Appointment of a new Chairman of the Law Commission of England and Wales

Appointment

The Lord Chancellor has approved the appointment of the Honourable Mr Justice (Peter) Fraser as the Chairman of the Law Commission for England and Wales for three years, commencing 1 December 2023.

The Law Commission is the statutory independent body created by the Law Commissions Act 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and to recommend reform where it is needed. The aim of the Commission is to ensure that the law is fair, modern, simple and cost effective.

The Chairman of the Law Commission is appointed, by the Lord Chancellor, under Section 1 of the Law Commissions Act 1965.

Biography

Mr Justice Fraser was educated at Harrogate Grammar School in Yorkshire and St John’s College at the University of Cambridge (where he took both an MA in Law and a LL.M). He was called to the Bar in 1989 by Middle Temple and practised from Atkin Chambers between 1990 and 2015 when he was appointed to the King’s Bench Division. As a barrister he specialised in international arbitration, technology, engineering and construction disputes. He was appointed a Recorder of the Crown Court in 2002 and QC in 2009. He sits both as a judge of the Technology and Construction Court (being judge in Charge from 2017 to 2020) and the Commercial Court.