Lawyer John Marshall, QC, has been appointed chief commissioner of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) for the next five years.
He will replace the chief commissioner Bill Jeffries, who has been in the role for the last 13 years, on May 1, Transport Minister Steven Joyce announced today.
Mr Marshall, with over 40 years' experience in legal work, will soon retire as New Zealand Law Society president.
He is also Wellington College Foundation chairman and a member of the Todd Foundation.
Mr Joyce said that under Mr Jeffries' tenure TAIC had kept pace with rapid advances in safety investigation best practice, and many of its more than 400 investigations have led to fundamental changes to aspects of New Zealand's transport safety systems.
