Lord Carlile of Berriew QC Independent Reviewer, Terrorism Legislation Alex Carlile was born in Wales in 1948.  After education at Epsom College he graduated LLB AKC at King's College London.  He was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1970.  he became a QC at the age of 36.  He is a Bencher of Gray's Inn.   He sits as a Recorder of the Crown Court, as a Deputy High Court Judge, and as a Chairman of the Competition Appeal Tribunal.  He is the Honorary Recorder of Hereford.  He has been the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation since 2001.  He is the president of the Howard League for Penal reform.        From 1983-1997 he was the Liberal, then Liberal Democrat, MP for Montgomeryshire in Mid Wales.  During that time he served spokesperson on a range of issues, including Home Affairs and the Law.  He was Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats from 1992-97. He was appointed a Life Peer in 1999, and takes the Liberal Democrat Whip. Alex Carlile is Head of Chambers (Chairman) of one of the largest sets of barristers' chambers in London, 9-12 Bell Yard.  He specialises in the civil and criminal aspects of commercial fraud, and other serious crime.  His best known criminal case was the defence of Paul Burrell, butler to the late Diana Princes of Wales.  Recently he has appeared with success in the Morecambe Bay cocklers'case, for a Liverpool fish merchant. He is involved in numerous charities, inculding the Nuffield Trust and the Royal Medical Foundation of Epsom College.  He has a particular interest in mental health issues and was a co-founder of the Welsh charity Rekindle. He has written several reports, most on terrorism.  He was the author of 'Too Serious a Thing', a report published in 2002 on the safety of children in the NHS.  His major report for the Howard League on the use of restraints on children in custody was published in February 2006. He is a non-executive director of a major agricultural merchanting plc.