Rita Rae, Lady Rae (born 20 June 1950) is a Scottish lawyer, judge and a former Senator of the College of Justice.

Career

She became a solicitor in 1974. She joined the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constit ...

from 1982 and was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1992. From 2003 to 2006 she was a member of the Sentencing Commission for Scotland. Rae served as a temporary sheriff from 1987–1997. She was appointed a sheriff at

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1997. She became temporary judge at the Court of Session in 2004. From 2001–2007 she was a member (and vice-chair from 2005) of the Parole Board for Scotland. Rae was appointed as a permanent judge (a

Lord Ordinary A Lord Ordinary is any judge in the Outer House The Outer House (abbreviated as CSOH in neutral citations) is one of the two parts of the Scottish Court of Session, which is the supreme civil court in Scotland. It is a court of first inst ...

) of the Court of Session and a Judge of the Supreme Courts in January 2014. In 2015, Lady Rae presided over the trial of Alexander Pacteau after he pled guilty to the murder of Karen Buckley in Glasgow. She retired in June 2020. On 21 April 2021, Rae was elected

Rector of the University of Glasgow The (Lord) Rector of the University of Glasgow is one of the most senior posts within the institution, elected every three years by students. The theoretical role of the rector is to represent students to the senior management of the university ...

, succeeding

Aamer Anwar Aamer Anwar (born 30 December 1967) is a Scottish political activist and lawyer of Pakistani background. He was an active participant in the Stop the War Coalition, and campaigned against the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles. He has been a longst ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Rita 1950 births Living people Senators of the College of Justice Scottish solicitors Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish women judges Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Scottish sheriffs Women sheriffs Rectors of the University of Glasgow