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Raj Desai appointed IAPDC panel member

Published:

The Secretary of State for Justice has appointed Raj Desai as a panel member from 13 March 2023 to 12 March 2026. Raj is a barrister at Matrix Chambers specialising in human rights and public law.

He has significant experience representing bereaved family members following deaths in custody, including in prison, police detention and mental health settings. He has conducted research in his fields of specialism, is a co-author of textbooks on human rights law, public law and prison law, and has taught as a college lecturer at the University of Oxford.

Raj advises the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and other public bodies, and is on both the EHRC Panel of Preferred Counsel and the Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel.

Speaking about his appointment, Raj said:

“It is a great privilege to be appointed as an independent panel member of the IADPC. The role of the Panel in contributing to reducing deaths in custody remains as important today as ever. I am greatly looking forward to working with the Panel (led by its new Chair, Lynn Emslie), Ministers and all stakeholders – including those who have lost loved ones in custodial settings – to take forward the work of the Panel.”