Neelam Sarkaria

Biography

Neelam Sarkaria joined the CNPA Board in October 2016.

Neelam was called to the Bar in 1988 and now works as an independent criminal justice consultant with specific expertise in harmful traditional practices. She also sits as a fee-paid Tribunal Judge on social security cases and sits on professional conduct hearings for the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). She holds an Honorary Lectureship in English Law at Aberdeen University and has developed and delivered training for health, education and social care professionals on harmful traditional practices. Neelam has extensive experience of working within and across Whitehall departments and previously worked for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for 24 years. She has performed a range of operational and strategic roles both within and outside of the CPS, including a lengthy period of secondment within Whitehall to develop and deliver criminal justice change.

Neelam has been the Chair and now co-Chair of the Association of Women Barristers for the last 3 years. She is an Advisory Member of the Desert Flower Foundation (UK), an international FGM charity committed to the eradication of FGM. She is also a Community Ambassador for the Sharan Project, a charity committed to supporting South Asian women in the UK who suffer abandonment as a result of forced marriage and honour-based violence. She has recently been appointed to the Expert Advisory Panel for the Ending Domestic Violence Global Foundation. Neelam works with the non-government organisations she is associated with to develop their capacity and capability.

Appointed: 10 October 2016
Reappointed: 10 October 2019 (for a 2nd term)
Terms ends: 9 October 2021