The Prime Minister has approved the appointment of Dame Heather Hallett as the new Chair of the Security Vetting Appeals Panel, with effect from 1 April 2019 for a period of four years. She will replace Sir George Newman who is retiring from the Panel after 10 years of service.
The Rt Hon Dame Heather Carol Hallett DBE was called to the Bar in 1972. In 1989 she became a QC and was the first woman to chair the Bar Council in 1998. After becoming a Presiding Judge, she was promoted to the Court of Appeal in 2005. Lady Justice Hallett acted as Coroner at the inquest into the deaths of the 52 victims of the 7th July 2005 London bombings, and was appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in 2015 to conduct the “Review into On the Runs”.