Her Majesty the Queen has appointed Ms Anne Marshall and Ms Alana McSorley as District Judges (Magistrates’ Courts) in Northern Ireland. The judges were sworn into office before Dame Siobhan Keegan, the Lady Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, on Tuesday 7 June 2022.
Judge Anne Marshall
Judge Marshall was admitted to the Law Society in 1998.
She served as a Deputy District Judge from 2013 to 2022. In this role Judge Marshall sat in the Criminal, Family Proceedings, Domestic Proceedings and Youth Courts.
As well as the role above, Judge Marshall served as a Legal Member of the Review Tribunal, a Legally Qualified Chair of the Police Appeals Tribunal, Presiding Member of Independent Civil Legal Services Appeals Panel (the CLSAP), Parades Commissioner, Legal Assessor to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s fitness to practice hearings, and Chairperson of Exceptional Circumstances Body – Department of Education.
Judge Marshall has also held positions such as a Prosecutor in the Public Prosecution Service, a Senior Solicitor in the Children’s Law Centre, and a Solicitor in McCann and McCann Solicitor specialising in criminal defence work.
In addition to her employment experience Judge Marshall is also involved in various charity work.
Judge Alana McSorley
Judge McSorley graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2003. She was admitted to the Law Society in 2005.
Since 2007, she has been employed by the Public Prosecution Service, both as a Public Prosecutor and as a Senior Public Prosecutor. In this role she directed on a variety of files ranging from summary offences to complex indictable cases. She appeared as an advocate in the Magistrates’ Court, the Youth Courts, County Court Appeals and Crown Court. In 2013 she qualified as a Solicitor Advocate.
Judge McSorley served as a panel member on the Law Society of Northern Ireland’s Remuneration Panel. In this role she assessed disputes between Solicitors and their clients regarding reasonableness of Bill of Costs.
Judge McSorley also served as a Disability Qualified Member of the Appeals Tribunal for Northern Ireland. In this role she heard appeals from appellants appealing their entitlement to Personal Independent Payments.