge of the South Eastern Circuit between 2003 and 2006. In July 2014, she was appointed Chairman of the Board of the Judicial College on 1 July 2014. On 1 August 2014, for a three-year term, Dame Anne and was appointed a Lady Justice of Appeal in 2011.