We are delighted to announce Abigail Holt and associate tenant, Dr Susie Alegre of Garden Court Chambers, have been newly appointed as court examiners for five years from 1 April 2024.
Court Examiners are able to take depositions, often for persons with a terminal illness, or those who are too severely ill to attend court. The role can involve taking evidence for the High Court where a witness is abroad and cannot travel to the UK. A Court Examiner can also be asked to supervise cross-examinations of witnesses in the UK at the request of a foreign court, in relation to a case proceeding overseas (pursuant to the Evidence (Proceedings in Other Jurisdictions) Act 1975 and the Hague Convention). The Court Examiner role is a quasi-judicial role governed by Civil Procedural Rules (CPR) 34. The Court Examiner takes the evidence as a judge would, ensuring that the evidence is carefully recorded and a transcript produced for the Trial Judge.
Abigail Holt (Year of Call: 1993)
Abigail has over 25 years of experience focusing mainly on accident, disease, health and medical-related issues and has experience in AI/tech and environmental law & climate justice work. The breadth of her experience encompasses difficult Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority Appeals; Court of Protection; Regulation of healthcare professionals (GMC, NMC); inquests; and judicial review of medical/healthcare-related matters. She has experience working with the team of référendaires in the Cabinet of the UK Advocate General, at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg (where both her excellent French and Spanish language skills and wide legal background were invaluable). She is the Treasurer of the European Circuit of the Bar, sits as a First Tier Tribunal Judge (employment and IAC) and is co-convenor of the Garden Court‘s Commercial and Business Ethics Team. Abigail has been a fully trained mediator since 2011 and acts as a mediation advocate.
Dr Susie Alegre, Associate Tenant (Year of Call: 1997)
Susie is a senior public international lawyer with high level experience in policy strategic leadership, decision making, oversight and governance. She is an experienced communicator with regular media engagement and has provided evidence to Parliament. Susie has undertaken legal policy work for international organisations and has also undertaken diplomacy & advisory and consulting work for UN bodies. In her work on human rights and technology, Susie has also advised the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Susie is currently a Member of the Commission for Control of Interpol’s Files and is the only UK lawyer to have been appointed to the body since its inception. Susie's book, Freedom to Think (Atlantic Books, 2022) was listed as one of the Technology Books of the Year 2022 in the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph, and was shortlisted for a Royal Society of Literature Christopher Bland Prize 2023. Her next book, Human Rights, Robot Wrongs: Being Human in the Age of AI (Atlantic Books, 2024) is due to be published on 2 May 2024.
