Leeona June Dorrian, Lady Dorrian PC (born 16 June 1957) is a Scottish

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

and

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

who has served as the Lord Justice Clerk since 2016. She is the first woman to hold the position. She has been a

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court of Session); ...

since 2005, having served as a temporary judge for three years prior.

Early life

Dorrian was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and educated at Cranley Girls' School in the city. She studied at the School of Law of the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

, graduating LL.B. in 1977, and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1981.

Early career

Dorrian served as Standing Junior Counsel to the

Health and Safety Executive The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a UK government agency responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain. It is a non-depar ...

and Commission between 1987 and 1994,

Advocate Depute The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by His Majesty's Lord Advocate, who under the S ...

between 1988 and 1991, and as Standing Junior to the Department of Energy between 1991 and 1994. She was appointed

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1994, and called to the English Bar in 1991, at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

. Between 1997 and 2001 she was a member of the

Criminal Injuries Compensation Board The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) is an executive agency of the UK Government. The Authority, established in 1996 and based in Glasgow, administers a compensation scheme for injuries caused to victims of violent crime in Englan ...

College of Justice

Dorrian was appointed a Temporary Judge of the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...

in 2002, and in 2005 became a full-time

, taking the judicial title, Lady Dorrian. She was promoted to the

Inner House The Inner House is the senior part of the Court of Session, the supreme civil court in Scotland; the Outer House forms the junior part of the Court of Session. It is a court of appeal and a court of first instance. The chief justice is th ...

in 2012. Lady Dorrian became a member of The Management Board of The Aberdeen Law Project in 2010. She was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 2022.

Lord Justice Clerk

In April 2016, Lady Dorrian was appointed as Lord Justice Clerk, succeeding

Lord Carloway Colin John MacLean Sutherland, Lord Carloway (born 20 May 1954), is a Scottish advocate and judge who has served as the Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General since 2015. He was previously Lord Justice Clerk from 2012 t ...

who had been promoted to Lord President of the Court of Session. She is the first woman to serve as Lord Justice Clerk, and at the time of her appointment was one of 9 women out of 31 judges in Scotland. Lady Dorrian has been involved in the trial of former First Minister, Alex Salmond for sexual misconduct for which he was acquitted. She also permitted the application for a ban on publication of the names of the complainers in that trial and a ban on the publication of any material that could identify any complainer. Blogger and former British ambassador,

Craig Murray Craig John Murray (born 17 October 1958) is a Scottish author, human rights campaigner, journalist, and former diplomat for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Between 2002 and 2004, he was the British ambassador to Uzbekistan during whi ...

, has since been jailed for eight months for providing information in his blog that may allow readers to identify some of the complainers by "jigsaw identification". This incarceration, wherein Lady Dorrian delivered the "Opinion of the Court", has caused some media attention.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorrian, Leeona 1957 births Living people Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Members of the Faculty of Advocates Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Lawyers from Edinburgh 20th-century King's Counsel 21st-century King's Counsel Scottish King's Counsel Senators of the College of Justice Scottish women judges British women lawyers People educated at St Margaret's School, Edinburgh Lords Justice Clerk 20th-century women lawyers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Early life

Early career

College of Justice

Lord Justice Clerk

See also

References