Lord Alex Carlile KC CBE
Biography
Lord Alex Carlile of Berriew CBE KC was born in Wales in 1948. After education at Epsom College he graduated LLB AKC at King’s College London. In 1970 Lord Carlile was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn (where he is now a Bencher) and became a QC in 1984, at the age of 36. He was Head of Chambers for 9-12 Bell Yard until 2007. Until 2009 he was the Honorary Recorder of the City of Hereford. He sat as a Recorder of the Crown Court, a Deputy High Court Judge, and (2004 to 2012) Chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Between 2001 and 2011, he was the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation and the Independent Reviewer of the government’s 2011 PREVENT strategy. More recently he was the independent reviewer of National Security policy in Northern Ireland.
Lord Carlile was appointed in July 2015 as a Member of the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information. He was the Liberal/Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire from 1983 to 1997. He served as spokesperson on a range of issues, including home affairs and the law, and was Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats from 1992 to 1997. He is now an independent Peer. He was a founding member of the All-Party War Crimes Group. He chaired the Select Committee of both Houses of Parliament on mental health legislation. He has a long experience of child safeguarding issues. Alex Carlile was appointed a Life Peer in 1999 and was awarded a CBE in 2012 for services to national security.
Lord Carlile is the Chairman of the Lloyd’s of London Enforcement Board. He is the former Vice-Chairman of the listed company Wynnstay Group plc. Until 2019 he was the President of The Security Institute. He is a Fellow of King’s College London, and a Fellow of the Industry and Parliament Trust. Lord Carlile is a member of the boards of several charities including the Royal Medical Foundation of Epsom College (President) The White Ensign Association (Chair-Elect) and Addaction (Chair). He was a co-founder of the Welsh charity Rekindle. He is chairman of the not-for-profit company Design for Homes and remains a founding director of SC Strategy Ltd, a strategy and public policy consultancy.
He holds Honorary Doctorates of Laws from universities in Manchester, Wales, Chester and Hungary. Lord Carlile was appointed as Independent Reviewer of Prevent by the Home Secretary on 12 August 2019.
Member of the Independent Commision on Freedom of Information
Commissioners support the Chair in meeting the terms of reference for the Independent Commission on Freedom of Information.