On 7 November 2022, Mr Justice Stephen Fowler was appointed as president of the Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board, he took on the role from Mr Justice Ian Huddleston, who has been in the role for less than a year

Mr Justice Fowler said that he was “…extremely honoured to be asked by the Lady Chief Justice to be the president of the Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board” and that he would ”…ensure that the victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland receive the compensation they deserve as quickly as possible.”

He confirmed that the Historical Institutional Abuse Redress scheme has paid out GBP 54 million in compensation to those who have suffered abuse in an institutional setting in Northern Ireland, with some 88% of almost 3,191 applications received having been processed. The board, which has been processing applications since March 2020 has performed well when one considers the difficulties that the Covid-19 pandemic presented in terms of carrying out its work.

As he took up the role of President, Mr Justice Fowler said that he was "committed, where possible, to continually improving those services for which the redress board is solely accountable" and also that he looks forward to playing his part in the “…delivery of the wider redress scheme support services, from other responsible bodies, as set out in Hart Report and required in legislation, to effectively support applicants to the Redress Board.”

For those readers of the blog who have an interest in the region, on 4 January 2023 the board published a Key Performance Summaries, 2022 to 2023 which summarises the work of the Board as of 30 June 2022.