No 2 to the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Igor, 66, is the country’s most senior criminal judge — a position reflected in the title of Head of Criminal Justice he was given in 2005. It was promotion but no doubt, at the time, a disappointment. He was a front-runner to succeed Lord Woolf when the latter retired as Lord Chief Justice in 2005. Sir Igor, his deputy since 2003 — and before that Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales — did not get the job (it went to Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, then Master of the Rolls). Now, though, his chance has come again, with the move of Lord Phillips later this year to be senior law lord — and this time he is the uncontested hot tip for the post. Born in Malta, he went to the Oratory School, Woodcote, Berkshire, and Cambridge. He favours wider public debate on the cost of custody — so that those who want tougher jail terms know the cost to the taxpayer; and is likely to pursue the same policy as his predecessors in urging jail as a last resort. Kindly and humane beneath a slightly stern exterior, he never loses sight of the backgrounds of many offenders who come before him. Aware, too, of the need to improve the public’s understanding of judges, he has undertaken a low-key public relations role for the judiciary, explaining sentencing policy and demolishing myths about crime wherever he can. He has traditionalist views about how far judges should go in promoting a better image and will not favour reforms such as allowing cameras into courts.

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