JUSTICE - Key Persons
Ailsa McKeon joined JUSTICE as Interim Criminal Lawyer in May 2023, having come from a busy practice at 6KBW College Hill Chambers. Ailsa was called to the Bar of England and Wales in October 2018 and successfully completed pupillage at 6KBW the following year. Before commencing her tenancy, Ailsa spent 10 months as Judicial Assistant to Lord Reed in the UK Supreme Court and Privy Council. Back in chambers, Ailsa developed a broad criminal practice, both prosecuting and defending before Crown courts across England, as well as developing a fledgling practice in extradition and public law. Most notably, she was instructed to assist Sir Tom Winsor in his independent review into the departure of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, in February 2022.
Before coming to the United Kingdom, having grown up in Australia, Ailsa completed a dual LLB/BA (with majors in Spanish and Peace & Conflict Studies) at the University of Queensland. She was subsequently admitted to the legal profession as a solicitor and spent 2015 as Associate to the Hon. Justice Roslyn G. Atkinson AO of the Supreme Court of Queensland. During 2016, Ailsa interned with the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute in London and the defence team for General Ratko Mladic at the ICTY in The Hague. Ailsa then went on to work for Griffiths & Partners Attorneys in the Turks and Caicos Islands and to complete an LLM in Public International Law at the University of Cambridge before being called to the Bar.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Senior Lawyer at Shearman & Sterling
Alastair Livesey is a senior lawyer at Shearman & Sterling, where he acts as counsel in a range of high-value international arbitrations, litigations and white collar/regulatory matters. Al also regularly advises on public international law and business and human rights matters, and has assisted clients to develop and benchmark their ethics and compliance programmes. Al previously worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and for several law reform and human rights organisations, including JUSTICE. He has previously served on the Board of Bail for Immigration Detainees, and sits on the Legal Advisory Board for Mermaids. Al has been a member of JUSTICE since 2013 and was elected to the Board in 2021.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Senior Associate
Alexandra Carr is a Senior Associate in the litigation department at Howard Kennedy. Her practice focuses on commercial litigation and civil fraud. She is actively involved in her firm's Pro Bono initiatives, including regularly volunteering with the Toynbee Hall Free Legal Advice Clinics and for LawWorks. Alexandra is passionate and committed to participating in the justice system as a whole in the United Kingdom, and to promoting fair access to justice and a more diverse judiciary. Alexandra joined the JUSTICE Board in 2017, with an interest in promoting JUSTICE's values and objectives and to assist with events and fundraising.
Alice Smith was a young Trustee for the membership charity Endometriosis UK from 2014- 2019, joining when she was 18 years old. She has recently joined the Trustee board for Astriid; a charity which bridges the gap between the millions of skilled people in the UK with long-term health conditions and the working world. She has also worked in in International Business Development as a Director for an award-winning tech head-hunter consultancy. Alice was elected to the Board in October 2022.
Amanda joined JUSTICE in September 2018 as the Director of Development. She is responsible for sustainable income generation and the development of strategic partnerships. She has been in the third sector for over 10 years in similar roles helping charities such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, The Poppy Factory and London Business School to increase and diversify their revenue streams and create sustainable partnerships. She holds an MA in Conflict, Security and Development from the University of Sussex and a BA in Political Science from York University.
Andrea is a Civil Justice Lawyer at JUSTICE and brings with her a range of experience from a varied practice within human rights and public law.
After graduating from the LLB and the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at the University of Glasgow, Andrea went on to work in employment law at Anderson Strathern LLP before spending two years at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry where she led on the investigation of historic abuse within religious institutions.
As a legal researcher to Edward Fitzgerald QC at Doughty Street Chambers, Andrea has a special interest in human rights and judicial review and has provided research for several high-profile cases including those involving death penalty appeals at the Privy Council.
Whilst completing a litigation-based traineeship at Brodies LLP, Andrea spent six months on secondment with the Scottish Government Legal Directorate where she furthered her experience in policy work, judicial review and legislative reform.
As a law undergraduate, Andrea was awarded the John Mathers ‘Rising Star' Award and the Muscatelli Talent Scholarship. In her final year of her Undergraduate degree, she co-founded a charity supporting refugees and spent time volunteering at Dunkerque refugee camp. Andrea continues to carry out voluntary work and currently runs two Christmas appeals benefitting care home residents and under-privileged children.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Barrister at Garden Court North Chamber
Christian Weaver is a barrister at Garden Court North Chambers where his practice encompasses inquests, public inquiries, actions against the state and parole board work. Having previously worked at INQUEST and Liberty and having been a member of the UK's delegation to the Congress of the Council of Europe, Christian has a broad and practical understanding of human rights, the rule of law and the justice system. Christian invests time educating the public on their legal rights and is author of ‘The Law in 60 Seconds: A Pocket Guide to Your Rights'. He co-facilitated ‘The Law in 60 Seconds Public Legal Education Conference' in collaboration with the legal charity, The Defendant and The University of Manchester. This was the UK's first public legal education conference. Christian is on the Management Committee of the Black Barristers' Network and is a trustee of The Defendant. Christian was elected to the Board in October 2022.
Dame Alison Saunders DCB is a qualified barrister and partner at Linklaters. Before joining Linklaters earlier this year, Alison was the most senior public prosecutor in England and Wales, as the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), only the second woman to hold the post. Alison served as deputy legal adviser to the Attorney General from 2003 to 2005, returning to establish organised crime division of the CPS and serve as the chief crown prosecutor for London from 2009 to 2013. She previously sat on the Sentencing Council. Alison has been a member of JUSTICE since 2018, when she was appointed to the JUSTICE Council. Alison was elected to the Board in October 2019.
Job Titles:
- Home News Staff Intern
- Legal Intern
Disha is the current Bonavero Summer Fellow at JUSTICE. She completed BA Law with French Law at the University of Oxford, with a year at Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas.
She has recently graduated from the BCL at Oxford, with a focus on human rights and international law. Prior to joining JUSTICE, she undertook internships at the European Court of Human Rights, the AIRE Centre and the Clooney Foundation for Justice, and volunteered at Support through Court.
Ellen originally studied English literature at the University of Cambridge. Whilst studying for the bar she was awarded the Hubert Monroe Award, the Baron Dr Ver Heyden de Lancey prize and the Certificate of Honour from Middle Temple and was called in 2014. She completed pupillage and thereafter practised as a tenant on the North Eastern Circuit, where her practice was predominantly in family law but also included civil, administrative and criminal law. Between practising as a barrister and joining JUSTICE, Ellen graduated top of her class in Transnational Legal Studies LLM at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, during which time she also worked as a research assistant to the university's Transnational Law department. Her thesis was on the EU's Operation Sophia and its support of the Libyan Coast Guard, analysing the legal accountability mechanisms available to challenge the EU for human rights violations suffered by migrants in the Mediterranean. Ellen has been published by the EU Immigration and Asylum Law and Policy blog and previously worked as an associate lecturer at Northumbria University.
Job Titles:
- April 4, 2022
- Senior Legal Fellow
- Vocalise Director
Prior to working at JUSTICE, Emma studied Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, before converting to law and completing an LLM at University College London. During her legal studies, Emma acted as a volunteer researcher for the APPG Inquiry into Legal Aid, assisted parents of children who had been permanently excluded from school, responded to queries from the public about their human rights as an Advice and Information Volunteer for Liberty, and taught debating in prisons as a Vocalise mentor. She has also previously interned at the think tank Gender Policy and Insights, and the charity Standing Voice.
Emma is currently a Vocalise director and continues to volunteer for Liberty's advice line. She also works as an associate editor for Just Security, an online forum based at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law.
Fiona Rutherford joined JUSTICE as Chief Executive in February 2022.
Prior to JUSTICE, Fiona was the Director of Access to Justice Policy, Ministry of Justice, a position she has held from July 2019. Her previously held positions include: Deputy Director for Legal Aid Policy, Justice and Courts Policy Group, Ministry of Justice; Deputy Director for Business Strategy and Design, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service; National Crime Design Lead for Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service; Senior Leader for the Crown Prosecution Service.
Fiona worked as a specialist criminal barrister in the Chambers of Andrew Trollope QC, 187 Fleet Street. She has an LLB (Hons) in European Languages and Law from the University of the West of England and a Diploma in Law from the Inns of Court School of Law, London.
Fiona was the MoJ representative at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and represented UK Government at the UN for the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Feb 2019.
Job Titles:
- March 14, 2018
- Secretary to the Administrative Justice Council and Administrative Justice Policy Lead
Heidi provides the Secretariat function for the Administrative Justice Council. The Secretariat brings together key stakeholders in administrative justice to identify key problems, research areas of concern and influence government policy.
Before joining JUSTICE, Heidi worked as a Research and Support Officer to the Chair of the London Assembly. She was also the Labour Group lead on Female Genital Mutilation where she worked with campaigners and stakeholders to make London a ‘zero-cutting' City. Before working at City Hall, she set up and ran a travel and tour company in Ghana which provided tailor-made tours to Ghana. Prior to living in Ghana, Heidi worked in the UK Civil Service. She worked in the Ministry of Justice in civil legal aid policy roles before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as the deputy head of the China Team. She studied a joint honours degree in Communication Studies and Race and Culture Studies at Middlesex University.
Heidi also sits on the Independent Monitoring Board of the Military Correctional Training Centre.
Job Titles:
- Development Administrator
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- President of the Law Society of England
I. Stephanie Boyce is a previous President of the Law Society of England and Wales (March 2021 - October 2022), where she was the 177th, the sixth female and the first black, first person of colour to become president. I. Stephanie has chaired, or been a member of, several high-profile organisations, made appearances before Parliamentary committees (Justice Select) and engaged with Ministers in all parts of the United Kingdom and abroad. She holds a Master of Laws in public law and global governance from King's College London. A Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute and a Fellow of the Society of Leadership Fellows, an Honorary professor of King's College, Dickson Poon School of Law and hold two Honorary Doctorates from Keele University and the University of East London. I. Stephanie was elected to the Board in 2022.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director of Development
- October 11, 2016
Jane originally joined JUSTICE in July 2016, as the Fundraising Officer, with a particular focus on trust and foundation fundraising. Prior to JUSTICE, she was a fundraiser at Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs) and the Overseas Development Institute. Before switching to the not-for-profit sector, Jane worked in marketing for the publishing industry.
In September 2021, Jane took on the role of Interim Director of Development, whilst Amanda Miller began her maternity leave, and in September 2022 became Deputy Director of Development.
Jardine is a JUSTICE Intern for summer 2023, through the Crankstart scheme. He is a third-year Law Student at the University of Oxford, and an aspiring barrister. His success at university despite his background has been noted, especially by being awarded the Helen Grindrod Social Mobility Prize by Lincoln's Inn.
Whilst studying, he has volunteered with various charities. In his second year, he was the Events Director for the Oxford society representing Amicus ALJ, a charity working to provide legal representation to death row inmates. Most notably in that role, he interviewed M Ravi, a noted Singaporean human rights lawyer, about his experience opposing the death penalty in his country. Separately, he was also a member of the OxfordHub Student Committee, assisting the charity in carrying out projects to alleviate inequality.
Currently, Jardine has an active role in two charities. First, he is the Treasurer of Bridge the Gap, a charity he helped form which assists state school students in applying to the top universities. Second, he is the Operations Manager for State2Bar, a charity that assists the state-educated to become barristers.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Junior Barrister at Brick Court Chamber
Jennifer MacLeod is a junior barrister at Brick Court Chambers, where she has a broad practice encompassing human rights and public law, EU and competition law, and commercial claims. She is called to the Bar in England, Ireland and New York, and worked for a number of international human rights organisations before coming to the Bar. Previously to serving on the JUSTICE board, she was for a number of years a founding director of Lawyers against Abuse, a charity providing legal support to victims of sexual assault in South Africa. Jennifer was elected to the JUSTICE Board in 2018.
Josie is the Operations Coordinator at JUSTICE and has completed an apprenticeship in Legal Administration, facilitated by CILEx.
She started working at JUSTICE in July 2015 after completing A-Levels; she split her time between studying for the assessed part of her apprenticeship and undertaking a range of administrative tasks within the office. She now assist in areas of HR, communication, finance, membership and events.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Head of International Policy at the BBC
Kate Saunders is Head of International Policy at the BBC, where she works on a range of policy issues that affect public service broadcasting, technology regulation and journalism in Europe, the US and across the globe. She has also held public policy, corporate communications and media relations roles at The Guardian, The Law Society of England and Wales and at Weber Shandwick. Kate worked and trained at Clifford Chance LLP as a corporate finance solicitor, including a secondment to Liberty. Kate has been a JUSTICE Board member since 2017.
Job Titles:
- Engagement and Communications Executive
- July 29, 2021
Maddy joined JUSTICE in October 2020 as the Membership and Communications Coordinator, and became our Executive and Communications Executive in May 2023.
Prior to JUSTICE, she worked in the arts sector for six years, most recently as Marketing Manager for LAMDA, and Marketing Manager at Arcola Theatre in Dalston. She has also worked in site-specific theatre in Oxfordshire, having started her career in theatre and education before moving into marketing.
Job Titles:
- Home News Staff Intern
- Legal Intern
Michael is a intern completing his J.D. at the University of Notre Dame's London campus. Prior to interning with JUSTICE, Michael worked in the Office of Chief Counsel at the Internal Revenue Service in Kansas City, Missouri, and interned for Chief Judge Melgren of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.
Prior to attending law school, Michael graduated with a degree in Philosophy from Wichita State University. Throughout his schooling, Michael has been a member of the Kansas Air National Guard and has completed three tours in the Middle East.
In his free time, he loves to golf and is training for the Paris Marathon in April of 2024.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Professor of Law and Society at the University
Naomi Creutzfeldt is a Professor of Law and Society at the University of Kent where she teaches public law and research methods in law. She is currently working on a Nuffield funded project understanding the court modernisation process, COVID-19 and its effects on vulnerable people. Before this, Naomi worked at the Universities of Westminster and Oxford. Her interests in administrative and civil justice systems and ADR (as pathways of informal dispute resolution) have a broader scope, addressing questions of access to justice, vulnerability, and consumer protection. Naomi is a member of the Common Room at Wolfson College (Oxford), the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman standards board, the Peer Review College UKRI and a civil and commercial mediator. Naomi was elected to the Board in October 2018.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in London
Patrick Corr is a partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in London. He has extensive experience in both contentious and non-contentious corporate recovery and turnaround matters. Patrick is a former member of Co-operation Ireland, a non-political and non-denominational charity dedicated to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Patrick has been a member of the JUSTICE Board since October 2018.
Job Titles:
- Partner at Corker Binning
Peter Binning is a Partner at Corker Binning and is one of the country's leading criminal law practitioners.
Peter has been a member of the JUSTICE Board since 2015, having previously served from 1999 - 2002. Prior to this, he was a long standing Council member and served on our Finance Committee. Peter is a member of our Development Board.
Job Titles:
- Public and Administrative Lawyer
Philip is an Administrative/Public Lawyer at JUSTICE, who has worked for several years within public law gaining considerable experience of Judicial Review.
Philip graduated with a degree in Politics and Philosophy from the University of Sheffield, before completing the GDL. Philip was called to the Bar in 2015 before deciding to pursue a career as a Solicitor. During his legal studies, he took voluntary roles at South Yorkshire Refugee Law and Justice, Liberty, and Bail for Immigration Detainees.
Philip started work as a criminal defence paralegal at Leslie Franks Solicitors, with a focus on Crown Court work, before moving to the Public Law team at Duncan Lewis Solicitors in 2017. He qualified as a Solicitor in early 2020. During his time at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, he worked on several high-profile public law challenges to immigration and detention policy. This included successful litigation in the Court of Appeal challenging the Home Office's removals policy and the lack of protection for vulnerable immigration detainees held in prison. Philip also worked on high-profile cases involving charter flights to Spain, detention policy during the COVID pandemic and £1/hour detention centre pay.
Philip also worked within immigration/asylum law and has represented individuals throughout their initial asylum claims and subsequent Tribunal appeals.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Partner
Rachel Sexton is a Partner and the Head of the Financial Services - Forensic & Integrity Services team at EY. Her team is comprised of compliance professionals, forensic accountants, internal auditors, data analysts, former regulators and former law enforcement professionals. Rachel has brought together this team from diverse disciplines to solve her clients' complex financial crime compliance issues and investigate incidents when they arise. Rachel has a BSc (Hons) in Business Administration and Accountancy from California State University at Northridge and is a US Certified Public Accountant. She has also earned Diplomas in Financial Crime Prevention and Anti-Money Laundering from International Compliance Training. She regularly speaks at conferences on financial crime compliance and investigations. She is also a Trustee Director for the Fraud Advisory Panel which is a non-profit organisation that champions best practice in fraud prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution, and advises people and organisations on how to best protect themselves against fraud. Rachel was elected to the Board in October 2018 and is our current Treasurer.
Job Titles:
- Trust and Foundation Fundraiser
Riikka joined JUSTICE in October 2021 as the Trust and Foundation Fundraiser.
She studied Political Science and International Relations at the University of Aberdeen, and holds a master's degree in Human Rights Law and Political Science from the University of Manchester. Before joining JUSTICE, she worked in a human rights organisation in Mexico City.
Job Titles:
- February 6, 2020
- Legal and Administrative Justice Council Coordinator
Sally is our Legal and Administrative Justice Council Coordinator. She works both for JUSTICE and for the Administrative Justice Council. Before joining JUSTICE, Sally worked for a number of years for charities, including Citizens Advice Bureau as a volunteer Assessor, and as an Administrator for a local Rape Crisis charity. She also brings with her prior administrative experience of working in the legal world - from areas as diverse as corporate, family and criminal law.
Samantha Burridge is Director of Operations and joined JUSTICE in 2011. Sam has high level responsibility for financial and administrative management, governance and the execution of JUSTICE's events. Sam has previously managed finance and administration for a number of charities including the UK Consortium on AIDS & International Development, the National Osteoporosis Society and Shelter. […]
Sara Mansoori KC is a barrister at Matrix Chambers and an ADR Group Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator. She practices in the field of media and information law, predominantly for claimants in libel, privacy and data protection claims. Prior to joining Matrix she was a barrister for 10 years at the media set, 5RB, and then a senior lawyer in the Ministry of Justice for two years. She has been active in legal social mobility and diversity projects. In the past Sara has been involved in several Legal Assistance Programmes with the Bar Human Rights Committee including a Judicial Visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran, a Library Resources Project in Sudan and Commercial Law Training Project in Sudan. Sara was elected to the Board in 2022.
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Senior Legal Fellow
As a fellow at JUSTICE, Seán focuses on the rule of law and the criminal justice system. He is also an associate editor for Just Security, an online forum based at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at the New York University School of Law.
Seán completed a BA in Politics, Philosophy, Economics & Sociology at Trinity College Dublin and an MSc in International Relations at the London School of Economics, focused on the security-migration nexus. After this, Seán volunteered in search and rescue in the north Aegean Sea until he was arrested in 2018 and spent over 100 days in pre-trial detention for what Human Rights Watch called the "criminalisation of saving lives". He remains a central defendant in what the UN recognises as one of Europe's most significant prosecutions of humanitarianism. While in prison, Seán co-founded the criminal justice campaign, Free Humanitarians. Seán converted into law in 2022 to enhance this work. He continues to advocate for the rule of law and a human rights-focused migration policy at the EU and state policymaking levels.
Job Titles:
- Legal Director ( Maternity Leave )
Stephanie is the Legal Director for JUSTICE and is responsible for JUSTICE's legal and policy output.
She studied Economics and Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge before converting to law. She trained and qualified as a solicitor at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP where she practiced as an associate in the Dispute Resolution team. She left Freshfields to pursue a master's in Human Rights Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, following which she worked at the Supreme Court as a Judicial Assistant to Lord Clarke and Lord Toulson.
She subsequently joined the Public Law team at DAC Beachcroft LLP where she advised public sector clients on a range of contentious and non-contentious public law matters. Stephanie has also represented appellants in the Asylum Support Appeals Tribunal and interned at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Tyrone is a Criminal Justice Lawyer for JUSTICE, working on a range of issues to make the system fairer and more accessible. After studying Theology at the University of Oxford, he trained and qualified as a lawyer at Clifford Chance, working in London, Hong Kong and Paris. During his time as an undergraduate and later trainee solicitor, he founded and led LGBT Leaders, a conference aimed at increasing accessibility to LGBTQ+ students from across the UK for careers in the law, politics and activism.
While an associate in Paris in the Dispute Resolutions team, Tyrone worked on a number of criminal issues, notably a global investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption spanning multiple jurisdictions, coordinated by the British, French and US criminal authorities. In addition, Tyrone acted on other contentious matters, including international arbitrations, internal compliance investigations, as well as several pro bono human rights cases.
Tyrone also undertook a secondment to the Howard League for Penal Reform, where he advised and worked closely with highly vulnerable children and young people in prison or on remand.