Jack Straw, the lord chancellor and secretary of state, has appointed former solicitor Richard Thomas as the new chairman of the Administrative Justice & Tribunals Council (AJTC).

Thomas is currently the information commissioner and deputy chairman of the Consumers Association. He has been appointed for four years and will take up his new post on 1 September, succeeding Lord Newton of Braintree.

During his career Thomas has been director of public policy at Clifford Chance, director of consumer affairs at the Office of Fair Trading and a solicitor with the Citizens Advice Bureau Service and Freshfields.

He will receive £55,223 a year (under review), based on an average two and a half days a week.

The AJTC is an independent advisory non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. Its role is to keep the administrative justice system under review to help ensure it is accessible, fair and efficient.

It was created by the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and replaced the Council on Tribunals.

Thomas said: ‘The AJTC has a key role in improving public justice – promoting confidence in the arrangements for resolving disputes between citizens and the public sector.’