Sir Max Benjamin Rowland Hill (born 10 January 1964) is a British barrister. He served as the Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales, succeeding

Alison Saunders Dame Alison Margaret Saunders, ( Brown; born 14 February 1961) is a British barrister and a former Director of Public Prosecutions. She was the first lawyer from within the Crown Prosecution Service and the second woman to hold the appointmen ...

for a five-year term from 1 November 2018. Previously, he was the

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation is appointed by the Home Secretary and by the HM Treasury, Treasury for a renewable three-year term and tasked with reporting to the Home Secretary and to Parliament on the operation of counter-terr ...

in the United Kingdom, replacing David Anderson in 2017.

Early life

Hill was born in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

in 1964. After attending state primary schools, he was educated at the

Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne The Royal Grammar School (RGS), Newcastle upon Tyne, is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for pupils aged between 7 and 18 years. Founded in 1525 by Thomas Horsley, the Mayor of Newca ...

due to his family moving to

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

. He won a scholarship to study law at

St Peter's College, Oxford St Peter's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Located on New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom, it occupies the site of two of the university's academic halls of the Univers ...

, from 1983 to 1986.

Career

Called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1987, Hill worked on parts of the Damilola Taylor murder trials and

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, also referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamist terrorists that targeted commuters travelling on Transport in London, London's public transport during the ...

before being appointed a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

(QC) in 2008. From 2012, he was Head of Chambers at Red Lion Chambers and chaired the Criminal Bar Association from 2011 to 2012. Hill also served as Leader of the South Eastern Circuit from 2014 to 2016. In 2017, he appeared in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's ''The Trial'' as lead counsel for the prosecution, in which real juries, together with actual barristers and judges, tried a fictional murder case in order to explore the workings of the jury system. From 1 March 2017 to 12 October 2018, Hill was the

Director of Public Prosecutions

Hill was appointed as the Director of Public Prosecutions in November 2018. In this role, Hill supported the idea that too many children are facing adult justice, arguing that 10 is too young an age for criminal responsibility. He was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(KCB) in the

2024 New Year Honours The 2024 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

for services to law and order.

References

External links

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Max Hill QC takes up post as Director of Public Prosecutions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Max 1963 births Living people English King's Counsel People educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford British barristers Directors of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales) 21st-century King's Counsel Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath