FACULTY LORD: ‘Abbotsford Art & Faculty of Advocates trustee’ declaration of globetrotting £223K a year anti-transparency top judge Lord Carloway, with 20 years on the judicial bench – calls into question scrutiny of Court quango interests register

Judges declarations questioned. LATER this month – the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee are to consider further evidence on a cross party backed petition calling for judges to declare their interests: Petition PE1458: Register of Interests for members of Scotland’s judiciary

The petition calls for the creation of a publicly available register of judicial interests – containing information on judges’ backgrounds, figures relating to personal wealth, undeclared earnings, business & family connections inside & outside of the legal profession, membership of organisations, property and land, offshore investments, hospitality, details on recusals and other information routinely lodged in registers of interest across all walks of public life in the UK and around the world.

However, EIGHT YEARS on from when the petition was originally filed with Holyrood’s Public Petitions Committee in October 2012 – there has been little movement on creating a register of judicial interests for all members of Scotland’s judiciary.

The Public Petitions Committee’s support for creating the register of judicial interests and transfer of work to the Justice Committee – was reported in detail here: JUDICIAL REGISTER: Holyrood Petitions Committee calls for legislation to require Scotland’s judges to declare their interests in a register of judicial Interests

And – despite cross party support for the petition during a full Holyrood debate in 2014, and backing from the Public Petitions Committee who passed the petition to the Justice Committee with a recommendation in May 2018 – Scotland’s 700 strong judges continue to resist calls to declare their interests in exactly the same way all 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament are required to declare.

While Lord Carloway continues to fight calls for judicial transparency – the existence of a register of interests for the quango which oversees the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) – gives a miniscule, carefully controlled snapshot of interests – which are far from the reality of a globetrotting top judge who has been on the judicial bench for two decades on a sizeable public salary.

During 2016-18, the previous, and sole declaration of Lord Carloway in the SCTS register was that of “Trustee Scottish Art Club”.

After nearly two decades on the bench as a judge, connections to countless law firms, cases, decisions, and politically charged campaigns such as the removal of corroboration from Scots Law – one could be forgiven for questioning how and why Scotland’s top judge on a quarter of a million pounds a year – with a pension to match – gets away with declaring working with art as an interest – and nothing else.

In the latest SCTS Board register of interests, a new declaration appears for Lord Carloway – under the heading of Appointments Ex Officio – noting the following: Trustee for the Faculty of Advocates, Abbotsford Collection Trust.

The remaining declarations of interests – which notably do not include any references to law firms, property or financial interests are as follows:

Lord President – The Right Hon. Lord Carloway (real name: Colin John Maclean Sutherland) : Appointments Ex Officio: Trustee for the Faculty of Advocates; Abbotsford Collection Trust.

Lord Justice Clerk – The Right Hon. Lady Dorrian: Directorships: Cranley School Ltd; Glenside Court Ltd; Franco- British Lawyers Society Ltd; Appointments Ex Officio: Commissioner of the Honours of Scotland; Senior Commissioner, Queen Victoria School, Dunblane; Trusteeships: Cranley Trust; Faculty of Advocates 1985 Trust; Scottish Arts Club;

Rt Hon. Lady Smith Trusteeships: President and Trustee – Friends of the Music of St. Giles Cathedral; Other Appointments & Interests: Chair – Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry; Honorary Bencher – Gray’s Inn

Sheriff Principal Duncan Murray: Appointments Ex Officio: Commissioner, Northern Lighthouse Board; Trustee Kibble Education and Care Centre

Sheriff Aisha Anwar: No declarations

Sheriff A Grant McCulloch: Trusteeships: Chair West Fife Education Trust. Other Appointments & Interests: Chair Relationship Scotland – Couple Counselling, Fife; Committee Member Cammo Residents Association; Chair – Discipline Committee ICAS; Chair East & West Fife Education Trusts

Morna Rae JP: Appointments Ex Officio: Justice of the Peace; Other Appointments & Interests: Employee North Ayrshire Council Church of Scotland Elder

Dr Joseph Morrow QC: Directorship: Non Executive Director, St. John’s Scotland Appointments Ex Officio: Lord Lyon King of Arms; Member of Judicial Council Trusteeships: Trustee, Mudie Trust, Dundee; Trustee, Kidney Trust, Dundee; Trustee, Tealing Community Hall; Trustee, Scottish Churches Trust; Chairman & Trustee of Highland Cadet Force Foundation; Other Appointments & Interests: Legal Assessor, South Episcopal Church President, Society of Messengers at Arms President, Scottish Genealogical Society Patron, Scottish Family History Society

Dr Kirsty J Hood QC: Directorship: Scottish Universities Law Institute Ltd. Trusteeships: The Stair Society’s Council; Trustee, Clark Foundation Education; Other Appointments & Interests: Self-employed Advocate; Regular ad hoc employment with the University of Edinburgh – delivering seminars on LLB courses; Regular ad hoc employment with the University of Glasgow– delivering lectures / seminars on LLB courses; Periodically providing materials for LexisPSL Dispute Resolution (online services – LexisNexis); Clerk of Faculty – Faculty of Advocates (non remunerated); Member of the Scottish Committee of Frank-British Lawyers Society (non remunerated); Contributor of updates to “Scottish Family Law Service” (LexisNexis Publishers); Guernsey Financial Services Commission’s Panel of Senior Decision Makers.

Simon JD Catto: Other Appointments & Interests: Member of Cornerstone Exchange LLP Member of XT Property LLP Member of Addleshaw Goddard LLP (Head of Litigation Scotland)

Professor R Hugh MacDougall: Trusteeships: Cunningham Trust; Cross Trust; St. Columba’s Hospice; Other Appointments & Interests: St Giles Cathedral Elder, Edinburgh

Joe Al-Gharabally: Directorship: Ernst & Young

Col. David Mcilroy: Other Appointments & Interests: Independent Prison Monitor (Voluntary position supporting HM Inspector of Prisons in Scotland)

Eric McQueen: Appointments Ex Officio: Member of the Scottish Civil Justice Council

Further information in relation to SCTS Board members shareholdings, which was only obtained via a Freedom of Information request to the Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service reveals the following shareholdings declarations:

Rt Hon Lady Smith, President of Scottish Tribunals: Shareholdings: Artemis Fund Managers; Barclays; Ishares PLC; Royal London; Axa Framlington UK; Majedie Asset Management; X Trackers S&P; Blackrock; Invesco; Robeco Capital.

Sheriff Aisha Anwar: Shareholdings: SRZ Commercial Ltd

Sheriff A Grant McCulloch: Shareholdings: Scotgold Resources Ltd

Simon JD Catto: Shareholdings: Cornerstone Asset Management General Investments; Jupiter Merlin Income Portfolio; Schroder MM Diversity Z inc; M&G Recovery 1 Inc; M&G Corporate Bond Fund.

Joe Al-Gharabally: Shareholdings: Ryan Air; AT&T.

HOLYROOD’S EIGHT YEAR JUDICIAL INTERESTS PROBE:

The judicial register petition – first debated at the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee in January 2013 – calls for the creation of a publicly available register of judicial interests.

A full debate on the proposal to require judges to declare their interests was held at the Scottish Parliament on 9 October 2014 – ending in a motion calling on the Scottish Government to create a register of judicial interests. The motion was overwhelmingly supported by MSPs from all political parties.

The lengthy Scottish Parliament probe on judicial interests has generated over sixty two submissions of evidence, at least twenty one Committee hearings, a private meeting and fifteen speeches by MSPs during a full Holyrood debate and has since been taken over by Holyrood’s Justice Committee after a recommendation to take the issue forward from the Public Petitions Committee in March 2018.

A full report containing video footage of every hearing, speech, and evidence sessions at the Scottish Parliament on Petition PE1458 can be found here: Scottish Parliament debates, speeches & evidence sessions on widely supported judicial transparency petition calling for a Register of Interests for Scotland’s judiciary.

The Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee has backed calls for further work on the judicial interests register during at least THREE further Holyrood hearings, including the latest hearing from June 2019, reported here: JUDICIAL REGISTER: Justice Committee to hear evidence from ex-Judicial Investigator, top judge on judicial interests register, MSP says Scottish judges should not be involved with Gulf States implicated in unlawful wars, mistreatment of women’s rights

A report on the Justice Committee’s consideration of the Judicial Interests Register Petition in May 2019 can be found here: JUDICIAL REGISTER: Justice Committee investigate approach to judges’ interests in other countries – MSPs say ‘Recusals register not comprehensive enough’ ‘Openness & transparency do not contradict independence of the judiciary’

A report on the Justice Committee’s consideration of the Judicial Interests Register Petition in February 2019 can be found here: JUDICIAL REGISTER – MSPs urged to take forward SEVEN year petition to create a Register of Judges’ Interests as Holyrood Justice Committee handed evidence of Scottish Judges serving in Gulf states regimes known to abuse Human Rights

TWO TOP SCOTS JUDGES FAIL IN HOLYROOD JUDICIAL TRANSPARENCY PROBE:

Both of Scotland’s recent top judges failed to convince MSPs that a register of interests is not required for judges – even after both Lord Presidents attempted to press home the existence of judicial oaths and ethics – which are both written, and approved by – judges.

Video footage and a full report on Lord Brian Gill giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament in November 2015 can be found here: JUDGE ANOTHER DAY: Sparks fly as top judge demands MSPs close investigation on judges’ secret wealth & interests – Petitions Committee Chief brands Lord Gill’s evidence as “passive aggression”

Video footage and a full report on Lord Carloway (Colin Sutherland) giving widely criticised evidence to the Scottish Parliament in July 2017 can be found here: REGISTER TO JUDGE: Lord Carloway criticised after he blasts Parliament probe on judicial transparency – Top judge says register of judges’ interests should only be created if judiciary discover scandal or corruption within their own ranks

Previous articles on the lack of transparency within Scotland’s judiciary, investigations by Diary of Injustice including reports from the media, and video footage of debates at the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee can be found here : A Register of Interests for Scotland’s Judiciary.

 

EXCESS BAGGAGE: Lord Carloway’s £4K trip to Washington DC, Lady Dorrian’s £6K trip to Melbourne – Judicial overseas junkets rocket to £43k as new Lord President abandons Brian Gill’s edict on public cash for judicial jollies

Scots judges run up £43K taxpayer bill for overseas junkets. SCOTLAND’S judiciary ran up a taxpayer funded £43K bill on overseas travel junkets in just one year, travelling around the globe on what the Judiciary of Scotland and Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) claim is official ‘judicial’ business.

But the huge increase in judicial jetting around the globe – which doubled in cost from £22,605.92 in 2015.16 to £43,354,91 in 2016/17 – flouts previous attempts by former top judge Brian Gill to “take control” of judges demanding to go on foreign trips to luxurious destinations, with hotels & golf clubs & ‘hospitality’ added to the mix.

And, chief among the big time spenders of public cash on air miles is the Lord President himself – Lord Carloway – who already earns a public salary of £222,862 a year.

Carloway – real name Colin Sutherland – who also goes by the title of Lord Justice General – took a taxpayer funded £4,189.96 jet flight to Washington DC on what the Judicial Office claim is a “UK/USA Legal Exchange” held in Philadelphia and Washington.

While his number two – Lady Dorrian – Scotland;s first ever female judge serving as Lord Justice Clerk earning £215,216 a year – racked up the most expensive flight on taxpayers in the past year – a £6,188.99 trip to attend the Commonwealth Law Conference held in Melbourne Australia.

Also added to the grand list of judicial jet setting across the globe by Scotland’s judiciary is a double overseas junket taken by Lord Matthews and Sheriff Norman McFadyen – who were travelling to the ISRCL – Halifax, Nova Scotia legal seminar in Canada.

Lord Matthews – a Court of Session Senator claimed £4017 costs for the trip, compared with Sheriff McFadyen’s £1842 bill to the public purse.

An investigation of this trip revealed Lord Matthews travelled in a separate business class seat compared with the Sheriff who was forced to fly premium economy class.

The trip by Lord Matthews & Sheriff McFadyen also breached judiciary guidelines on overseas travel issued in 2014 by Lord Brian Gill – which said, as a “general rule”, only one judge or sheriff need attend each conference.

Former Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland also appears on the list of travel junkets by Scottish Judges.

Mulholland was promoted by Lord Carloway to a seat on the bench in the Court of Session – after he blocked a criminal prosecution of footballer David Goodwillie for rape.

Mulholland also blocked criminal charges against the driver of the Glasgow bin lorry which ran out of control in December 2014 killing six people in the centre of Glasgow while injuring 15 others.

Lord Mulholland, as he is now known – took a two day trip on the taxpayer to the European Court of Justice meeting on the 18 – 20 Sept 2016 in Luxembourg, at a staggering cost of £1,216.34

Previous investigations into Overseas travel records released by the Judicial Office for Scotland have also revealed Court of Session judge Lord Brailsford enjoyed a £4,898.94 eight day taxpayer funded junket to Sydney Australia from 11 – 19 November 2015.

Lord Brailsford – who became widely known after his son escaped criminal charges for ‘rape & murder’ threats to a girl on twitter – was outed in published documents obtained from the Scottish Government as the listed owner of the Laigh Hall – which forms part of Court of Session buildings located at Parliament House, Edinburgh.

Earlier reports also revealed Lord Gill enjoyed a two day trip during the twilight days of his short, if stormy three year term as Scotland’s top judge – to the Forum of Chief Justice of British Isles – held in the tax haven of Jersey. Lord Gill claimed £302.09 expenses on top of the £231.60  cost of travel to Jersey – taking the cost of his last ‘confirmed’ judicial overseas junket as top judge – to £533.69.

A Scottish Sun investigation revealed Lord Brian Gill travelled to Qatar in 2014 on a five day £2,800 taxpayer funded state visit – while dodging invitations to attend the Scottish Parliament to face scrutiny on his opposition to increased transparency of the judiciary.

And in early 2016,  Lord Gill billed the Scottish Parliament a further £267.75 worth of expenses claims – after the former top judge travelled 1st class to Edinburgh in November 2015 – demanding MSPs drop a three year probe on proposals to create a register of judicial interests as called for in Petition PE1458: Register of Interests for members of Scotland’s judiciary.

The Sunday Mail newspaper also investigated judicial overseas junkets in 2015 – revealing three sheriffs spent £15,000 on an overseas junket to Zambia in Africa JUDGE JET: Sheriffs’ £15K tour of Africa adds to air miles racket of Scots judiciary – as top judges’ clampdown on judicial jet set junkets takes flight.

And a report in the Sunday Mail on June 2 2013 revealed Scottish judges spent over £83,000 on overseas travel junkets in three years – while top judge Lord Gill refused calls to appear before the Scottish Parliament to answer questions on the judiciary’s secretive financial interests & links to big business, banks & the professions.

The Sunday Mail featured an exclusive report on judicial air travel:

PLANE DAFT: It’s plane daft as judge costs taxpayers £2175 more than sheriff who flew on same flight to conference

Lord Matthews was travelling to the same legal seminar in Canada but racked up a huge bill in first class while Sheriff Norman McFadyen went economy.

By Craig McDonald 14 MAY 2017 Sunday Mail

A judge ran up a £4000 taxpayers’ bill flying business class to a conference – while a sheriff who accompanied him sat in economy.

Judge Lord Matthews and Sheriff Norman McFadyen were travelling to the same legal seminar in Canada.

But Matthews claimed £4017 costs for the trip, compared with McFadyen’s £1842 bill to the public purse.

High Court judge Lord Matthews also filed £201 in expenses for the excursion to Halifax, Nova Scotia, last year.

Sheriff McFadyen, who sits at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, claimed no cash back.

The trip also appeared to breach judiciary guidelines issued in 2014 which said, as a “general rule”, only one judge or sheriff need attend each conference.

Another trip saw five High Court judges – Lords Brodie, Glennie, Doherty, Pentland and Lady Scott – attend a Strasbourg conference at a total cost of £4378.

It also cost £1408 to send four sheriffs – Corke, Reith, Mackie and Stewart – to a conference in Dublin.

The taxpayer coughed up £43,354 for foreign travel by the judiciary office last year. The figure was double the total of £22,605 in 2015.

Labour’s justice spokeswoman Claire Baker MSP said: “Questions should be asked about why one person is travelling at twice the cost of another.

“There will be legitimate reasons why the judiciary require to attend international events.

“However, this is an overall significant increase on the previous year and they need to be mindful that this is public money. All trips need to be proportionate.”

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Douglas Ross MSP said: “This is a huge increase in travel costs and needs to be explained.

“When guidelines state that one judicial member should be sufficient for each event, it’s questionable why so many have been travelling together.

“This is taxpayers’ money and shouldn’t be splashed out on needless flights.”

The judge and sheriff were attending the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law seminar between July 24 and 28 last year.

In 2014, the then Lord President, Lord Gill, issued guidance on overseas travel in which he stated “it should only be necessary for one judicial office holder to attend a conference overseas”.

Lord Gill said it would only “be in exceptional cases that I am likely to consider it necessary for more than one person to attend”. He added: “In all cases where funding is being sought, I will require a business case to be produced.

“I will need a clear justification for any overseas travel.”

Figures for judicial travel for the 12 months to March 31 showed a total of 38 trips were made overseas.

The biggest single claim was for a £6188 trip to Australia by Lady Dorrian to attend the Commonwealth Law conference in Melbourne.

The least expensive was when Lord Tyre managed an Academy of European Law trip to Frankfurt at a cost of just £84. The High Court judge did claim a further £57 in expenses for the trip last April.

Lord Tyre also attended events in Brussels, The Hague, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Warsaw, Madrid and Rome.

One of the most widely travelled of the judiciary last year was Edinburgh Sheriff Gordon Liddle.

He attended the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association in Georgetown, Guyana, at a cost of £3637 and a European Network of Councils for Justiciary event in Warsaw, Poland, costing £607.

Sheriff Liddle also attended events in Ljubljana, Slovenia, costing £383 and in Bratislava, Slovakia, costing £285.

A spokesman for the Judicial Office for Scotland said last week: “There will be occasions where it is appropriate to send more than one member of the judiciary to important legal conferences.

“Attendance at overseas conferences is only authorised by the Lord President where there is a clear justification.”

He added: “Lord Matthews flew business class, while Sheriff McFadyen flew premium economy/economy, which goes some way to explaining the difference in cost.

“Furthermore, Lord Matthews’ flights required to be booked closer to the date of departure as he was presiding over a trial.”

JUDICIAL JUNKETS – Judges cost taxpayers £43K in flights to ‘legal’ conferences, hotels with health spas, golf courses & hospitality in 2016/17:

The full list of Overseas trips for 2016-2017 currently acknowledged by the Judicial Office for Scotland:

10 – 12 April 2016 Lord President – CJEU Bilateral meeting – Luxembourg £673.83 £20.00 £693.83

10 – 12 April 2016 Lord Tyre – ENCJ Conference – Barcelona £284.76 £74.69 £359.45

21 – 23 April 2016 Lord Tyre – Board of Trustees of the Academy of European Law – Frankfurt £84.64 £57.09 £141.73

1 – 3 June 2016 Lord Tyre – ENCJ General Assembly – Warsaw £604.94 £73.97 £678.91

1 – 3 June 2016 Sheriff Liddle – ENCJ General Assembly – Warsaw £607.35 £32.86 £640.21

29 – 30 June 2016 Lady Dorrian – Joint meeting of the Working Party on e-Law with legal practitioners – Brussels £511.92 – £511.92

3 – 4 July 2016 Lord Tyre – ENCJ Executive Board Meeting – Madrid £464.59 £76.35 £540.94

24 – 28 July 2016 Sheriff McFadyen – ISRCL – Halifax, Nova Scotia £1,842.93 – £1,842.93

24 – 28 July 2016 Lord Matthews – ISRCL – Halifax, Nova Scotia £3,816.19 £201.74 £4,017.93

6 – 11 August 2016 SP Abercrombie – Representing the Scottish Sentencing Council -Salt Lake City, Utah. £230.98 £36.13 £267.11

14 – 23 Sept 2016 Lord President – UK/USA Legal Exchange – Philadelphia and Washington USA £4,189.96 £123.11 £4,313.07

18 – 20 Sept 2016 Lord Mulholland QC – Attending ECJ meeting – Luxemburg £1,131.03 £85.31 £1,216.34

18 – 22 Sept 2016 Sheriff Liddle – CMJA Conference – Georgetown, Guyana £3,637.78 – £3,637.78

26 – 27 Sept 2016 Lord Tyre – ENCJ Project Group Meeting – Rome £381.07 £104.93 £486.00

1 – 3 October 2016 Lady Dorrian – Opening Legal Year – Dublin £623.21 – £623.21

1 – 3 October 2016 Lord Doherty – Opening Legal Year – Dublin £623.21 £162.19 £785.40

3 – 14 October 2016 Sheriff L Drummond – FBIJCC Stage 2016 – Paris £3,185.32 £350.83 £3,536.15

16 – 21 October 2016 Sheriff O’Carroll – IAJ Conference 16 – 21 October 2016 – Mexico City £3,660.29 – £3,660.29

17 – 28 October 2016 Sheriff C Cunninghame – FBIJCC Stage 2016 – Bordeaux £1,899.73 £210.70 £2,110.43

20 – 22 November 2016 Lord Brodie – Bilateral between the European Court of Human Rights and the Senior Judiciary of Scotland – Strasbourg £740.14 £229.62 £969.76

20 – 22 November 2016 Lord Glennie – Bilateral between the European Court of Human Rights and the Senior Judiciary of Scotland – Strasbourg £817.23 – £817.23

20 – 22 November 2016 Lord Doherty – Bilateral between the European Court of Human Rights and the Senior Judiciary of Scotland – Strasbourg £817.23 £47.51 £864.74

20 – 22 November 2016 Lord Pentland –  Bilateral between the European Court of Human Rights and the Senior Judiciary of Scotland – Strasbourg £827.43 £82.13 £909.56

20 – 22 November 2016 Lady Scott – Bilateral between the European Court of Human Rights and the Senior Judiciary of Scotland – Strasbourg £817.23 – £817.23

21 November 2016 Lord Tyre – ENCJ Executive Board meeting – Brussels £366.87 £87.16 £454.03

24 – 25 November 2016 Sheriff D Corke – 4 Nations Public Guardian Conference – Dublin £361.32 – £361.32

24 – 25 November 2016 Sheriff F Reith QC – 4 Nations Public Guardian Conference – Dublin £363.48 £39.65 £403.13

24 – 25 November 2016 Sheriff A Mackie – 4 Nations Public Guardian Conference – Dublin £298.19 £8.40 £306.59

24 – 25 November 2016 Sheriff N Stewart – 4 Nations Public Guardian Conference – Dublin £336.90 £336.90

8 – 9 December 2016 Lord Tyre – Attending ENCJ Independence & Accountability Project Team Meeting – The Hague £441.97 £63.21 £505.18

11 – 12 December 2016 Sheriff Liddle – ENCJ – Project Group Meeting – Bratislava £285.36 £22.15 £307.51

26 – 28 January 2017 Lord Boyd – Attending ECHR Judicial Seminar, Principle of international Law – Strasbourg £497.40 £32.53 £529.93

12 – 14 February 2017 Lord Tyre – ENCJ Executive meeting – Brussels £428.74 £30.39 £459.13

12 – 14 March 2017 Sheriff Liddle – ENCJ Project team meeting – Ljubljana £383.69 £26.78 £410.47

15 – 25 March 2017 Lady Dorrian – Commonwealth Law Conference – Melbourne Australia £6,188.89 £6,188.89

16 – 17 March 2017 Lord Tyre – ENCJ, Project meeting – Vienna £301.98 £12.25 £314.23

26 – 28 March 2017 Lord President – Judges Forum, 60th Anniversary of the signatures of the Treaties of Rome – Luxembourg £32.14 £32.14

30 – 31 March 2017 Lord Tyre – ENCJ, Digital Justice Seminar – Amsterdam £132.94 £132.94

Total cost of trips: £42,860.72 Total Expenses claimed: £2,323.82 Grand Total of Judicial Overseas costs to March 2017: £43,354.91

GUIDANCE BY GILL – Former Lord President Brian Gill’s guidance on judicial overseas junkets:

After several spats between members of the judiciary who were keen to take overseas junkets to luxurious destinations & enjoy tours, hospitality & golf instead of attending law conferences on taxpayers cash, Lord Gill attempted to curtail demands of greedy judges on the public purse.

Guidance issued by Lord Gill in 2014 stated:

I have been reviewing the arrangements to control expenditure to meet attendance at conferences by the judiciary, especially where the conference is taking place outwith the United Kingdom. I have also been considering the arrangements for the authorisation of all other overseas travel to be paid from public funds. With immediate effect the following arrangements are to apply to future requests.

Requests for funding for attendance at conferences and for all other overseas travel should be sought only from the Judicial Office . No request for support to meet attendance at conferences, or other overseas travel should be made to any other part of the Scottish Court Service.

In all cases where funding is being sought I require a business case to be produced by the judicial office holder or the judicial representative body that is seeking funding. The business case does not need to be long, but it must:

(i) identify the nature of the conference;

(ii) the number of judicial office holders it is suggested should attend;

(iii) why that number is necessary if it is more than one;

(iv) the benefit either to those attending or to the judiciary more widely from attendance at the conference;

(v) the likely costs of attendance ; and

(vi) the likely impact on the efficient administration of business.

The business case should be sent to the Executive Director of the Judicial Office for Scotland, Stephen Humphreys. He will assess whether funds are available to meet the costs of attendance and if so pass the business case to me.

I will then consider all requests and respond directly to the judicial office holder. I will need a clear justification for any overseas travel. As a general rule it should only be necessary for one judicial office holder to attend a conference overseas. It will only be in exceptional cases that I am likely to consider it necessary for more than one person to attend.

Where support is provided to attend a conference a report is to be prepared and sent to the Executive Director within one month of the end of the conference. The report will be placed on the Judicial Hub and the Judicial website. It is important that as many of the judiciary as possible are able to benefit from the investment of public money in attending the conference.

Lord President Lord Gill, July 2014

Previous articles on the judiciary’s use of public cash to fund judicial overseas junkets can be found here: Overseas travel of Scottish judges.

 

IT’S DUBLIN, M’LADY: FOI probe results in Judicial Office adding Lady Dorrian to Lord Carloway’s ‘research’ junket on Ireland’s criminal justice system

Court staff add second judge to Ireland judicial junket. THE SECOND most powerful judge in Scotland – Lady Dorrian – the first ever female judge serving as Lord Justice Clerk, has been added to a 2014 judicial junket to Dublin – in which court staff initially claimed was solely attended by Scotland’s current Lord President – Lord Carloway.

And, new details since released for the ‘fact finding’ judicial junket – also reveal Lord Carloway met two Irish senior judges in a Chinese restaurant – to discuss ‘efficiencies in the courts’.

The addition of Lady Dorrian to Lord Carloway’s ‘fact finding’ trip only came about after the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) became involved in a dispute over the determined efforts of the Judiciary of Scotland and Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) to conceal details, destinations and the costs of UK & judicial overseas travel junkets from Freedom of Information enquiries.

In October 2014, DOI reported that an investigation by the Information Commissioner received evidence court officials hurriedly switched the travel destinations of Scotland’s second most powerful judge – the Lord Justice Clerk Lord Carloway, after journalists queried an FOI disclosure, asking for further details of a journey.

Lord Carloway – who was at the time Lord Justice Clerk and has since been elevated to the top post of Lord President earning £222,862.00 a year, was listed in a 2014 FOI disclosure by the Scottish Court Service: Overseas Travel of Scotland’s Judges 2013-2014 as having taken three taxpayer funded trips – a six day trip to Vancouver, Canada costing £5,820.16, a two day trip to Dijon, France, with a claimed cost of £59.15 and a two day trip initially listed as Evidence & Procedure Review Study Visit costing £232.93.

The Scottish Court Service was then contacted by journalists who asked officials to provide a destination of Lord Carloway’s Evidence & Procedure Review Study Visit. In response, a senior SCS official said “Lord Carloway attended the event in Bristol.”

When journalists again contacted the Scottish Court Service asking why one domestic UK trip had seemingly been disclosed when court officials claimed it was too expensive to publish the UK only trips, the same official replied “I queried this with the Judicial Office for Scotland who have asked me to pass on their apologies.  Lord Carloway actually attended the event in Dublin and not in Bristol.

The Judicial Office for Scotland ended further enquiries at the time with the statement “We have checked the information that we provided and we have nothing further to add.”

The switch of Lord Carloway’s destination during a trip taken in March 2014 – from Bristol to Dublin only came about after court staff realised they had previously claimed to journalists, and more recently to the Scottish Information Commissioner, the SCS did not hold data on judges trips inside the UK.

Since the probe by the Scottish Information Commissioner, new documents issued to journalists after a probe lasting several weeks finally revealed: “Lord Carloway and Lady Dorrian visited Dublin to research the Irish criminal justice system to inform the on-going SCS review of evidence and procedure in Scotland, and were accompanied by an SCS Director with lead responsibility for this review work. They flew from Edinburgh to Dublin on the evening of Monday 24 March, and returned on the evening of Wednesday 26 March. They stayed at the Ashling Hotel, Parkgate Street, Dublin on the nights of 24 and 25 March.”

The ‘omission’ of Lady Dorrian from initial documents released in 2014 was blamed by court staff on murky arrangements for judicial air travel which allowed judges to book air tickets at public expense at their own discretion.

However, claims by the Judicial Office that new travel rules introduced by former Lord President Lord Brian Gill put an end to judges helping themselves to tens of thousands of pounds of air flights and trips have since been proved wrong – after continuing investigations revealed further international air junkets, reported here: LORDING IT MORE OPENLY: Scotland’s obsessively secretive judiciary reveal overseas junkets.

The latest crop of jet set junkets for judges reinforce suspicions highly paid Scottish judges on up to £220K a year are spending more time in the air and abroad, than attending to their judicial duties in the courts.

Challenged on the switch of destinations and the addition of Lady Dorrian to Lord Carloway’s ‘fact finding’ trip, a spokesperson for the Judicial Office said: “I have now had the opportunity to look into this.  The error you have highlighted occurred because the booking was not made by the Judicial Office.  We have now amended our records.”

“As you are aware, the Lord President issued new guidance to all judiciary earlier this year in respect of international travel and attendance at conferences.  All requests for funding should be sought only from the Judicial Office.  This will help ensure such errors do not occur in the future.”

Asked to confirm which trip was not booked by the judicial office – Lady Dorrian or Lord Carloway (or both), a spokesperson for the Judicial Office said: “Both. To be clear‎ the costs of the trip (flights, hotel) for both Lady Dorrian and Lord Carloway did not come out of the Judicial Office budget. The costs associated with travel and subsistence do. Therefore we knew about Lord Carloway’s trip but incorrectly recorded that information.

A programme for the visit, issued after the addition of Lady Dorrian to the trip, reveals Lord Carloway met up with two senior Irish judges in a Chinese takeaway to discuss the efficiencies of courts.

An entry in the programme for Tuesday 25 March 2014 states: 7:30pm – Meeting with The Hon. Mr. Justice Peter Charleton and His Honour Judge Tony Hunt  to discuss  “The Working Group to Identify and Report on Efficiencies in the Criminal Justice System of the Courts” Venue: Good World Chinese Restaurant, 18 South Great Georges Street, Dublin 2.

However, Lady Dorrian’s name does not appear anywhere in the issued documents for the trip to Dublin.

Evidence and Procedure Review – visit to Dublin, 25-26 March 2014 Programme Date: Tuesday 25thMarch 2014

Arrive to be met by Ms. Elisha D’Arcy, Protocol Officer, Courts Service Venue: Great Hall, Criminal Courts of Justice Parkgate Street, Dublin 8

Tour of Criminal Courts of Justice with Ms. Lisa Scott and Ms. Kelly Mackey, Judicial Researchers

Discussion with Ms. Kelly Mackey & Ms. Lisa Scott, Judicial Researchers working on analysis of relevant Legislation and Law Reform documents Venue: Court No. 13, 4 th Floor, Criminal Courts of Justice

Meeting with The Hon. Mr. Justice Peter Charleton, High Court, The Hon. Mr. Justice Patrick McCarthy, High Court, His Honour Judge Patrick McCartan, Circuit Court, Judge Patricia McNamara, District Court and Ms. Elisha D’Arcy to discuss, inter alia, case management, how the volume of cases is managed, any difficulties in ensuring cases are processed in good time – problems with “churn” in the system, with hearings having to be adjourned/continued etc Venue: Conference room, 9th Floor, Criminal Courts of Justice

Meeting with Mr. Noel Rubotham, Head of Reform and Development, Courts Service to discuss relevant initiatives in the area of criminal procedure reform, including pre-trial case management Venue: Conference room, 9 th Floor, Criminal Courts of Justice

Meeting with Ms. Geraldine Hurley, Principal Officer, Courts Service to discuss the practicalities of giving Video Link evidence and observe/demonstrate Video Link evidence procedure/facilities Venue: 9 th Floor Conference room, Criminal Courts of Justice

Observation of Central Criminal Court in session, The Hon. Mr. Justice Patrick McCarthy presiding Venue: Court No. 10, Criminal Courts of Justice

Observation of Circuit Criminal Court in session, His Honour Judge Patrick McCartan presiding Venue: Court No. 12, Criminal Courts of Justice

Observation of District Criminal Court in session, Judge Patricia McNamara presiding Venue: Court No. 2, Criminal Courts of Justice

Working Lunch hosted by: The Hon. Mrs. Justice Susan Denham, Chief Justice In attendance: The Hon. Mr. Justice Peter Charleton, The Hon. Mr. Justice Patrick McCarthy, His Honour Judge Patrick McCartan, Judge Patricia McNamara, Mr. Brendan Ryan, CEO, Courts Service, Registrar, Ms. Elisha D’Arcy Venue: Conference Room 9 thFloor, Criminal Courts of Justice

Depart for Children Court Observation of Children Court in session, Judge John O’Connor presiding Venue: Children Court, Smithfield, Dublin 7

Depart for Child Care/ Family Law Court Observation of Child Care Courts in session, Judge Brendan Toale and Judge Colin Daly and Her Honour Judge Rosemary Horgan, President of the District Court presiding Venue: Court No. 20, 40 and 49 Child Care Courts, Dolphin House, East Essex Street, Dublin 2

Observation of Family Law Courts in session, Judge Marie Quirke and Judge Deirdre Gearty presiding Venue: Court No. 41 and 47 Family Law Courts, Dolphin House, East Essex Street

16.00p.m. – 17.00p.m. Discussion on Child Care Court and Family Law Court with Her Honour Judge Rosemary Horgan, President of the District Court Judge Marie Quirke, Judge Brendan Toale, Judge Colin Daly and Judge Deirdre Gearty with particular emphasis on interviewing children and taking evidence from children Venue: 3rd Floor conference room, Dolphin House

19.30p.m. Meeting with The Hon. Mr. Justice Peter Charleton and His Honour Judge Tony Hunt to discuss “The Working Group to Identify and Report on Efficiencies in the Criminal Justice System of the Courts” Venue: Good World Chinese Restaurant, 18 South Great Georges Street, Dublin 2.

Date: Wednesday 26thMarch 2014: 09.00 a.m. – 11.30 a.m. Meeting with Members of An Garda Siochana, led by Chief Superintendent Patrick Leahy, Dublin Metropolitan Region, North Central Division – Powerpoint Presentations

11.40a.m. Meeting with Ms. Clare Loftus, Director of Public Prosecutions, accompanied by Ms. Liz Howlin, Head of the Directing Division and Mr. Peter Mullan, Chief Prosecution Solicitor –
Venue: Office of the DPP, Infirmary Road, Dublin 7

13.00p.m. Working lunch with The Hon. Mr. Justice Peter Charleton, The Hon. Mr. Justice John Edwards, High Court, His Honour Judge Martin Nolan, Circuit Court, Judge John O’Connor, District Court and Ms. Elisha D’Arcy Venue: Conference Room 9thFloor, Criminal Courts of Justice

14. 00p. m. Meeting with Law Reform Commission Commissioners Ms. Finola Flanagan and Tom O’Malley, BL, Law Reform Commission – Venue: Criminal Courts of Justice, Parkgate Street, 5th floor (Room 503.6)

15.15p.m. Meeting with Mr. Jimmy Martin, Assistant Secretary, Criminal Law Reform Division, Department of Justice & Law Reform to discuss the Department’s planned legislative initiatives in this area in particular the development of a Criminal Procedure Bill dealing with certain pre-trial procedures, video link hearings and certain other matters. Venue: Criminal Courts of Justice, Parkgate Street, 5th floor (Room 503.6)

16.15 p.m. – 17.00p.m Meeting with Mr. Ken Murphy, Director General and Members of the Criminal Law Committee of the Law Society of Ireland, Shalom Binchy (Committee Chair), James MacGuill (former Committee Chair and former President of the Law Society), Dara Robinson (another former Committee Chair) and Robert Purcell Venue: Criminal Courts of Justice, Parkgate Street, 5th floor (Room 503.6)

Previous articles on the judiciary’s use of public cash to fund judicial overseas junkets can be found here: Overseas travel of Scottish judges.

 

STILL BANKING, M’LORDS: Judicial quango in charge of Scotland’s Courts & Tribunals remains mired in financial links to Banks, investment funds, insurance, property & corporate vested interests

Banks & corporate interests are ‘quids in’ for judges. THE LATEST snapshot of financial investments held by a select few members of Scotland’s ultra secretive judiciary who sit on the judge-controlled body in charge of the courts – reveals banks convicted of rate-rigging, insurance cartels, property and corporate vested interests – remain favoured havens for judicial wealth.

Registers of Interests declaring the shareholdings of Scotland’s top judges – released by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) – in response to a Freedom of Information request – show minor changes in the pro-banks & big business investment structures of a handful of leading judges – since the issue was first revealed in the media and reported in further detail by Diary of Injustice in 2014.

However, Scotland’s top judge – Lord President Lord Carloway – who earns a salary of £220,655 a year – is listed under shareholdings in the register as holding “none”.

Lord Justice Clerk Lady Dorrian – who earns £213,125 a year – is also listed under shareholdings in the same register as holding “none”.

Three other members of the judiciary who currently sit on the powerful Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service Board – also have nothing to declare in terms of shareholdings – leaving former Lord President Lord Brian Gill, Lady Smith and Justice of the Peace Johan Findlay as the only three remaining judges to declare any financial investments.

The existence of the shareholdings register of a select few judges came to the attention of the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee who have been conducting a three year probe into proposals to create a judicial interests register – after details of judges’ shareholdings were revealed in an investigation published by the Sunday Herald newspaper.

The Sunday Herald investigation also revealed Sheriff Principal Dunlop QC – who presided over a court hearing involving Tesco – held shares in the supermarket giant yet did not absent himself because having shares in a company that is party to a court action does not require a member of the judiciary to step down from a case.

And, as a result of further investigations by the Scottish Sun newspaper – it was revealed the same Sheriff Principal Alistair Dunlop (who was also a member of the powerful Scottish Court Service Board until leaving this role in 2015) – held shares in companies which had been convicted of paying bribes in Iraq, and China – reported in further detail here: PROCEEDS OF CRIME: Judicial Interests investigation reveals top Sheriff Principal has shares in company fined £13.9million for Iraq bribes case & mining giant caught in China bribe scandal.

The current Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Board Register of Shareholdings reveals the following declarations of shareholdings:

Lord President – Rt Hon Lord Carloway: None
Lord Justice Clerk – Rt Hon Lady Dorrian: None
President of Scottish Tribunals – Rt Hon Lady Smith: Artemis Fund Managers, Barclays, Blackrock AM, Brown Advisory, Goldman Sachs, Global Access, Henderson Investment, Ishares PLC, JP Morgan, Lazard Fund Managers, Pimco Global, Vanguard Funds PLC, Fundrock Management CO Gsquaretrix.
Sheriff Principal Duncan L Murray: None
Sheriff Iona McDonald: None
Sheriff A Grant McCulloch: None
Johan Findlay OBE JP: Aviva, Vodaphone, Santander, Unilever, Norwich Union, Legal & General, Fidelity Funds Network, Lloyds Banking Group, Thus Group, HBOS, Trafficmaster, Standard Life.
Dr Joseph Morrow QC: None
Lord President – Rt Hon Lord Gill (note: Lord Gill retired on 31 May 2015 and was succeed by Lord Carloway). :Henderson UK Growth Fund Retail Class Acc, Newton Global Equity Fund, Aviva Investors UK Equity Fund, Scottish Widows UK Growth Sub-Fund, HSBC Balanced Fund (Retail Acc), Royal Mail Plc, TSB Group Plc, Urban and Civil Plc, Vestry Court Ltd.

Among the non-judicial members of the same SCTS Board, declarations in their registers of interests, also disclosed via FOI legislation reveal:

Eric McQueen: None
Dr Kirsty J Hood QC: None
Simon J D Catto: Aberdeen Football Club PLC, Scottish Power UK Plc, Royal Mail PLC.
Joe Al-Gharabally: RBS, Ryanair, Aviva, AT & T
Professor R Hugh MacDougall: None
Colonel David McIlroy: None
Anthony McGrath: (note – Mr McGrath was a Board member until 31 December 2015 and was succeeded by Col David McIlroy, following completion of his term of office): Accys Technology, Alexander Mining, Apple, Ashley House, Asian Citrus, Augean, Avanti Comms, Barclays Bank Bond, Billings Services, Camkids, Cell Therapeutics, Centamin, Chariot Oil, Chemring, Coal Of Africa, Consolidated General Minerals, Correro, Cupid, East West Resources, Emblaze, Essenden, e-Trade Financial, Fox Marble, Globo plc , Goldenport Holdings, Goldplat, Heritage Oil, HSBC Holdings, Imic, Infrastrata, Interpublic, Jubilee Platinum, Lloyds Banking, Magnolia Petroleum, Mobile Streams, Norseman Gold, Polo Resources, Pure Bioscience, Quindell, Reach4entertainment, Resource Holdings, Royal Bank of Scotland, Saltire Taverns, Stagecoach, Standard Chartered, STV, Tanfield, Tower resources, Volga Gas, Westminster Group.

However, missing from any register is property ownership by judges and their relatives, together with interests in real estate, buy to let and property companies – a well known and profitable area of big business for members of the judiciary and their family members.

Big ticket items such as property are suspiciously omitted from the meagre financial declarations of high earning elite judges – who remain eager to keep their vast interests in property off the books and out of reach from potential accusations of conflict of interest in swathes of land & property related court hearings going through the courts.

The very limited disclosures of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Board members also contain no references to outside earnings & work, relationships to law firms, big business and more detailed declarations which may be picked up by a fully published register of judicial interests as is currently being considered by MSPs.

The three year probe by the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee on proposals to create a register of judicial interests: Petition PE1458: Register of Interests for members of Scotland’s judiciary previously heard ‘claims’ from Scotland’s former top judge – Lord Brian Gill – that a register listing all financial interests of judges was “unworkable” for the entire judiciary.

However, some members of the Petitions Committee have voiced their unease during previous committee hearings that such a register as already exists for a handful of judges who sit on the SCTS Board – could not be implemented for the entire judiciary in Scotland.

If the judicial transparency proposal becomes reality, all members of Scotland’s judiciary – instead of just the elite few who sit on the board of the Scottish Courts – will be required to declare their vast and varied interests including their backgrounds, personal wealth, undeclared earnings, business & family connections inside & outside of the legal profession, membership of organisations, property and land interests, offshore investments, hospitality, details on recusals and other information routinely lodged in registers of interest across all walks of public life in the UK and around the world.

The proposal to require all members of the judiciary to declare their interests gained cross party support from msps during a debate on the petition – held at the Scottish Parliament on 7 October 2014, and reported along with video footage and the official record, here: Debating the Judges. MSPs overwhelmingly supported a motion urging the Scottish Government to create a register of judicial interests.

COMPANIES CONVICTED OF BRIBES, & SCOTTISH JUDGES WHO INVEST IN THEM:

The Scottish Sun newspaper reported how one judge – Sheriff Principal Alistair Dunlop – held shares in Weir Group – who were hit with a £13.9m Proceeds of Crime bill for bribing Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.

JUDGE HAS SHARES IN BRIBE FIRM

Stocks Register Plea

EXCLUSIVE: by Russell Findlay
Scottish Investigations Editor The Scottish Sun on Sunday May 11 2014

A TOP judge holds shares in a firm hit with a £13.9million proceeds-of-crime bill for bribing Saddam Hussein’s regime,The Scottish Sun on Sunday can reveal.

Sheriff Principal Alastair Dunlop 62, has a stake in Glasgow based Weir Group, hammered in 2011 for paying kickbacks to land contracts in Iraq.

He also has shares in mining giant Rio Tinto, whose executives admitted bribery in China four years ago.

Sheriff Dunlop – the most senior sheriff in Tayside, Central and Fife – must declare his interests as a Scottish Court Service Board member but they are not made public.

Last night campaigner Peter Cherbi – who led calls for a register to improve transparency – said “I believe judges like Sheriff Principal Dunlop cannot hold investments in firms guilty of breaking the law”

Tory MSP John Lamont added “The public would fully expect judges to be transparent. A register would improve public confidence.”

Sheriff Dunlop declined to comment but the Judicial Office for Scotland said investments were “a matter for the individual”.

A full listing of Sheriff Principal Alistair Dunlop’s declared shareholdings – published by Diary of Injustice in August 2014 – revealed a significant list of companies caught up in allegations of corruption around the world.

Sheriff Principal R A Dunlop QC: Astrazeneca, BHP Billiton, Blackrock AM UK Gold & General, Bluescope Steel, BNY Mellon Newton Global, CG Real Return Inc, Close Brothers Group, Diageo, Findlay Park FDS American Smaller Cos., G4S, Henderson Global Invs, ING Global Real Estate Securities, Intercontinental Hotels, JP Morgan Private Equity, Lomond Shipping Co, Lloyds Banking, M&G (Guernsey) Global Leaders, National Grid, Oakley Capital Investments, Origo Partners, Pernod Ricard, Prudential, Rio Tinto, Royal Bank of Scotland, Royal Dutch Shell, Scottish Oriental Smaller Cos, Tesco, Vodafone, Weir Group.

Further details including information on criminal cases involving companies in the investment portfolios of Scotland’s judiciary is reported here: JUDICIAL RICH LIST: Register reveals top judges investments in dodgy justice system providers, companies linked to international bribes scandals.

Previous articles on the lack of transparency within Scotland’s judiciary, investigations by Diary of Injustice including reports from the media, and video footage of debates at the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee can be found here : A Register of Interests for Scotland’s Judiciary

 

M’LADY JUSTICE CLERK: Lady Dorrian becomes first female judge appointed to position of Lord Justice Clerk – second most powerful judge in Scotland

First female judge appointed Lord Justice Clerk. FOR THE first time in the history of Scotland’s legal system, a female judge has been appointed to the role of Lord Justice Clerk, the second most powerful position in Scotland’s judiciary.

Lady Leonna June Dorrian (58), who is currently a judge of the inner house of the Court of Session – will take up her appointment as Lord Justice Clerk on 26 April 2016, the day of her installation.

The post of Lord Justice Clerk comes with a salary of £213,125 a year.

The Lord Justice Clerk also holds the office of President of the Second Division of the Inner House of the Court of Session, and, by virtue of the post, is Chair of the Scottish Sentencing Council.

The appointment of Lady Dorrian to the second most powerful judicial position comes after the recent appointment of the previous holder of the office of Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Carloway – to the top role of Lord President & Lord Justice General of the Court of Session.

During the six month search for a new Lord President which took place after the sudden retirement of Lord Brian Gill in May, 2015 – Lady Dorrian was appointed to a selection panel convened by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to interview applicants for the position of Lord President, reported in further detail here: To play the President – Hunt begins for Scotland’s next top judge

The panel, which comprised Sir Muir Russell – Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland, Mrs Deirdre Fulton – Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland, Rt Hon Lord Reed – Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom,  Rt Hon Lady Dorrian – Senator, Inner House of the Court of Session – concluded their deliberations with a recommendation Lord Carloway (real name Colin Sutherland) be appointed to the position of Lord President – reported in further detail here: Top judge of Parliament House: Lord Carloway appointed as Scotland’s Lord President

With the ascension of Lord Carloway to the post of Lord President, the move required the appointment of a new Lord Justice Clerk.

A selection panel to interview candidates for the role was again convened by the First Minister earlier in January 2016 – the panel comprising of Rt Hon Lord Carloway – Lord President, Sir Muir Russell – Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland, Alison Mitchell – Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland, The Hon Lady Stacey – Senator of the College of Justice to select a candidate for the position of Lord Justice Clerk.

Lady Dorrian was then nominated by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to Her Majesty the Queen – after taking account of recommendations made by the selection panel constituted under the Judiciary and Courts (Scotland) Act 2008 .

The panel which made the recommendations included Lord Carloway – who had been nominated for the position of Lord President by the previous panel which Lady Dorrian was a member of.

Lady Dorrian – Biography:

Lady Dorrian is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1981 before becoming 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. In 1994, she was also appointed Queen’s Counsel. Between 1997 and 2001 she was a member of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. Lady Dorrian was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Courts in 2005, having served as a temporary judge since 2002. She was appointed to the Inner House in November 2012.

SECRETLY SELECTING A PRESIDENT, SO SECRETLY:

 How judges select Scotland’s judges – in secret The selection panel for the office of Lord President – of which Lady Dorrian was a member – considered five candidates for the position of Scotland’s top judge – according to papers released by the Scottish Government in response to a Freedom of Information request by the media.

While there was significant speculation during 2015 that a female judge would be appointed to the top judicial post of Lord President, the unpredicted shift away from a male only top judge did not happen this time around.

Responding to queries, the Scottish Government refused to disclose the genders & diversity information relating to any of the candidates for the top job, citing privacy concerns.

Written exchanges between civil servants and the selection panel reveal a short listing meeting was held on 1 September 2015. The panel considered that two applicants Lord Carloway  [Redacted] merited an interview on the basis of the quality of their applications.

The panel agreed that given the level of appointment, candidates needed to be able to demonstrate that they met the criteria to an exceptional degree [Redacted].

The content of the selection panel’s report recommending Lord Carloway for the nomination of Lord President, was completely censored by the Scottish Government.

Emails between Scottish Government show First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had decided on Lord Carloway’s nomination as Lord President around 18 November 2015. Lord Carloway’s appointment as Lord President was finally made public a month later in December 2015.

Scotland’s judiciary faces a testing time as calls grow for judges to apply the same levels of transparency to themselves as is required of all other branches of Government, the justice system and those in public life.

SPOTLIGHT ON JUDICIAL INTERESTS SECRECY:

Scotland’s current Lord President – Lord Carloway is to be asked to give evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee in connection with three year probe on proposals to require judges to register their interests, as called for in Petition PE1458: Register of Interests for members of Scotland’s judiciary.

The petition calls for the creation of a publicly available register of judicial interests containing information on judges backgrounds, their personal wealth, undeclared earnings, business & family connections inside & outside of the legal profession, offshore investments, hospitality, details on recusals and other information routinely lodged in registers of interest across all walks of public life in the UK and around the world.

The proposal to require judges to declare their interests enjoys cross party support, and was widely backed by MSPs during a full debate in the Scottish Parliament’s main chamber on 9 October 2014 – reported in full with video footage of MSPs and Scottish Ministers speaking during the Holyrood debate, here: Debating the Judges.

Previous articles on the lack of transparency within Scotland’s judiciary, investigations on judicial interests including reports from the media, and video footage of debates at the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee can be found here : A Register of Interests for Scotland’s Judiciary