The Chair - Richard Foster CBE

Richard Foster took over as Chair of the CCRC in November 2008. He was Chief Executive of the Crown Prosecution Service from 2001 to 2007 and is a trustee of the Refugee Council. He was Director, Welfare to Work Delivery, responsible for New Deals from 1998 to 2001 and is a former Director of the Employment Service in the Department for Education and Employment.

He was also First Secretary (Stockholm) with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1981 to 1984 and was Principal Private Secretary to the Minister of State, Department of Employment. Mr Foster was educated at Devonport High School for Boys and at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is married with two children.

The Deputy Chairman - Alastair R MacGregor QC:

was called to the English Bar in 1974 and became a QC in 1994. After working for some years in the fields of criminal law and general civil litigation, his practice, both as a junior and as a silk, was concerned mainly with the investigation and resolution of complex commercial disputes. He has acted as an arbitrator on a number of occasions and is a trained mediator. He joined the Commission in 2004.

Penelope Barrett:

was called to the Bar in 1982 and until taking up her appointment with the Commission in 2004 she practised as a criminal defence barrister. Her range of work included dealing with murder, kidnap, large-scale drug importations, armed robbery, organised handling of high-value stolen goods and serious sexual offences. She maintained a special interest in defending young people and the mentally disordered accused of serious crime. She had considerable experience in Appellate work, often successfully taking appeals where trial counsel had advised against appeal. She has lectured on a number of aspects of criminal law, evidence and procedure.

Jim England:

is a barrister and the former Chief Crown Prosecutor of West Mercia where he also chaired the Criminal Justice Board and served as a member of the Crown Prosecution Service Board. Prior to this he worked for many years at CPS headquarters responsible for a range of cases including fraud, extradition, appellate, war crimes and serious organised crime. As well as his expertise in Criminal Law, Mr England brings to the Commission extensive experience of management in the criminal justice system. Mr England graduated from King’s College, London in 1980 and was called to the Bar in 1981. He joined the Commission in November 2006.

Julie Goulding:

is an experienced lawyer and was also an NHS Trust Chief Executive and clinical practitioner for many years. Julie trained at Hempsons a firm specialising in health care matters where she was involved in defending doctors, dentists and NHS Trusts in both civil and criminal cases. Julie continues to undertake pro bono work in civil cases. She joined the Commission in January 2007.

Ian Nichol:

is a chartered accountant and the Commission’s specialist in finance and fraud cases. Throughout a career working with many of the major accountancy firms Ian gained specialist experience of complex financial and tax investigations. From 1992 to 2001 he was a partner in the business advisory firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Latterly he ran his own consultancy business before joining the Commission in 2003. He has been co-author and editor of a number of books in the taxation and finance areas. Ian is also a Commissioner of the UK Press Complaints Commission, and has a particular interest in media coverage of crime and justice issues.

Ewen Smith:

was a partner at a nationally-respected firm of solicitors where he practised exclusively in criminal defence work for many years and was involved in many high-profile trials and appeals. He was Chairman of the Serious Fraud Association, Vice-Chairman of the Criminal Appeals Lawyers Association and has been involved in many applications to the Commission which have resulted in referrals to the appeal courts. He is a Member of the Crown Court Rules Committee and a Part-Time Immigration and Asylum Judge. Ewen brings to the Commission a wealth of experience in criminal defence and appeal work. He joined the Commission in November 2006.

Angela Flower:

was for many years a criminal defence solicitor in private practice in Birmingham. She has been at the Commission since its inception in 1997 and has worked there both as a Case Review Manager and as a Legal Adviser. She has special interests in mental health law and is a former Mental Health Act Commissioner and a trustee of the mental health charity MIND.  She is a part-time Judge within the Immigration Appeals Chamber and a part-time Judge of the Mental Health Review Tribunal. Ms Flower is the first member of Commission staff to be appointed as a Commissioner.

Celia Hughes:

is a very experienced criminal defence solicitor who has worked in leading practices in London and Bristol specialising in complex cases and organised crime.  She has previously served as an independent peer reviewer for the Legal Services Commission. In the last four years she has had an exclusively appellate practice and has supervised her firm's Appeals Unit.

Paul Mageean:

has worked in a range of private and public sector roles: as a solicitor, as head of the Criminal Justice Secretariat for the Northern Ireland Court Service and at present, as Director of the Graduate School of Professional Legal Education at the University of Ulster.

Ranjit Sondhi:

is currently a Commissioner of the Judicial Appointments Commission. He is also a member of the Bar Standards Board Equality and Diversity Committee.  He has served as a BBC Governor, as Deputy Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality and as Chair of the Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust.  He has also sat on a number of other governing bodies including the National Gallery and the Tenant Services Authority. Ranjit Sondhi is a CBE.