Demystifying Judicial Appointment – a seminar aimed at people with disabilities, neurodiversity and mental health
We welcome you to come and hear judges with a variety of lived experience speak about their path to judicial appointment, the opportunities they've discovered and barriers they've faced.
Chaired by His Honour Judge Fayyaz Afzal CBE
HHJ Fayyaz Afzal CBE is a Circuit Judge. He is the Designated Family Judge for South Yorkshire and sits in Sheffield dealing with Family and Court of Protection cases. He is also a Diversity and Community Relations Judge.
He is from Rochdale and the first in his family to go to university having read law at Staffordshire University and studied for the Bar Vocational Course (as it was then) at Manchester Metropolitan University. He was Called to the Bar in 1999 and was only one of a handful of barristers with a visual impairment. He moved to Leicester to undertake pupillage and had a common law practice at New Walk Chambers before moving to No 5 Chambers where he predominantly dealt with family cases. He also sat as a Legal Assessor/Legally Qualified Chair for professional/medical regulators.
He became a Deputy District Judge in 2010, a Recorder in 2015, a District Judge in 2017 and a Circuit Judge in 2020. He has a keen interest in diversity and inclusion - his work has been recognised with the award of the OBE in 2008, CBE in 2021 and being included in the Power 100 list of influential disabled people in the United Kingdom. He is a Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn and a senior advocacy tutor. He is very keen to ensure that talented candidates are able to make applications for judicial appointment regardless of background.
Tribunal Judge David Chrimes
Judge Chrimes has been a salaried Tribunal Judge in the Social Entitlement Chamber (SEC) since 2021. He started as a Disability Qualified Member of the SEC in 2018 and was appointed as a Fee-Paid Tribunal Judge in 2019. David is a member of the SEC’s D&I Committee. He is also the Comms Lead on the Judicial Diversity Committee and edits the Judicial D&I Newsletter.
In his earlier career David practiced mostly in the Crown Court, spending over 20 years with the CPS, where he led the FDA Trade Union, specialising in representing members in equality cases and chaired the CPS Disability Network. He was also a member of two government advisory committees; the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) and the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee.
David is disabled, having visual, mobility and dexterity impairments.
District Judge Naheid Asjad
Judge Asjad was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 2002 and was called to the Bar (Lincoln’s Inn) in 2008. She served as a Senior Crown Prosecutor from 2002 to 2011. She was appointed as a Fee-paid Judge of the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security Chamber) in 2011 and was authorised to sit in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber in 2014. She became a Tribunal Chair in the Police Appeals Tribunal in 2014 and was appointed as a Deputy District Judge in 2019. She became a full-time District Judge in 2021.
Tribunal Judge Rebecca Van Beers
Judge Van Beers has been sitting as a fee-paid Judicial Office Holder since 2021. Her first appointment was as a Disability Qualified Tribunal Member in the Social Entitlement Chamber, having been appointed and trained during the pandemic. Subsequently, she was recommended for two judicial appointments. She did not pursue her appointment as a Deputy District Judge but instead chose to take up appointment as a fee-paid Tribunal Judge in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities jurisdiction of the Health Education and Social Care Chamber in early 2023. Most recently, she has applied for a salaried position as a Tribunal Judge.
In terms of her professional background, she worked as a Legal Adviser in the Magistrates’ Courts for 15 years, followed by roles as a Small Claims Mediator, Senior Crown Prosecutor, and as a Senior Lawyer for a Local Authority. She has a hidden disability and has experienced numerous issues over the years concerning diversity and inclusion. To try and effect positive change, she undertakes voluntary roles both as a member of the Social Entitlement Chamber Diversity and Inclusion Committee and as a Nominated Judicial Office Holder for Complaints.
Rebecca is passionate about raising the profile of hidden disabilities to highlight the challenges these can bring for those who experience them. She is also committed to improving judicial career opportunities for people with disabilities, who should not be seen as a burden, but as an asset — bringing with them rich lived experiences that are vital to broadening understanding within the judiciary and representing the communities they serve.
Tribunal Judge Bryony Dean
Judge Dean qualified as a barrister in criminal defence practice (along with some extradition and prison law), and worked at three different chambers. She joined what was then the Government Legal Service in 2010, as a prosecutor for DWP/DH, and moved to CPS in 2012. In 2014, she became lead prosecution, litigation and enforcement lawyer at the Food Standards Agency. She moved to HMRC at the end of 2016, and has worked in roles dealing with non-tax litigation and personal tax advisory and customs and excise advisory, whilst becoming a specialist secondary legislation drafter. She has recently moved to the SI Hub in GLD. She was appointed as a fee-paid judicial member (legal) in the Social Entitlement Chamber (SSCS) in July 2024. Bryony is autistic and has combined ADHD, which were both diagnosed in late adulthood, as well as dealing with long-standing mental health difficulties. From 2017 to 2025 she supported colleagues at HMRC as a Mental Health Advocate, and a member of the Solicitors Office Disability and Neurodiversity Networks.