Appointment of New President of Welsh Tribunals

AppointmentPresident

The Lord Chief Justice, following consultation with the First Minister of Wales and Lord Chancellor, has announced the appointment of a new President of Welsh Tribunals. 

Sir Gary Hickinbottom will be appointed for a period of four years, with effect from 1 April 2023, when he will succeed Sir Wyn Williams. 

Background:

Sir Gary  Robert Hickinbottom was admitted as a Solicitor in 1981 and has been President of the Solicitors’ Association of Higher Court Advocates since 2009.  He was elected a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2009. He was appointed a Parking Adjudicator and Assistant Recorder in 1994, a Recorder in 1998, a Circuit Judge in 2000, a Deputy High Court Judge in 2001 and the Chief Social Security and Child Support Commissioner of Great Britain in 2003. He was appointed Chief Pension Appeals Commissioner and the Designated Civil Judge for Wales in 2005.  He became the Deputy Senior President of Tribunals and first President of the Administrative Appeals Chamber in 2008, and a High Court Judge (Queen’s Bench) in 2009. From 2012 to 2016, he was the Queen’s Bench Liaison Judge (Administrative Court) for the Northern and North Eastern Circuits, and then for the Midland, Wales and Western Circuits; and, for the same period, the Senior Liaison Judge for Diversity. He was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and made a Privy Counsellor in 2017.  He retired from the Court of Appeal in January 2021.  From 2021 to 2022, he was the Sole Commission in the Commission of Inquiry into Governance and Corruption in the British Virgin Islands.