Distinguished panel of third-party neutrals

The Right Honourable the Lord Woolf of Barnes,Kt, PC, QC
Lord Woolf was called to the Bar in 1955 and was appointed to the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in 1979, as Lord Justice of Appeal in 1986 and a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in 1992. Between 1996 and 2000 he held the position of Master of the Rolls and in 2000 was appointed Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, a position from which he retired in September 2005. Lord Woolf has had a very long-standing interest in alternative dispute resolution and mediation. His report, Access to Justice, 1996 ("The Woolf Report") was generally acknowledged to have been a catalyst for the development of ADR in England. He has lectured on the subject of ADR both in the United Kingdom and in many countries abroad. He also chaired the network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union's Working Group on mediation. Lord Woolf is a chartered arbitrator and acts as Special Adviser to CEDR, chairing its International Conflict Management Advisory Group, launched in 2005. He was accredited as a CEDR mediator in 2006.

Sir David Edward KCMG, QC
Sir David retired as a Judge of the European Court of Justice in 2004, and now sits as a deputy judge of the Court of Session in Scotland, hearing civil appeals. He is a CEDR accredited mediator, and a member of the ICSID panel of arbitrators. He was called to the Scottish Bar in 1962 and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1974. Before his appointment to the European Court, he was Professor of European Institutions at the University of Edinburgh and a Judge of the European Court of First Instance. He appeared as counsel in a number of high profile cases in the Scottish courts, the House of Lords and the European Court. He also held a number of directorships. He is a Vice-President of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, and has written extensively on a range of legal issues.

The Right Honourable the Lord Griffiths of Govilon, Kt, MC, PC, CBE, MS, FRCS, QC
Lord Griffiths was called to the Bar in 1949 and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1964. Thereafter serving a number of judicial appointments before being appointed to the Court of Appeal and Privy Council in 1980 and to the House of Lords in 1985. He has held many legal professional appointments including Chairman of the Lord Chancellor's Committee on Legal Education and Conduct from 1991-1993 and he was a member of the mediation panel on the Maxwell Pensioners Trust dispute in 1993. Lord Griffiths also held the position of the Chairman of the Security Commission from 1985-1992 and he acts as an arbitrator and as a mediator in international domestic commercial and other disputes.

The Right Honourable Lord Hurd of Westwell CH CBE PC and Chairman of CEDR's Advisory Council
Lord Hurd retired as Foreign Secretary in July 1995 after a distinguished career in Government spanning 16 years. After positions as Minister of State in the Foreign Office and the Home Office, he served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1984-85, Home Secretary from 1986-89 and Foreign Secretary 1989-1995 in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. Lord Hurd became a member of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords in February 1999 and a member of the Appointments Commission in the summer of 2000. In September 1999 he was appointed as the High Steward of Westminster Abbey and in September 2001 as a President of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. His other pursuits include writing, walking and reading and his latest books include The Search for Peace (with the 1997 BBC TV Series) and The Image in the Water (2001). Lord Hurd was CEDR Chairman from 2000-2004 and currently serves as the Chairman of CEDR's Advisory Council.

The Right Honourable Lord Irvine of Lairg, PC
Lord Irvine was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain and head of the judiciary from 1997-2003. He was born in Inverness in Scotland and graduated from both Glasgow and Cambridge Universities before beginning his career as a Lecturer in Law at the London School of Economics. He was called to the Bar in 1967, he became a QC in 1978 and headed 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers from 1981 to 1997. He served as a Recorder from 1985 to 1988 and was appointed a Deputy High Court Judge in 1987. Lord Irvine became a Life Peer in 1987 and was appointed Lord Chancellor in May 1997 after 19 years practice as a Queen's Counsel. During his period in office, Lord Irvine played a major role as the Chairman of the Cabinet Committees settling the Government's programme of constitutional reform, including overseeing the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into United Kingdom law. Lord Irvine remained Lord Chancellor until his retirement from that office in June 2003. Whilst he was Lord Chancellor, he was a strong advocate for mediation and alternative dispute resolution.

The Right Honourable Sir Brian Neill Kt, PC, QC
Sir Brian was educated at Highgate School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, of which he became an Honorary Fellow in 1986. He was called to the Bar in 1949 and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1968. During his time as a barrister he was Chairman of the Foreign Office Advisory Committee on Rhodesia Travel restrictions from 1973-1978 and was appointed as the arbitrator in the Plover Cover reservoir arbitration between the Government of Hong Kong and a French construction company. Sir Brian thereafter served on a number of judicial positions before being appointed Lord Justice of Appeal from 1985-1996. Sir Brian was accredited as a CEDR mediator in 1999.