Inns’ Conduct Committee
The Inns’ Conduct Committee (ICC) considers matters of general policy or process relating to the determination of whether an Inn of Court should refuse to admit an applicant for admission, or expel or refuse to Call a student to the Bar.
The ICC has delegated its powers and functions to hear such cases to the members of the BTAS Disciplinary Pool – a group of individuals selected, trained and regularly appraised to ensure their ability to consider and determine such matters is of the highest standards. Instead, the role of the members of the ICC is to:
- Work to ensure that appropriate policies and processes are in place to determine whether persons are eligible for admission to an Inn or Call to the Bar by considering whether they are fit and proper persons to become practising barristers;
- Serve as members of Screening Panels; considering documentation from the Inns about applicants/students to determine the appropriate subsequent handling of any case. In particular, to decide whether there is information that suggests that an individual may not be a fit and proper person to become a practising barrister;
- Recognise that it is the intention of the four Inns of Court that membership of the Inns should reflect the diversity of society, and apply the principles of this in all their work;
The ICC’s membership is set out in Part III of the Inns Conduct Committee Rules – 2020 and is as follows:
- A Chair
- Two Vice-Chairs (one barrister and one lay representative)
- Four barrister members, one selected from each of the four Inns of Court
- Two lay members
The list below shows the details of the barrister and lay committee members of the Inns Conduct Committee:
Ms Sirah Abraham
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, member of Lincoln’s Inn; Criminal Justice Adviser, Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office; Legally Qualified Chair, Medical Practitioners and Tribunal Service; Attorney-At-Law, St Lucia; Solicitor & Barrister; St Vincent & the Grenadines; Mediator.
Mr Hylton Armstrong
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, member of Inner Temple; Deputy District Judge, Civil, North Eastern Circuit; Recorder, Civil, North Eastern Circuit; member, Personal Injury Bar Association; member, Leeds and West Riding Medico-Legal Society.
Ms Desirée Artesi
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Practising Barrister, Thomas More Chambers; Bencher, Inner Temple; Legally Qualified Chair, Code Adjudication Panel, Phone-Paid Authority; member, South Eastern Circuit; member London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association; member, Black Barristers Network.
Mr Ian Arundale
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Retired Police Officer; member and chair, Discipline Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons [2015-2023]; chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of the City of Cardiff [2014-2023]; Associate, College of Policing [2012-2023]; Director, Myrmidon Consultancy Services [provision of advice and expert witness services to the Home Office, Courts, Inquest and Public Inquiries,
Mr Geoffrey Brighton
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Lay Member, Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service; Panel Chair, Judicial Appointments Commission; Pension Fund Trustee, the Central and Cecil Housing Trust Pension Fund; Fellow, Royal Chartered Institute of Housing; volunteer vaccinator, St John’s Ambulance.
Mr David Brooke KC
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Ms Jade Bucklow
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Mr Kenneth Cameron
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Associate Inspector, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Service; Associate, College of Policing; Associate, London Policing College; Short Term Expert, Northern Ireland Cooperation Division.
Mr Peter Causton
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister of Middle Temple; Mediator, Promedite [UK] Ltd.; Deputy District Judge, Northern Circuit; member, Association of Fee Paid Judges; member, Law Society Council Civil Justice Committee.
Ms Claire Cheetham
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Osteopath; Professional Regulation Adjudicator; Lay Chair, Fitness to Practise Committee Nursing and Midwifery Council; Lay Chair, Fitness to Practise Committee Social Work England; Registrant Panel Member, Professional Conduct Committee General Osteopathic Council; Consultant Lecturer, Professional Standards; member, Royal Society of Medicine; member, General Osteopathic Council; member, Amnesty International;
Ms Helen Compton
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, member of Inner Temple; Governer and Chair, Tiverton Primary School; member, FLBA; member, Midland Circuit, member, Labour Party.
Mr Tom Cosgrove KC
Chairman
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, Inner Temple; Joint Head, Cornerstone Chambers; Deputy Commissary, Public Notaries; Vice-Chair, Planning and Environment Bar Association [PEBA]; Governing Bencher, Inner Temple; member, Inner Temple Scholarships and Outreach Committee; Mentor, Inner Temple Mentoring Scheme; member, Administrative and Constitutional Law Bar Association [ALBA]; member, Marylebone Cricket Club [MCC]
Mr Tom Crowther KC
Chairman
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister; member, Inner Temple; member, CBA.
Mr Vince Cullen
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Osteopath; Independent Panel Member, Police Misconduct Hearings for Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioners Office; Registrant member, Investigating Committee General Osteopathic Council; Education Visitor, General Osteopathic Council and Matt MacDonald; Registration Assessor, General Chiropractic Council; Magistrate, North London Local Justice Area at Highbury Magistrates’ Court; member, General Osteopathic Council [GOsC].
Ms Justine Davidge
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister; Part-time Tribunal Chair; Casework Supervisor, Enforcement Division, Financial Reporting Council; Chair, Police Appeals Tribunal; Door Tenant, member, Gray’s Inn; member, Seldon Society; member, Liberty; member, Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers, member, Financial Services Lawyers Association; member, Association of Women Barristers.
Miss Josephine Davies
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Self employed Barrister practising from Twenty Essex; member, LCLCBA committee; member, Combar Executive; member, Combar Equality and Diversity Committee; member, Twenty Essex pupillage committee; member, Advocate and FRU; Trustee, Eric F Sparkes Charitable Trust; Director, 12/13 Mecklenburgh Square RTM Co. Ltd.; member, Combar, LCLCBA, member, Bar European Group; member, Competition Law Association; member, Commercial Fraud Lawyers Association; member, Young International Arbitrators Group; LMAA Supporting Member; member, South Eastern Circuit; member, International Bar Association, Lincoln’s Inn; volunteer Supervisor and Assessor, Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Ms Lyndsey de Mestre KC
Chairman
Disciplinary / ICC
Chair, Inns Conduct Committee; Barrister, Mediator and Arbitrator; member, Middle Temple; Chancellor, St Albans Diocese [Church of England; Chancellor of Diocese of York [Church of England]; Chair, Clergy Discipline |Panels; Legally Qualified Chair, Eastern Regions Police Disciplinary Panels; member, Chancery Bar Association; member, Association of Contentions Trusts and Probate Specialists; member, Ecclesiastical Judges Association; member, Ecclesiastical Lawyers Association; member, Arbitral Women; member, LCIA; member, Civil Mediation Council; member, National Association of Legally Qualified Chairs.
Mr Robert Earl
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Employed Barrister, Unit Head, Serious Economic and Organised Crime and International Directorate, CPS.
Ms Rita Eaton
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Retired Detective Superintendent, Police Service of Northern Ireland [PSNI]; Independent member of the Parole Board for England and Wales
Ms Hayley Firman
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Employed Barrister; Head of RSPCA Prosecutions; Member, Inner Temple.
Ms Ruth Gray
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Ms Janine Green
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Self-employed Consultant; housing member, Scottish 1st Tier Property Tribunal; Subject Matter Expert, Metropolitan Police; lay member, Nursing and Midwifery Council; board member, Case Vale Community Housing; chair, Women in Social Housing [West Midlands]; member, Chartered Institute of Housing Professional Standards Committee.
Ms Siobhan Heron
Barrister
ICC
Employed Barrister, Serious Economic Organised Crime and International Division within the Crown Prosecution Service; member Middle Temple
Mr Alexander Horne
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister and Academic; Counsel, Hackett & Dabbs LLP; Special Adviser, House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee; Special Adviser, United Nations Development Programme [Pacific Region]; Visiting Professor, Durham University; Associate Member, Cornerstone Barristers; member, Administrative Law Association, member, Lansdowne Club.
Ms Jennifer Jones
MA (Oxon)
Barrister (Lincoln's Inn)
ICC
Self-employed barrister; member, Atkin Chambers; member, Lincoln’s Inn; member, Technology & Construction Bar Association [TECBAR]; member, Commercial Bar Association [COMBAR]; member, Society of Construction Law; Recorder [Midlands Circuit].
Mrs Aaminah Khan
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, member, Middle Temple; MPTS, fee paid associate role of legal chair and legal assessor for the medical tribunal; General Optical Council, fee paid associate role of legal chair and legal assessor to the fitness to practise committee.
Ms Sabina Khan
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister; Fee Paid Judge, First Tier Tribunal; Assistant Coroner and Assistant Registrar, General Medical Council; Founder and lead, The Women in Gowns [WIGs] Project; Door Tenant, Staple Inn Chambers; member, Middle Temple.
Ms Gilda Kiai
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, member, Gray’s Inn; Fee-paid Specialist Member, First-tire Tribunal, General Regulatory Chamber [Immigration Services Jurisdiction]; Legal Contractor, Freedom From Torture; member, Immigration Legal Practitioners Association; member, Anti-Trafficking Legal Project; member, Administrative Law Bar Association; member, Association of Women Barristers.
Mr John Lloyd-Jones KC
Chairman
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister; member, Inner Temple; member, Criminal Bar Association; member, Midland Circuit; member South Eastern Circuit; member, Old Etonian Association; member, Coldstream Guards Association. member, BASC.
Mr Scott McDonnell
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister; member, Middle Temple; Fitness to Practise Partner and Legal Adviser, Social Work England; member, Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers.
Mr Matthew McGhee
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister; Teaching Associate, Queen Mary University London; Consultant question writer for BSB Civil Litigation examination paper; member, COMBAR; member LCLCBA; member Commercial Fraud Lawyers Association;
Ms Stephanie McIntosh
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Member, Parole Board of England and Wales [employment]; Non-executive Director, Costs Lawyers Standards Board; Member, Judicial Appointments Commission [appointment]; member, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons [appointment].
Mr Stephen McNamara
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister; member, Gray’s Inn; Recorder [Civil]; member, Personal Injuries Bar Association; member, Professional Negligence Bar Association.
Ms Helen Norris
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Specialist Strategic Project Manager, Social Worker, North East Lincolnshire Council; Presiding Officer; Adjudication Panel Member, Social Work England; Safeguarding Lay Panel Member, English Cricket Board; member, Social Work England; fellow, Association of Project Management; member, Institute of Energy.
Ms Zoe O'Sullivan KC
Chairman
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, member Middle Temple; member, COMBAR; member, Chancery Bar Association; member, Society for Computers and Law;
Mr Paul Ozin KC
Chairman (KC)
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, member 23 Essex Street Chambers and door tenant at Deans Court Chambers; member, Middle Temple; member, Lexis Nexis Corporate Crime Lawyers Consulting Editorial Board; member, Freebar; committee member and former chair, Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers; member, Fraud Lawyers Association; member, South Eastern Circuit; member, various Bar Messes; Team Leader, 23 Essex Street Chambers Regulatory and Disciplinary practice team; member, Labour Party.
Mr James Potts
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, member Gray’s Inn; Trustee, Egypt Exploration Society; volunteer, Advocate; volunteer, Social Mobility Fund; member, South Eastern Circuit; member, Commercial Bar Association; member, Chancery Bar Association; member, Financial Services Lawyers Association; member, Young Fraud Lawyers Association; member, Young International Arbitration Group; member, Commonwealth in England Barristers Association.
Ms Lakshmi Ramakrishnan
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Lay Member, Investigations Committee for ARB [Architect’s Registration Board]; Chair, Audit Registration Committee [Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales]; Lay Member, Professional Conduct Committee, Chartered Institute of Legal Executives Regulation [CILEx]; Lay Member, Professional Conduct Committee, General Osteopathic Council; Chair, Investigations Committee, Nursery and Midwifery Council; member, Adjudication Panel, Landscape Institute.
Ms Naomi Ryan
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Employed Barrister, legal adviser to LCJ; chair; Valuation Tribunal; member, Lincoln’s Inn.
Ms Ella Schulster
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Mr Ashley Serr
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister; Fee Paid Employment Judge; Recorder; member, Employment Lawyers Association.
Mr Kane Simons
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, member Lincoln’s Inn; Deputy District Judge, Northern Circuit; member, Northern Circuit of the Bar; member, Personal Injuries Bar Association; member, Association of Personal Injury Lawyers
Mr Yusuf Solley
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, member Inner Temple; Trustee, Holbeach Children’s Club; Vice Chair, Governors Eden Park High School; member, Criminal Bar Association; member, South Eastern Circuit; Fellow, RSA,
Ms Tracy Stephenson
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Resolution Consultant, TCM Group; lay panel member, Fitness to Practice Nursing and Midwifery Fitness to Practice Committee; lay panel member, British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists; Trustee, Aplastic Anaemia Trust, member, Sussex and Surrey Advisory Committee [magistrates recruitment]; volunteer, Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Ms Rhona Stevens
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Dental Surgeon; Senior Clinical Teaching Fellow, Leeds University; Revalidation Reviewer, General Pharmaceutical Council; External Examiner, Royal College of Surgeons / College of General Dentistry; Fellow, College of General Dentistry; Registered, General Dental Council; membership, MDDUS.
Ms Monica Stevenson
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, Middle Temple; Associate Tenant (25 Bedford Row Chambers); Member of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), Women in Criminal Law, the South-Eastern Circuit, Advocate; Accredited Advocacy Trainer (Middle Temple), Visiting Lecturer at The Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA).
Miss Catherine Taskis KC
MA (Oxon), BCL
Barrister (Inner Temple)
ICC
Self-employed barrister; Deputy District Judge, South Eastern Circuit; part-time administrative assistant, Cleveland Scott York (Patent and Trademark Attorneys); member, Chancery Bar Association; member, Property Bar Association; member, Agricultural Law Association; member, Vesta Rowing Club; governor, Silchester Church of England Primary School; fellow, Chartered Institue of Arbitrators.
Mr John Vaughan
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Independent Panel Member, Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime [MOPAC]; Lay Member, General Optical Council [GOC].
Mr Andrew Ward
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Panel member, Employment Tribunal Service [Scotland]; Invigilator, Education Partnership North East; Retired Police Sergeant, Durham Constabulary; Director / Management and Training Consultant, AMW Professional Ltd; Director / Trustee, National Appropriate Adult Network; Retired member, Police Federation of England and Wales; lay panel member, Health Care Professionals Tribunal Service; Associate Consultant Group Training and Advisory Specialist, Police Federation of England and Wales; Consultant Regional Co-ordinator, Police Money Matters / St James Place.
Ms Melissa West
Lay
Disciplinary / ICC
Education and Professional and Transformational Coach; Teacher Panellist, Teaching Regulation Agency; Independent panel member, Northants Police Misconduct Hearings; Chair, Panellist Representative Group TRA; Independent Listener, St Clare’s College Oxford; affiliate member, European Mentoring and Coaching Council.
Mr Colin Wilby
ICC Lay Vice-Chair, BA (Hons), MBA, FCIPD
Lay
ICC
Vice Chair [Lay] Inns Conduct Committee; Chair, West Kent Housing Association; Lay Council Member, Council for Licensed Conveyancers; Non-Executive Director, Taxation Disciplinary Board; Lay Member, Employment Tribunals; Lay Member, Financial Reporting Council Disciplinary Tribunals; Independent Panel Member, Need to Sell Scheme, HS2 Ltd; Fellow, Chartered Institution of Personnel & Development.
Mr Geoffrey Williams KC
Chairman
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, member Gray’s Inn; member, London Commercial & Common Law Bar Association; member, Royal Automobile Association; member, Pontypool Rugby Club; member, Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Ms Elahe Youshani
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister, Lincoln’s Inn; member, Personal Injury Bar Association; member, Northern Circuit
Miss Sadia Zouq
Barrister
Disciplinary / ICC
Barrister; Fee Paid Judge, First Tier Tribunal; Legal Adviser, Social Work England; Legal Adviser, General Optical Council; Legal Adviser, General Pharmaceutical Council; panel chair, Nursing and Midwifery Council; panel chair, Health Care and Professions Council Tribunal Service; ; lay panel member, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy; Legally Qualified Chair, Architects Registration Board’s Professional Conduct Committee; member, Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers [ARDL]; member, Lincoln’s Inn; Legally Qualified Chair, Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service;