Brian Altman QC is to take over as lead Counsel of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
Altman, of 2 Bedford Row chambers, specialises in serious crime and terrorism cases. He was called to the Bar in 1981, took Silk in 2008 and was Treasury Counsel at the Old Bailey for 16 years until 2013. He replaces Ben Emmerson QC, who resigned from the Inquiry in September.
Professor Alexis Jay, the Inquiry Chair, said: “He is hugely experienced, having spent 16 years as Treasury Counsel, the last two and a half years of which were as First Senior Treasury Counsel. This is an important appointment for the Inquiry and I look forward to working with Brian as we take forward the work of the Inquiry.”
Altman said: “The government and the public have set the Inquiry a huge challenge to investigate institutional responses to child sexual abuse in the past, and to report and make recommendations in order to prevent such abuse happening in the future. I am delighted to have been appointed to lead a team of lawyers dedicated to completing the task of the Inquiry. I will work to ensure that the investigations and the public hearings are kept on track in order to deliver the terms of reference of the Inquiry.”
The beleaguered inquiry is now on its fourth chairwoman, after Justice Lowell Goddard, Baroness Butler-Sloss and Dame Fiona Woolf all stepped down.
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