RJC Appoints John Hall as Interim Chief

RAPAPORT... The board of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has named vice chairman John Hall as interim executive director following the resignation of Iris Van der Veken.Van der Veken quit last month over the standards group's handling of the Russia crisis.Hall is a founding board member of the RJC, the organization said Tuesday in an email to members. He is also a former general manager for external affairs at miner Rio Tinto in London."John is a highly experienced executive with deep expertise in reputational strategy and ethical supply chains in both the jewelry and mining industries," RJC chairman David Bouffard and honorary treasurer Feriel Zerouki wrote in the note, seen by Rapaport News.The RJC also defended itself from criticism over its decision not to remove Russian miner Alrosa in the aftermath of the Ukraine invasion.The organization was waiting for the completion of a legal review to determine whether its governing documents allowed it to eject a member, according to the letter. The opinion it received from lawyers "validated the board's early concern that it did not have the authority to vote on Alrosa's membership suspension or termination without following due process stipulated in [the] RJC's articles of association," it continued.Alrosa eventually suspended its own membership in the RJC last week.Image: John Hall. (RJC/Twitter)