As reported by the Newspaper Society: He is the unanimous choice of the independent Selection Panel chaired by Sir Hayden Phillips.
Sir Alan’s career has been in the law and he has served as a Lord Justice of Appeal since 2005. His focus has been on administrative law and he has been a member of the Court of Appeal in a number of cases relating to the press and freedom of expression. As a High Court judge he presided over criminal and civil cases in the public eye. As a barrister he was an expert in tax appeals and cases concerning the interception of communications by the Security Services, and in cases concerning contempt of court.
He conducted two of the biggest prosecutions for Customs and Excise for breach of an arms embargo, including the Matrix Churchill case, which led to the Scott Enquiry. Outside his legal career, Sir Alan is also Chairman of Spitalfields Music, a charity providing two festivals a year and music education for pupils and those of all ages in Tower Hamlets. He was an external member of the Council of the Royal Academy of Arts for 6 years, taking part in the management of the Academy.
Sir Alan will now join the IPSO Selection Panel to appoint the rest of the Board, with a view to IPSO being formally established by June. Sir Alan will be available for interviews when this selection process has been completed.
Comment from Sir Hayden Phillips, Chairman of the independent panel selecting the Chair and Board Members of IPSO.
"I am delighted to announce that Sir Alan Moses QC, a Lord Justice of Appeal, has agreed to be the first Chair of the Independent Press Standards Organisation. He is the unanimous choice of my Selection Panel.
"Sir Alan’s qualities meet all of the criteria my Panel judged were most relevant in appointing a Chair. He is person of experience and integrity, of independence and vigour, and also personable, approachable, and always open to consider new ideas. With his reputation for being quick, forthright and fearless I believe that not only is he someone on whom the public can depend to tackle abuses by newspapers where they occur,( using the considerable new powers that will be vested in IPSO), but someone who also believes firmly in independent self- regulation of the press and in the vital democratic role of a free press in a free society."
Comment from Sir Alan Moses, new Chair of IPSO.
"I am very pleased to have been appointed to be the first Chair of IPSO. The public and the press are entitled to a successful system of independent regulation. I recognise it is a big responsibility to achieve this. I believe that such a system should be designed to protect the public against a repetition of the breakdown in standards in some parts of the newspaper industry in recent times. At the same time it should affirm and encourage the vital role of a free and fearless press.
"I shall do my best to guide the development of clear, simple but fair rules in an area where there are difficult questions and there are no easy answers. But I am determined that there should be no hesitation in dealing with bad practice by newspapers and providing support and vindication for those who suffer as a result of any future breakdown. This new organisation will have to listen to and learn from the Press and their critics in the period ahead. To those who have voiced doubts as to the ability of IPSO to meet the demands of independent regulation, I say that I have spent over forty years pursuing the profession of barrister and judge whose hallmarks are independent action and independent judgment. I do not intend to do away with that independence now."
