Lord Justice Clerk Lady Dorrian to retire next year

Lady Dorrian, the first woman to be appointed Lord Justice Clerk, has announced her intention to retire next year.

The judge has written to the King to inform him she intends to step down at the same time as the Lord President, Lord Carloway, who announced his retirement earlier this month.

She has also informed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and First Minister John Swinney.

Lady Dorrian was installed as Lord Justice Clerk and president of the Second Division of the Inner House of the Court of Session in April 2016.

During her time as Scotland’s second most senior judge, she has sought to improve the experience of complainers in sexual offence cases and how they are cross-examined in court.

She has been a strong advocate for more use of pre-recorded evidence for vulnerable and child witnesses, and oversaw the evidence and procedure review project working group on pre-recorded evidence.

She also chaired a cross-justice review group on improving the management of sexual offence cases.

This recommended significant changes, including a new trauma informed specialist court to deal with serious cases.

The review also recommended the presumed use of pre-recorded evidence, improving the current experience of complainers, challenging jury myths, and improving aspects of the children’s hearings system.

As Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian chaired the Scottish Sentencing Council which, following its creation in 2015, established many legal firsts for Scotland.

These included introducing the country’s first sentencing guidelines, defining the principles and purposes of sentencing in Scotland, and completing ground-breaking public perceptions and education work.

Lady Dorrian has also been at the forefront of making courts more open and transparent.

In 2015 she chaired a working group to review the recording and broadcasting of proceedings in court cases.

This review led to the broadcast protocol which, amongst others, has allowed production companies to film criminal trials, leading to documentaries such as the BBC’s Murder Trial series and C4’s The Push.

It also set the criteria for filming sentencing statements, filming civil cases and allowing the media to use live text-based communications in court.

Lady Dorrian was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in 2005, having served as a temporary judge since 2002. She was then appointed to the Inner House in November 2012.

The University of Aberdeen graduate 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.

Lady Dorrian served as an advocate depute between 1988 and 1991, and as standing junior to the Department of Energy between 1991 and 1994.

She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1994 and between 1997 and 2001, she was a member of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

Her announcement of her intention to retire will set in motion the appointment process for a new Lord Justice Clerk to begin.