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First Minister establishes selection panel for Scotland’s most senior judge

The process of appointing a new Lord President of the Court of Session has begun, following the retirement of Scotland’s longest serving judge, Lord Gill, on 31 May 2015.

The First Minister has established a selection panel which includes senior members of the judiciary, to make recommendations for a new Lord President, the most senior judicial office in Scotland.

The Lord President is responsible for leadership of the entire Scottish judiciary, in addition to chairing the Board of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. The office holder is the most senior judge in Scotland, with authority over any court established under Scots law, apart from the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

The selection panel is made up of:

• Sir Muir Russell – Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland
• Mrs Deirdre Fulton – Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland
• The Rt Hon Lord Reed – Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
• The Rt Hon Lady Dorrian – Senator, Inner House of the Court of Session

The post is being advertised as of yesterday (Monday 20 July), with applications invited by Monday 3 August 2015. The selection panel will interview shortlisted candidates, and make recommendations to the First Minister, shortly afterwards.

The First Minister, who must have regard of those recommendations but is not bound by them, then makes her nomination to the Prime Minister, after statutory consultation with the Lord Justice Clerk. The Prime Minister is responsible for recommending a name for the new Lord President to Her Majesty, but may not recommend anybody who has not been nominated by the First Minister.

Eligibility for appointment as Lord President is open to:

• Serving Court of Session judges
• Sheriffs principal and sheriffs who have held continuous office for at least five years immediately preceding appointment
• Solicitors who have had rights of audience in both the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary for a continuous period of at least five years immediately preceding the appointment
• Advocates of at least five years standing
• Writers to the Signet of ten years standing who have passed an examination in civil law set by the Faculty of Advocates, two years before appointment 

The post advertisement can be accessed here: http://ow.ly/PP1re

Notes To Editors

Lord Gill was Scotland’s longest serving judge, between his appointment in 1994 and retirement in May 2015. He served as Lord President and Lord Justice General from June 2012, having held the position of Lord Justice Clerk and President of the Second Division of the Inner House from November 2001. He was also Chairman of the Lands Valuation Appeal Court and of the Scottish Law Commission from 1996 to 2001.

Information on Selection Panel members:

Sir Muir Russell was appointed as lay Chairing Member of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland in October 2008 and has been reappointed twice, until September 2016. Sir Muir was educated at the High School of Glasgow and Glasgow University, where he took a first class honours degree in Natural Philosophy. He was Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Office and then the Scottish Executive from 1998 to 2003 and Principal of the University of Glasgow from 2003 to 2009.

Mrs Deirdre Fulton was appointed a lay member of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland in February 2015. She is a graduate of University of Strathclyde and has a Masters in Business Administration. She runs her own consultancy business with a focus on providing meaningful insight and analysis, mainly to clients in the aviation sector. Typical assignments include strategic planning, due diligence, market research, marketing and communications. Prior to setting up her own company in 2008, she worked at a senior level in the Scottish aviation industry and gained extensive experience of corporate strategy and operations as well as people and resource management. She is Vice Chair and Trustee of her local Samaritans branch with specific responsibility for recruitment and selection.

Lord Reed was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2012 and is one of the two Scottish Justices of The Supreme Court. Lord Reed is a graduate of the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1983, where he undertook a wide range of civil and criminal work. He served as a senior judge in Scotland for 13 years, being appointed to the Outer House of the Court of Session in 1998 and to the Inner House in January 2008. During 1999 he sat as an ad hocjudge of the European Court of Human Rights.

Lady Dorrian was appointed as a Senator of the College of Justice in 2005, having served as a Temporary Judge since 2002. She was appointed to the Inner House in November 2012. Lady Dorrian is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen (LLB). She was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1981 and was Standing Junior Counsel to the Health and Safety Executive and Commission between 1987 and 1994. She served as Advocate Depute between 1988 and 1991 and as Standing Junior to the Department of Energy between 1991 and 1994. Lady Dorrian was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1994 and between 1997 and 2001 she was a member of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. Lady Dorrian was appointed as a judicial member of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland in July 2011.