Bloody sunday: Modernising judge to head review

The judge tasked with heading the investigation into one of the most sensitive episodes in the recent history of the United Kingdom is regarded as a moderniser in the judiciary.

Mark Saville will choose two Commonwealth judges to sit alongside him in public hearings with the power to summon witnesses and all relevant papers relating to the Bloody Sunday shootings 26 years ago.

The 61-year-old judge chaired a committee of the Department of Trade and Industry for two years from l994 which became the basis for the Arbitration Act of l996. He presently chairs the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct.

Lord Saville, educated at Rye Grammar School and Brasenose, Oxford, was called to the Bar in l962, became a QC in l975, was appointed a judge in the High Court in l985, and Lord Justice of Appeal in l994. In l997 he became a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He has been keen in the past to shed light on the role of the judiciary. He said recently: "They think we start work at eleven, finish at three, spend two hours in a West End club sipping sherry and that we are totally removed from anything to do with real life. It is certainly not true".

Married with two sons, the judge lists his recreations as sailing, flying and computers.

- Kim Sengupta