The Secretary of State has announced the appointments of Dr Hannah Bows, Sean Harvey, Suzanne McCarthy and Asrar Ul-Haq as members of the Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors for ten years from 1 July 2025.
Biographies
Dr Hannah Bows
Dr Bows is currently Professor in Criminal Law at Durham University. She is also the deputy director of the Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse, where she leads and teaches on the criminal law module and supervises undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Dr Bows has declared no political activity.
Suzanne McCarthy
Mrs McCarthy has significant public sector experience in the areas of governance, regulation, standards, fitness to practice and audit and risk management. She is currently the Chair of the Fire Standards Board, the Valuation Tribunal Service, the National Guardian Office’s Accountability and Liaison Board and the Standards Committee of the Fundraising Regulator.
Mrs McCarthy has declared no political activity.
Sean Harvey
Mr Harvey has a range of earlier career experiences, including ten years as a primary school teacher. He now sits as a lay panel member at the Health and Care Professions Council, as a member of the Conduct Committee at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a panel chair at Social Care Wales. He is a magistrate who also sits in the Crown Court on appeals.
Mr Harvey has declared no political activity.
Asrar Ul-Haq
Mr Ul-Haq is a retired Police Officer with over 30 years of experience in a variety of policing roles on a local and national level. He is a registered Subject Matter Expert with the National Crime Agency. He is also an independent lead consultant, supporting organisations to improve service delivery, develop leadership and professionalism. Mr Ul-Haq is a member of the Greater Manchester Advisory Committee to the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice and an Independent Member of the Parole Board.
Mr Ul-Haq had declared no political activity.
The Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors (ACCO) makes recommendations on conscientious objection claims from Armed Forces personnel where an application to retire or resign a commission or for discharge on the grounds of conscience have not been accepted by service authorities. ACCO is a non-statutory Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by the Ministry of Defence.
It was established in 1970, but its history can be traced back to the tribunals set up by the National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The 1970 arrangements included an agreement that the Lord Chancellor appoints to the public appointee roles on the Committee to ensure that ACCO maintains its independence from the MOD.
It is for this reason that MOJ manages the campaign. As public appointments, the roles are subject to the provisions of the Governance Code on Public Appointments (the Code).
Owned by the Cabinet Office, the Code sets out the principles governing such recruitment and the role of Ministers. Roles covered by the Code are also subject to regulation by the independent Commissioner for Public Appointments (CPA).
