Avril Calder

UK - English

J.P served as a Magistrate in London for 35 years, sitting exclusively in two specialised courts—the Inner London Youth Court and the Family Proceedings Court. These courts deal both with young offenders and with children in need of care and protection as well as adoption and aspects of domestic violence. She presided in the Youth Court from 1987 and the Family Court from 1991. She had oversight of training and development for magistrates sitting in both courts for many years and managed a project to publicise and explain the work of the Family Court to the general public and especially to ethnic minorities.

In the mid-1990s she was Chair of the British Juvenile and Family Courts Society, an affiliate of the International Association of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates (IAYFJM), and organised many conferences and training events—most notably Children Who Kill in the wake of the Bulger case.

In 2014 she was elected President of IAYFJM, having been Treasurer and Editor-in-Chief of the Association’s journal the Chronicle since 2006.