Sir Christopher Pitchford (born 1947, died 2017) was a Lord Justice of Appeal for England and Wales 2010 to 2017. He was also a member of the Privy Council from 2010.
He was appointed Chair of the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) on 12 March 2015, the Inquiry having been announced by Theresa May in 2014. For this reason, the UCPI is occasionally referred to as the ‘Pitchford Inquiry’.
He stepped down from the Inquiry in May 2017 having developed Motor Neurone Disease, and died in October that year. He was succeeded as Chair by Sir John Mitting.
During his tenure as Chair, he oversaw the opening of the Inquiry and the development of a number of its approaches, including in relation to how public the giving of evidence should be and the legal principles around restriction orders. In particular, he resisted police wishes that the Inquiry be held mostly in secret or limited in scope.